Shortlisted for the 2019 Locus Award for Best SF Novel and the British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novel.
From award-winning author Gareth L. Powell, the second book in the critically acclaimed Embers of War space opera series.
The former warship Trouble Dog and her crew of misfits are called upon by the House of Reclamation to investigate a distress call from the human starship the Lucy’s Ghost, whose crew have abandoned their crippled ship to seek refuge aboard an abandoned, slower-than-light generation ship launched ten thousand years before by an alien race. However, the enormous ship contains deadly secrets of its own.
Recovered war criminal, Ona Sudak, faces a firing squad for her actions in the Archipelago War. But, at the last moment, she is smuggled out of her high security prison. The Marble Armada has called for her to accompany its ships as observer and liaison, as it spreads itself across the human Generality, enforcing the peace at all costs. The alien ships will not tolerate resistance, and all dissenters are met with overwhelming and implacable force. Then her vessel intercepts messages from the House of Reclamation and decides the Trouble Dog has a capacity for violence which cannot be allowed to endure.
As the Trouble Dog and her crew fight to save the crew of the Lucy’s Ghost, the ship finds herself caught between chaotic alien monsters on one side, and on the other, destruction at the hands of the Marble Armada.
“A fast, entertaining read.” – Locus Magazine
“Delivers big-stakes space opera told on an intimate scale… A fun and fulfilling read in the best space-opera tradition.” – Barnes & Noble
“A great book that contains everything expected of the genre and more besides.” – Starburst Magazine
“Fleet of Knives is brimming with everything that makes a space opera epic—fast-paced chases through space, unseen enemies bursting from the pages unexpectedly, deep characters who struggle with their high-stakes lives, and a galaxy-scale setting. All together, it makes for an exciting, no-holds-barred ride through space.” – Reviews & Robots