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by Khan Wong
An intense and thoughtful time-travelling dystopian fantasy where three individuals, psychically linked through time, fight enslavement, exploitation, and environmental collapse. A great read for fans of Emily St. John Mandel.
In the year 2106, climate change has altered the world, transforming borders, cities, and socioeconomic structures. Additionally, a cosmic event known as the "Bloom" has awakened psionic abilities in a small percentage of the population.
One such individual is Maida Sun, who possesses the ability to know the history of objects she touches. In the course of her new job with a cultural recovery project in San Francisco, she comes across an object that plunges her into the lives of Li Nuan, a sex-trafficked girl in a Chinatown brothel in 1906 longing for freedom, and Nathan, a tech-designer and hedonist in 2006 seeking greater purpose.
When a chance encounter with a political leader's watch reveals a plan to eliminate psions – people like her – Maida must find a way to stop his agenda before it gains traction.
Flashes of the past and glimpses of the future provide Maida, Li Nuan and Nathan clues to help their own situations as they, each in their own way, confront exploitation and fight for liberation while living under the specter of environmental collapse.
"[P]owerful...While not shying away from themes of climate collapse and oppression, Wong also uses his well-shaded characters to highlight the courage it takes to effect change even in one's small corner of the world. This stirring novel is an inspiration during trying times." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"These vivid worlds will make your mind expand and maybe burst; these flawed wonderful characters will make your heart ache and maybe break." —Sam J. Miller, Nebula-Award-winning author of Blackfish City
"Khan Wong brings past and future into intimate conversation with this thought-provoking and ultimately hopeful novel, weaving together three very different lives across time. Down in the Sea of Angels is a poignant exploration of the resilience of compassion, humanity's (re)connection with the earth, and the bright beacon of community in dark times." —Ren Hutchings, author of Under Fortunate Stars
This information about Down in the Sea of Angels was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Khan Wong has published poetry, played cello in an earnest folk-rock duo, and been an internationally known hula hoop teacher and performer. He's toured with a circus and produced circus arts shows in San Francisco, where he also worked as a grantmaker with a public sector arts funding agency. His debut novel, The Circus Infinite, was a finalist for the Lambda LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction Award 2023 and long-listed for the BSFA Best Novel Award.
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