Synopses & Reviews
Long ago, so the stories say, the old-fathers came to Nanagada through a worm's hole in the sky. Looking for a new world to call their own, they brought with them a rich mélange of cultures, religions, and dialects from a far-off planet called Earth. Mighty were the old-fathers, with the power to shape the world to their liking---but that was many generations ago, and what was once known has long been lost. Steamboats and gas-filled blimps now traverse the planet, where people once looked up to see great silver cities in the sky. Like his world, John deBrun has forgotten more than he remembers. Twenty-seven years ago, he washed up onto the shore of Nanagada with no memory of his past. Although he has made a new life for himself among the peaceful islanders, his soul remains haunted by unanswered questions about his own identity. These mysteries take on new urgency when the fearsome Azteca storm over the Wicked High Mountains in search of fresh blood and hearts to feed their cruel, inhuman gods. Nanagada's only hope lies in a mythical artifact, the Ma Wi Jung, said to be hidden somewhere in the frozen north. And only John deBrun knows the device's secrets, even if he can't remember why or how! Crystal Rain is the much-anticipated debut novel by one of science fiction's newest and most promising talents.
Review
"An alive, exciting story. Crystal Rain is a great launch to Buckell's career as a novelist; more, please!"
Review
"Crystal Rain is refreshing and imaginative, an exotic stew of cultures, myths, and technology."
Kevin J. Anderson
Review
"War, intrigue, and some pretty twisty SF surprises staged in an unusual cultural setting."
Review
"
Crystal Rain is refreshing and imaginative, an exotic stew of cultures, myths, and technology."--Kevin J. Anderson
"There's a nova in the skies: Tobias S. Buckell is a dazzling new voice, and Crystal Rain is an explosive debut. Read it!"--Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award--winning author of Hominids
"A cracking adventure yarn from an exciting new writer."--Cory Doctorow, author of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town on Crystal Rain
"An alive, exciting story. Crystal Rain is a great launch to Buckell's career as a novelist; more, please!"--Nalo Hopkinson, author of The Salt Roads
"War, intrigue, and some pretty twisty SF surprises staged in an unusual cultural setting--Crystal Rain is a promising debut for Tobias S. Buckell."--Janny Wurts, author of Traitor's Knot
Review
"A cracking adventure yarn from an exciting new writer."
Review
"There's a nova in the skies: Tobias Buckell is a dazzling new voice, and Crystal Rain is an explosive debut."
Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author
Review
"There's a nova in the skies: Tobias S. Buckell is a dazzling new voice, and Crystal Rain is an explosive debut. Read it!"--Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Hominids "Crystal Rain is refreshing and imaginative, an exotic stew of cultures, myths, and technology."--Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author "Crystal Rain conjures a vividly imagined world, spiced with intrigue and adventure that unfolds at a breakneck pace."--Booklist "Caribbean-born Buckell's debut captures the flavor of Afro-Caribbean culture in the lilting dialog of his characters and in their customs."--Library Journal (starred review) on Crystal Rain
Review
“Theres a nova in the skies: Tobias S. Buckell is a dazzling new voice, and
Crystal Rain is an explosive debut. Read it!” —Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of
Red Planet Blues“[An] enjoyable SF debut. . . . Buckell handles his interlocking narratives well and his characters retain their humanity (even the slightly alien ones).” —Publishers Weekly
“Buckells promising debut. …a twist that adds a sci-fi edge to this tales mythological underpinnings.” —Philadelphia Inquirer
Review
“Buckells debut captures the flavor of Afro-Caribbean culture in the lilting dialog of his characters and in their customs. An original tale with distinctive characters and a fresh approach to worldbuilding, this SF quest belongs in most libraries.”
—Library Journal, starred review
“Crystal Rain conjures a vividly imagined world, spiced with intrigue and adventure that unfolds at a breakneck pace.” —Booklist
“A cracking adventure yarn from an exciting new writer.”
—Cory Doctorow, author of Homeland
“Even non-sci-fi readers will be bowled over.... Violent, poetic, and compulsively readable.” —Macleans (Canada)
Synopsis
Crystal Rain is the much-anticipated debut novel by one of science fiction's newest and most promising talents.
Synopsis
Long ago, so the stories say, the old-fathers came to Nanagada through a worm's hole in the sky. Looking for a new world to call their own, they brought with them a rich mélange of cultures, religions, and dialects from a far-off planet called Earth. Mighty were the old-fathers, with the power to shape the world to their liking---but that was many generations ago, and what was once known has long been lost. Steamboats and gas-filled blimps now traverse the planet, where people once looked up to see great silver cities in the sky. Like his world, John deBrun has forgotten more than he remembers. Twenty-seven years ago, he washed up onto the shore of Nanagada with no memory of his past. Although he has made a new life for himself among the peaceful islanders, his soul remains haunted by unanswered questions about his own identity. These mysteries take on new urgency when the fearsome Azteca storm over the Wicked High Mountains in search of fresh blood and hearts to feed their cruel, inhuman gods. Nanagada's only hope lies in a mythical artifact, the Ma Wi Jung, said to be hidden somewhere in the frozen north. And only John deBrun knows the device's secrets, even if he can't remember why or how! Crystal Rain is the much-anticipated debut novel by one of science fiction's newest and most promising talents.
Synopsis
A thrilling science fiction tale—now featuring brand-new cover art Legends say that the forefathers of Nanagada fled a far-off star to their new home. They say that the sky once hummed with metal flying machines and palatial floating cities. But then the Azteca came. Created and driven by cruel, inhuman gods, they swarmed out of the sky in search of sacrificial blood, and worse. To defeat them and their gods, the forefathers burned the sky. The cities and machines fell to the ground, useless.
In the centuries since, Azteca have kept to their side of the mountains in an uneasy truce. But now it has been broken. Only one man can stop their bloodthirsty march: John deBrun. His family scattered, John holds the key to an ancient secret deep in memories lost just before he was dragged unconscious from the sea years ago….
If he can stay alive long enough to uncover them, he might be able to stop the destruction of Nanagada.
Crystal Rain is the first novel by one of science fictions newest and most promising talents. Now featuring brand new cover art.
About the Author
Tobias S. Buckell is the author of Halo: The Cole Protocol, Sly Mongoose and Ragamuffin. His books have been finalists for the Nebula Award, the Prometheus Award, and the Romantic Times Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. He hails from the Caribbean, where as a child he lived on boats in Grenada and the British and U.S. Virgin Islands. When he was a teenager, his family moved to Ohio after a series of hurricanes destroyed the boat they were living on, and he attended Bluffton University in Bluffton, Ohio, where he still lives today. Buckell fell in love with science fiction at a young age, reading Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov novels when he was seven years old. He is now a full-time author and freelancer.