But when Yana — the world’s leading expert on deleria and Cassandra’s ex-lover — is killed in a mysterious explosion in the hub of deleria research, taking the hope of reversing climate change with her, Cas is arrested on charges of domestic terrorism. Cas must delve through timelines to piece together what happened, while watching other versions of herself and Yana live out the life they could have had — happier, more in love. As brutal government agents close in and her addiction to deleria grows, Cas has to make a choice: live in the spiraling branches of reality, seeking closure for Yana’s death until the drug shatters her mind, or live in the now, even if that means embracing her own damaged self and fighting, however hopelessly, for her own future and that of humanity.
A.D. Sui (London, ON) is a Ukrainian-born, internationally raised speculative writer, Nebula winner, and Aurora and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award finalist. They are the author of The Dragonfly Gambit, The Iron Garden Sutra, and more than two dozen short stories. A failed academic and retired fencer, they spend most days wrangling their two dogs and tending to their myriad tropical plants.