Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak

by Charlie Jane Anders

Overview

From the international bestselling author of All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders, comes Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak, the sequel to Victories Greater Than Death in the thrilling adventure Unstoppable series.

They'll do anything to be the people they were meant to be — even journey into the heart of evil.

Rachael Townsend is the first artist ever to leave Earth and journey out into the galaxy — but after an encounter with an alien artifact, she can't make art at all.

Elza Monteiro is determined to be the first human to venture inside the Palace of Scented Tears and compete for the chance to become a princess — except that inside the palace, she finds the last person she ever wanted to see again.

Tina Mains is studying at the Royal Space Academy with her friends, but she's not the badass space hero everyone was expecting.

Soon Rachael is journeying into a dark void, Elza is on a deadly spy mission, and Tina is facing an impossible choice that could change all her friends lives forever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250317391
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/05/2022
Series:	Unstoppable , #2
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	491,798
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Charlie Jane Anders is the author of Victories Greater Than Death, the first book in the Unstoppable trilogy, along with the short story collection Even Greater Mistakes. She's also the author of Never Say You Can't Survive, a book about how to use creative writing to get through hard times. Her other books include The City in the Middle of the Night and All the Birds in the Sky. She's won the Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon, Lambda Literary, Crawford and Locus Awards. Her fiction and journalism have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Slate, McSweeney's, Mother Jones, the Boston Review, Tor.com, Tin House, Teen Vogue, Conjunctions, Wired Magazine, and other places. Her TED Talk, "Go Ahead, Dream About the Future" got 700,000 views in its first week. With Annalee Newitz, she co-hosts the podcast Our Opinions Are Correct.

Editorial Reviews

11/01/2022

Gr 9 Up—Tina Mains has joined the Royal Space Academy, but she's neither the heroine they were expecting nor as center stage as she was in Victories Greater Than Death. Rachael Townsend, Tina's best friend and an accomplished artist, took control of an alien weapon with her mind which has left her unable to create art. Elza, Tina's trans love interest, is determined to enter the Palace of Scented Tears and leave it a princess. With the worldbuilding established, Anders here sets a larger plot in motion, and readers will be pleased to find that while everyone is preparing for war, our queer heroes are determined to find joy in their lives. VERDICT Anders improves upon her first installment with tighter writing and deeper characters; recommended for general purchase.

School Library Journal

2022-01-26
Tina and friends continue their space-faring adventures in Anders’ Unstoppable series.

In Victories Greater Than Death (2021), alien clone Tina Mains and her wholesome crew from the Indomitable faced immense evil and survived, but not without consequences. Tina’s best friend, Rachael Townsend, was once a talented artist, for example, but after using her mind to control “an ancient super-weapon at the head of a butterfly made of starlit threads,” she’s unable to draw a single image. A mysterious box might very well be the answer to her woes, but how? Meanwhile, Elza Monteiro is in the running to become a princess, but her journey is derailed by a familiar face. Tina, while not the sole protagonist of this installment, still features as she navigates the Royal Space Academy as a budding cadet. Fans of the first entry will certainly enjoy this sequel with its improvements in pacing and characterization and stronger writing; additionally, since she doesn’t need to introduce an entire cast and world, this time around the author can plunge directly into the action. White-presenting (when she appears as a human) Tina is dating Elza, who is Black and travesti, or trans. Queer identity is front and center as before, and a wide variety of life experiences and ethnic backgrounds play into the perspectives of the characters as they try to prioritize joy and growth in the midst of intergalactic war.

A queer space odyssey that avoids the sophomore slump. (Science fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Charlie Jane Anders and Victories Greater Than Death:

“A wickedly funny voice that the world really needs right now.” —LeVar Burton, Reading Rainbow, Roots, Star Trek

“Victories Greater Than Death is a gorgeous romp through the galaxy, full of fascinating aliens, true friendship, swashbuckling, space battles, and love.” —Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author

“We should all have such a crew to combat evil, and we should all have a Charlie Jane Anders book for when we’re ready to let some hope in again.” —Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of the And I Darken trilogy

“A story of enduring friendship, fighting for what's right, and the complications of claiming destiny—an effervescent, fast-paced journey through the stars.” —Veronica Roth, author of the Divergent series and Chosen Ones.

“A stunning, strange, and highly entertaining novel, one I hope ushers in a new wave of YA science fiction.” —Mark Oshiro

“Victories Greater Than Death bursts off the page, brimming with life, love, humor and adventure. It's Charlie Jane Anders's galaxy, we just live in it.” —Amie Kaufman, The Illuminae Files, The Aurora Cycle

From the Publisher