These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs is $3 in the US (
Kobo,
Amazon)
First in a trilogy. Just won the 2024 Philip K. Dick Award award given for paperback originals.
Wizards vs Lesbians podcast review (begins with a non-spoiler section.)
Quote:
A dangerous cat-and-mouse quest for revenge. An empire that spans star systems, built on the bones of a genocide. A carefully hidden secret that could collapse worlds, hunted by three women with secrets of their own. All the while, someone hunts them in return. This is an explosive space opera debut from one of the most powerful new voices in science fiction.
On a dusty backwater planet, occasional thief Jun Ironway has gotten her hands on the score of a lifetime: a secret that could raze the Kindom, the ruling power of the galaxy.
A star system away, preternaturally stoic Chono and brilliant hothead Esek— the two most brutal clerics of the Kindom—are tasked with hunting Jun down.
And tracking all three across the stars is a ghost from their shared past known only as Six. But what Six wants is anyone’s guess. It’s a game of manipulation and betrayal that could destroy them all. And they have no choice but to see it through.
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