Countess

by Suzan Palumbo

Overview

A queer, Caribbean, anti-colonial sci-fi novella in which a betrayed captain seeks revenge on the interplanetary empire that subjugated her people for generations

Virika Sameroo lives in colonized space under the Æcerbot Empire, much like her ancestors before her in the British West Indies. After years of working hard to rise through the ranks of the empire’s merchant marine, she’s finally become first lieutenant on an interstellar cargo vessel.

When her captain dies under suspicious circumstances, Virika is arrested for murder and charged with treason despite her lifelong loyalty to the empire. Her conviction and subsequent imprisonment set her on a path of revenge, determined to take down the evil empire that wronged her, all while the fate of her people hangs in the balance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781778523021
Publisher:	ECW Press
Publication date:	09/10/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	168
Sales rank:	110,072
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Suzan Palumbo is a Trinidadian-Canadian dark speculative fiction writer and editor. Her short stories have been nominated for the Nebula, Aurora, and World Fantasy Awards. Her debut dark fantasy/horror short story collection, Skin Thief: Stories, is out now from Neon Hemlock. She lives in Brampton, ON.

Editorial Reviews

07/08/2024

This swashbuckling, planet-hopping riff on The Count of Monte Cristo from Palumbo (Skin Thief) follows Virika Sameroo, who, having emigrated as a child from the Exterran Antilles to Invicta, the capital planet of the Æerbot Empire, is determined to break through the poverty and prejudice that centuries of colonization have inflicted on her people. She becomes the first Exterran Antillean commissioned to an Æerbot spaceship, the Oestra—but as a woman and an Exterran, Virika is not trusted by her crew, and one officer in particular, Lieutenant Lyric, despises her for refusing his sexual advances. When Oestra’s captain falls ill and puts Virika in command, she brings the ship home to visit her mother and her lover. Their reunion is cut short when the captain dies—and Virika is arrested for his murder. Wrongfully sentenced to life in prison, she plots revenge against the empire. After escaping, briefly joining a band of pirates, and taking on the sobriquet the Countess, she leads the Antilleans into a rebellion against Invicta. Palumbo’s post-colonial space opera take on Dumas’s novel moves at a whiplash-inducing pace. Evocative descriptions, especially of food, add texture, though a late twist disappoints. It’s not perfect, but fans of speculative revamps of classics will find plenty to enjoy. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

This is a gripping, intense story of loyalty and betrayal, against a vivid backdrop of an interstellar rebellion through labor solidarity. I can’t wait to see what Palumbo writes next!” — Martha Wells, bestselling author of The Murderbot Diaries and Witch King

“Furiously compelling. Palumbo paints her star-spanning universe and its cast with fluid, natural strokes, then jams a meteor between imperial teeth and dares them to bite. A harrowing space opera journey of injustice and revenge worth every tensed nerve and desperate hope.” — Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth

“Palumbo has woven a richly textured, beautifully complex tapestry of betrayal, anger, and revenge. The keen edge of justified rage against colonization and colonizers is wielded with great skill in this dark, intense retelling.” — Premee Mohamed, World Fantasy and Nebula Award-winning author

“I love Suzan Palumbo’s short fiction, so when I heard she had a novella, I jumped at the chance to read it. Countess is a space adventure that maintains the hurtling energy of a pulp while highlighting the cultural complexity of diaspora and empire, the cruelty of a colonial future, and the bite of injustice. Grab it!” — Derek Künsken, author of The Quantum Magician and The House of Styx

“Palumbo’s post-colonial space opera take on Dumas’s novel moves at a whiplash-inducing pace ... fans of speculative revamps of classics will find plenty to enjoy.” — Publishers Weekly

“Countess is a heart-pounding story from Suzan Palumbo, who has been steadily building herself up as a writer to watch in the speculative space, and this is a book you won’t want to miss.” — Reactor

“Readers of Rebecca Roanhorse and Becky Chambers will be invested in this Afrofuturist novella.” — Booklist

From the Publisher

08/16/2024

Palumbo places The Count of Monte Cristo in space, where an empire thrives on the labor of refugees it claims to have rescued. Virika Sameroo is descended from Caribbean people relocated to resource-rich worlds, where they toil for the empire's profit. Her family emigrates, eventually giving Virika the opportunity to rise in the military ranks. Just as she feels she's made it, the racism she's learned to ignore rises up, and she is falsely convicted of murder. She is sentenced to die deep in a prison planet, losing her mother, her girlfriend, and her career all at once. In her cell, she learns despair and rage before gaining the chance for revenge. Though Palumbo's book is novella-length, she covers many of Monte Cristo's details while exploring revolution, workers' rights, and racism. The brevity of the novella is aided by the story's familiar foundation, coupled with passages of exposition. While this doesn't leave as much space for deep characterization, readers can easily fill in the gaps themselves. VERDICT Palumbo's debut novella, following the story collection Skin Thief, is a satisfying story of revenge and revolution that stokes the fire in readers.—Matthew Galloway

Library Journal