The Alien Stars and Other Novellas by Hugo Award-winning author Tim Pratt is being released from Angry Robot Books on April 27th 2021. In this collection of previously unpublished novellas, Pratt returns to the acclaimed sci-fi universe of his Axiom trilogy.
Each of these three stories takes fans and new readers alike deeper into the rich world of the Axiom than ever before, revisiting the crewmembers of the White Raven as they strike out on new and enthralling adventures.
Delilah Mears joins the crew of the Golden Spider, as its cyborg captain Ashok leads them deep into space to investigate a mysterious cosmic anomaly, leading to an encounter with a truly unusual band of space pirates; AI (and Trans-Neptunian Alliance President) Shall receives a strange summons from a past version of himself to help defeat an existential threat to the entire universe; And intrepid alien truth-teller Lantern journeys home to confront the monsters of her past, and the deepest secrets of her heart (or the closest thing she has in her circulatory system to a heart).
We interviewed Tim to find out a little bit more about this stunning new project!
Before Angry Robot picked it up for general publication, The Alien Stars was very successfully funded via Kickstarter – can you tell us a bit about your success with the platform, and why you like using it to connect with readers?
I started using Kickstarter years ago to finish up my Marla Mason urban fantasy series; the first four books came out from Random House, but then my editor was laid off and the imprint that published me was reorganized out of existence, so the series seemed to be dead. I wanted to complete the story, though, and my readers wanted more, so I crowdfunded books five through ten (and a prequel! and a story collection!). I’ve used Kickstarter for a few other projects too, including short fiction collections, with success. Crowdfunding seemed like a natural fit for an oddball add-on volume to the Axiom trilogy. I was delighted when I found out that Angry Robot wanted to publish it too! It’s the first collection they’ve ever done, and it means a lot to me that they’re taking the chance.
Did these stories come to life while you were thinking about and working on the Axiom trilogy, or only after you’d finished it?
Each of the novels has roughly the same ensemble cast, but each one also has a focus on a specific character or two, offering some extra depth about them (book one is about Callie and Elena, book two largely about Stephen, book three about Drake and Janice). I knew I wouldn’t be able to give all the characters time in the spotlight, and while I was writing book three I started to think about doing a series of short novellas that would both act as a coda to the trilogy as a whole and allow me to spent more time with three of my (and readers’!) favorite characters: the alien Lantern, the engineer Ashok, and the AI Shall.
Are there other characters in the Axiom universe whose stories you might like to explore further in future?
For the moment I think I’m done with the Axiom–the characters are in a good place, and I don’t want to make them suffer anymore–but you never know when inspiration will strike, so I certainly don’t rule out a return. The core crew members of the White Raven have all gotten a chance to be the focus of a story now, and occasional crew person Uzoma got some extra time in “The Artificial Stars” too, so I’m pretty satisfied for now.
Lantern is definitely one of the fan-favourite characters, and the subject of the title story in the book, and you also had her illustrated beautifully – what was it like seeing her brought to life by an artist?
That was so great! Aislinn Harvey has done artwork for some of my other books, and for the ‘zine I co-edited for a while, Flytrap, and she just completed EIGHTY illustrations for a fast fun science fiction card game called Cyber Wreck that I co-created with my wife Heather Shaw and our 13-year-old child River, which we’re going to Kickstart in the fall, probably. I just love her art. I told her I wanted an illustration of Lantern holding up a lantern, pushing back the darkness–because that’s her whole character, she wants to be a light in dark places–and Ais came through beautifully. We made signed prints of the artwork for Kickstarter backers, and also made glow-in-the-dark enamel pins of the lantern as a reward, too. Getting to play art director is one of the most fun things about crowdfunding. When the campaign did well, we added two more illustrations, so she did interior art for all three novellas.
What else have you been working on, or are you currently working on?
My latest novel is called Doors of Sleep, out from Angry Robot. It’s a weird multiverse adventure about someone who finds himself in a different reality every time he wakes up. I’m working on the sequel, probably titled Prison of Sleep, right now, and it’s a blast. I’ve also been writing a trilogy of space opera novels set in the world of the Twilight Imperium science fiction strategy game. The first one, The Fractured Void, came out last year, and The Necropolis Empire will be out later this year. Writing the third book is on the horizon.
Can you recommend some other novellas you’ve particularly enjoyed of late?
Oh, it’s a golden time for novellas! So many venues, and so much great work being published. Particular favorites recently include The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg, Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark, Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones, Prosper’s Demon by K.J. Parker, and Sea Change by Nancy Kress.
