The Immortality Thief

July 11, 2022
Replete with action and humor, Hunt’s fast-moving debut sends a droll protagonist into the heart of a scientific mystery aboard a derelict spaceship. In this expansive far-future world, the alien Ministers, who conquered and subjugated humanity, are locked in conflict with the human Republic, which has rebelled. When snarky human criminal Sean Wren is charged with attempted murder, he avoids conviction by agreeing to a dangerous secret mission ordered by a shady Republic Senator: retrieving data from a thousand-year-old abandoned spaceship orbiting a star about to go nova. Wren’s history in salvage and skills with ancient languages make him uniquely suited to find and decipher the logs of the ship’s Philosopher Stone experiments, which reportedly found the secret to eternal life. But both the Ministers and the Republic are on the hunt for this information as well—and all factions must contend with the strange and vicious life-forms that have called the ship home for the past millennia. Hunt weaves together an inventive tale of political intrigue, held together by Wren’s clever humor as he uses his powers of deduction to weasel his way out of danger time and again. With plenty of twists along the way, this proves a rollicking page-turner. Agent: Hannah Bowman, Liza Dawson Associates.

Starred review from August 1, 2022

DEBUT This is a unique blend of space opera and horror, complete with nerve-wracking claustrophobia and insights into the ethics of experimentation. Sean Wren is a refugee who lost his homeland due to the conflict between the Ministers and the Republic. He's forcibly sent off to an abandoned and broken-down spaceship that is packed with monsters, enemies, and secrets while it idles next to a dying star that's about to blow. As a talented linguist who knows the dead language Ameng, his mission is to recover mysterious scientific data. To navigate this labyrinthine ship of horrors, the impish and lovable Sean has no choice but to team up with his enemies, specifically the stony and deadly Minister Indigo and the ruthless and determined Republican Lieutenant Lantern-Eyes. Hunt's perfect balance of humor, viciousness, and soul-searching results in an emotional rollercoaster of a novel, where laugh-out-loud comedy competes with heartbreaking tragedy. VERDICT Hunt's debut is fun, fast-paced, cutting-edge, and full of epic twists, with a highly accessible writing style. Fans of Andy Weir and Martha Wells will love it.--Andrea Dyba

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