Originally from sunny California, LAURA LAM now lives in cloudy Scotland. She is the author of the near-future space thriller Goldilocks, feminist space opera Seven Devils (cowritten with Elizabeth May), BBC Radio 2 Book Club selection False Hearts, the companion novel Shattered Minds, and the award-winning Micah Grey series: Pantomime, Shadowplay, and Masquerade. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in anthologies such as Nasty Women, Solaris Rising 3, Cranky Ladies of History, Scotland in Space, and more. She lectures part-time at Edinburgh Napier University on the creative writing MA program.

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A Preview of "The World Gives Way"

if you enjoyed

GOLDILOCKS

look out for

THE WORLD GIVES WAY

by

Marissa Levien

In a world on the brink of collapse, a young woman born into servitude must seize her own freedom in this stunning literary sci-fi debut; perfect for fans of Station Eleven, Karen Thompson Walker, and Naomi Alderman.

In fifty years, Myrra will be free.

Until then, she’s a contract worker, trading indentured servitude for passage to a new world. Ever since she was five, her life and labor have belonged to the highest bidder on her contract—butchers, laundries, and now the powerful, secretive Carlyles.

But when one night finds the Carlyles dead, Myrra is suddenly free a lot sooner than she anticipated—and at a cost she never could have imagined. Burdened with the Carlyles’ orphaned daughter and the terrible secret they died to escape, she runs. There’s precious little time left, and even less so with rookie detective Tobias Bendel hot on her trail. A disaster bigger than either of them is looming on the horizon, and as the end draws closer, Myrra and Tobias must come face-to-face with the truth about their world—and embrace what’s left before it’s too late.

CHAPTER 1

MYRRA

Myrra smashed a roach with her bare hand as it crawled along the wall, then recited a small eulogy for the deceased in her head. Perpetual survivors, the roaches had managed to sneak a ride on this world to the next, even when every other bit of cargo had been bleached and catalogued over a century ago. Myrra admired their pluck, but Imogene would hate the sight of an insect, and where there was one there were always more. It was late, nearly three a.m. The roaches liked to explore at night, and Myrra’s room was close to the kitchen.

Myrra retrieved an old rag from her stock of cleaning supplies and wiped off her palm. Then she sat back down on her cot, a lumpy pillow propped behind her back, and resumed writing her letter.