Lessons in Birdwatching

by Honey Watson

Overview

A smart sci-fi epic interwoven with political intrigue; set on a dystopian world ravaged by a time-plague where a brutal murder will start a civil war.

Perfect for fans of Dune, A Memory Called Empire and Ninefox Gambit.

During their temporary research post on Apech – a planet ravaged by a time distorting illness – Wilhelmina Ming and four other elite students of the Crysthian empire have witnessed such illogical brutality that they’ve resorted to psychedelic antidepressants and group sex to take the edge off. After a night of indulgence following a gruesome execution, they wake to find an oblique warning in the form of an impaled corpse dangling from the exterior of their residence.

When their subsequent investigation uncovers a web of collusion and conspiracy in the ranks of their own diplomatic corps, the envoys find themselves caught in the middle of a bloody civil war. As bodies pile up above ground, a deranged fanatic stokes an existential threat below, coaxing the embers of a forgotten god, and its temporal virus, to life.

File Under: Science Fiction [ Timing is all | Amateur heroics | Body of God | Birdsong ]

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781915202536
Publisher:	Watkins Media
Publication date:	08/08/2023
Pages:	312
Sales rank:	243,366
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

HONEY WATSON is a doctoral candidate with the Department of Comparative Literature at New York University, from which she is expected to graduate in 2022. She holds a BA in Ancient History from University College London, an MA in Chinese Literature from Peking University, and an MPhil in Comparative Literature from NYU. Her research is centered around Sino-Soviet science fiction and the Bildungsroman, with a particular interest in biopolitics and Marxist thought. She is a published translator of both fiction and critical theory, with several Mandarin to English articles appearing in Brill’s Frontiers of Literary Studies in China. She has also endured a mercifully short career as a presenter of Chinese sports TV and can now be found living between Brooklyn and Las Vegas. You can follow her on Twitter @Benegotherit where she posts to more than 53,000 followers.

Editorial Reviews

06/05/2023

Watson debuts with a disorienting and gruesome work of far-future science fiction set on the distant planet Apech, where five students take up temporary research positions in the midst of a civil war involving elusive god-magic and mysterious time distortions. As the group bears witness to the violence and surrealism of life on Apech, they take refuge in sex and drugs. Watson drops readers into the deep end of this wild worldbuilding with little explanation, expecting them to sink or swim. By the time it’s clear who all the characters are (many go by more than one name), readers may have missed important plot details. Adding to the confusion is the nature of the magic system itself: gods exist in this universe, and there’s talk of “deimancers” who can control or destroy them, but one particular god affects time, creating illusions of things that appear as if they’re about to happen and sometimes do, and sometimes don’t. It makes for a very slippery narrative punctuated by moments of gore and gross-out horror. Readers will need to be up for a challenge to get into this one. Agent: James Mustelier, Bent Agency. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"This intelligent and immersive sci-fi epic delivers a thrilling exploration of power, morality, and the unyielding pursuit of truth in a world consumed by time. Brace yourself for a gripping narrative of survival, sacrifice, and the intertwining forces of destiny and free will."
– SciFiNow

"With echoes of Dune splashed with urban fantasy, horror, and dystopian mystery, Watson’s debut is wildly haunting and original."
– Booklist

From the Publisher