Humanityβs super-intelligent AI Gods brutally punish breaches in reality, as one young scientist discovers, in this intense and brilliant space opera.
Autistic scientist Yasira Shien has developed a radical new energy drive that could change the future of humanity. But when she activates it, reality warps, destroying the space station and everyone aboard. The AI Gods who rule the galaxy declare her work heretical, and Yasira is abducted by their agents. Instead of simply executing her, they offer mercy β if sheβll help them hunt down a bigger target: her own mysterious, vanished mentor. With her homeworldβs fate in the balance, Yasira must choose who to trust: the gods and their ruthless post-human angels, or the rebel scientist whose unorthodox mathematics could turn her world inside out. _
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Review
"Hoffmann has created a beautifully immersive world, an intoxicating blend of science and divinity that held me captive from page one. Come for the cosmic horror, stay for the nuanced exploration of the nature of individuality, the soul, and the relationships that tie us together." - Caitlin Starling , author of The Luminous Dead
β The Outside is a beautiful, stark reclamation of unknowable horror. Hoffman layers thoughtful worldbuilding and rich prose to build a stunning story of power, ambition and personal agency. I couldnβt put The Outside down for fear of what might happen while I was looking away.β β Sarah Gailey , Hugo Award-winning author of River of Teeth
β The Outside is a fresh and mind-bending mix of cosmic horror and space opera, a compelling story that spans from the deeply personal to the vast mysteries of time and space. Unsettling and gorgeous, this is like nothing I have read before and the book I have been longing for without knowing it.β β __ Karin Tidbeck** , award-winning author of Amatka and Jagannath**
"Great characters and big moral questions that go far beyond your standard space opera." - Sarah Pinsker, Nebula Award-winning author of Our Lady of the Open Road *
About the Author
ADA HOFFMANN is a Canadian graduate student trying to teach computers to write poetry. Her critically acclaimed speculative short stories and poems have appeared in Strange Horizons , Asimov's , Uncanny , and two year's best anthologies. Ada was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at 13, and is passionate about autistic self-advocacy. She is a former semi-professional soprano, a tabletop gamer and an active LARPer, she lives in southern Ontario with a very polite black cat.