New Book Spotlight

Majera

A mini-interview with Gideon Marcus

Tell us about your new book?

At long last, Majera, the fourth book in The Kitra Saga is complete!

Why is a series’ fourth book such a big deal? Well, because this one concludes Part One of the Saga. The first four books tell a complete story (of course, each book is complete unto itself, too). Kitra saw Kitra Yilmaz and her friends catapulted ten light years from home in their century-old starship. That challenge turned a group of chums into a crew.

In Sirena, they took their first paying contract, escorting a space princess to find a new colony world for her people—discovering the half-dead sleeper ship, Émilie du Châtelet, along the way. And in Hyvilma, racing back to civilization to save Pinky after a savage attack by space pirates, Kitra finds herself embroiled in an insurrection against the empire.

It all sounds very juvenile and space opera, doesn’t it? I promise, it’s not. The science is hard, the relationships are complicated and real, the found family sentiment pervasive. And a lot of clichés are getting subtly subverted.

But what about Majera? Well, this fourth book wraps up most of the threads unspooled in the first three books. There’s a new adventure, of course—a silent planet’s mystery to unlock, but in addition, there’s a wonky hyperdrive to test, considerable trauma to recover from, and a relationship pentangle to untangle.

What aspect of the book was the most fun to write?

If it wasn’t figuring out how to include an asexual blob in your polycule, then I suppose was deciphering an inscribed alien ball. That section takes up nearly a fifth of the book, and I was worried it would bore my readers. One of my reviewers said it was the most thrilling thing I had written to date.

If there is one emotion or theme that you would hope that the reader connects with, what would that be?

Love. Love for each other. Love for the other. Platonic love. Romantic love. Spiritual love. Anti-chauvinistic love.

Kitra, Pinky, Marta, Peter, Fareedh—they all go through a lot, and what holds them together, keeps their vision keen, is that basic, humanistic, positive love for everything.

And I hope folks love this book! I think it sticks the landing; I hope y’all will let me know.