Quietus

TRISTAN PALMGREN has been a clerk, a factory technician, a university lecturer, a cashier, a secretary, a retail manager, a rural coroner’s assistant. In his lives on parallel Earths, he has been an ant farm tycoon, funeral home enthusiast, professional con-artist impersonator, laser pointer chaser, and that guy who somehow landed a trademark for the word “Avuncular.” Jealous. He lives with his wife, Teresa, in Columbia, Missouri.

"In this ambitious and intelligent novel, Palmgren takes the staples of science fiction – post-apocalypse, first contact, interventionism – and integrates them seamlessly, breathing new life into familiar forms. A truly outstanding debut." – NYT bestselling author Una McCormack; "A cast of well-drawn characters and a narrative that is initially tightly focused but rapidly expands to encompass the stars draw the reader into this ambitious tale of intrigue, conspiracy and adventure. Quietus has the trappings of space opera but plays around with so much more; it's an impressive debut that marks the author as one to watch." – Ian Whates, author of Pelquin's Comet; "Palmgren's debut immerses the reader in the rat-infested, plague-ravaged streets of 14th-century Europe then flips the narrative to a dizzying scale as the characters uncover layer upon layer of deception, examining what it is to be human along the way. A fine piece of SF and WTF." – Susan Murray, author of The Waterborne Blade