The following quote is an excerpt from Cry, Voidbringer. Which is our imprint's debut publication, coming out October 28th of this year. Following the quote are some thoughts from me about what you can expect from this story.

“You’re an idiot,” she said.

He grinned, despite his pain. “When you find your wounded bird, you’ll see.”

She still thought he was an idiot. People formed stupid attachments with rescued things because they were small and vulnerable, but in the end, they were more trouble than they were worth. That was the most irritating thing about Viridian. Against all reason, she was Hammer’s wounded bird—and she fucking hated birds—scooped up in the middle of the night from an iron wagon.

When Naias barged into her hut last night, her first thought had been to protect Viri. Not herself. This was what Dagger had meant when he said “you’ll see.” The bird was a stranger to him, yet he loved it so much that he did anything to save it, even if it hurt him.

• Excerpt from Cry, Voidbringer by Elaine Ho

Cry, Voidbringer is a heavy read for many reasons. Its main character is a slave, after all. So like... I hope no one is going into this expecting a light story. But what I want to talk about is the concept being explored in the above excerpt.

Hammer (our central character) is speaking with Dagger, another faceless warrior who has just endured incredible punishment for refusing to let an animal he loved suffer. And while Hammer looks down on him for that decision, it is not actually his choice to protect an animal that she is looking down on. What she is actually expressing is fear. And that is such an incredibly central theme throughout this story. Hammer is a hardened warrior who has walled herself off from the world, not because she is heartless, but because she knows how much danger her heart has the ability to lead her into.

A problem that is perfectly summed up in the following quote:

When Kallan enslaved her into the faceless, no one saved her. More than two decades had passed since then. She was beyond salvation, but here, she had the chance to stop that happening to another.

One of the things I love about some of my favorite books is that they challenge us to never look away. Little Rot by Awkaeke Emezi ruined my life recently. I went into that book with no real forewarning of what the story was about and found myself being confronted by just how complicit we become just by living our lives unaware of the horrors taking place directly in front of us. Or consider their earlier book, Pet, which conjures literal monsters as a demonstration of the painful secrets that live behind the closed doors of our neighbors "loving homes". Stories like these, or Fledgling by Octavia Butler force us to wrestle with just how near the monsters in the dark really are. And that is absolutely a conversation happening in Cry, Voidbringer.

Elaine presents us with a broken nation that is fighting to reclaim its former glory and points to the slavery it employs to win its "liberation". She asks us to not only grieve the violence that liberation often requires, but also demands that we examine the weapons used to deliver it.

Is there justice in employing colonial banners as you march toward freedom? Can those who govern ever truly understand the plight of those whose lives they sacrifice for their own glory? And what does it look like if we turn away from the Kings and Queens who wage war and actually consider the position of the people who suffer most for their advancements?

Hammers wounded bird is not just a little girl who she wants to keep safe from a Queen who seeks to turn her into a weapon. Her bird is a vulnerability in her armor. While Hammer's eyes were focused on the mission in front of her (one that was forced on her, remember), she was able to do what needed to be done to stay alive. But now that she has been forced to see the cost of her compliance, she has no choice but to ask herself whether protecting herself is just when it means throwing someone else into the fire.

An uncomfortable question, when considered from the lens of a marginalized person. But a question that must be answered nonetheless. And that is what you can expect from this entire story. Questions that must be asked but have no safe answers.

Here are just a few of the questions being explored in this story:

• What impact does colonialism have on ethnic identity?

• Can there be such a thing as "good empire"?

• What is the cost of picking up the weapons of your oppressors?

• Who truly suffers in the fight for freedom?

• Is the fight for freedom truly about liberation when the people at the top are searching for glory, while those most likely to suffer are left to die?

I have been in love with this book since the moment I began reading it last year and I cannot wait to get it into your hands!!!

Cry, Voidbringer comes out in less than three months! Make sure you go pre-order your copy now and help us to make sure this book has great early numbers! Our community has thousands of people in it, and I would love to see that reflected in our pre-order numbers.

And don't forget, I am giving away a boxed set of The Broken Earth Deluxe Editions. You can enter to win HERE and email me your receipt for Cry, Voidbringer for an extra entry!!! Drawing ends TOMORROW!

PRE-ORDER HERE: https://bookshop.org/a/87137/9781964721521

E-BOOK: https://bookshop.org/a/87137/9781964721514

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