Xích Si: bot maker, data analyst, mother, scavenger. But those days are over now-her ship has just been captured by the Red Banner pirate fleet, famous for their double-dealing and cruelty. Xích Si expects to be tortured to death-only for the pirates' enigmatic leader, Rice Fish, to arrive with a different and shocking proposition: an arranged marriage between Xích Si and herself.

Rice Fish: sentient ship, leader of the infamous Red Banner pirate fleet, wife of the Red Scholar. Or at least, she was the latter before her wife died under suspicious circumstances. Now isolated and alone, Rice Fish wants Xích Si's help to find out who struck against them and why. Marrying Xích Si means Rice Fish can offer Xích Si protection, in exchange for Xích Si's technical fluency: a business arrangement with nothing more to it.

But as the investigation goes on, Rice Fish and Xích Si find themselves falling for each other. As the interstellar war against piracy intensifies and the five fleets start fighting each other, they will have to make a stand-and to decide what kind of future they have together...

Our Illumicrate Exclusive edition is a Royal hardback with a signed bookplate by Aliette de Bodard, and features:

• Exclusive cover variant
• Artwork endpapers, different front and back, by Alyssa Winans
• Foil embossing on the hardback
• Ombre sprayed edges
• Digital author letter

The book at a glance:

• Adult science fiction standalone
• F/F romance, lesbian main character, diverse queer identities, Vietnamese-inspired and queer normative world
• You'll love this if you like... lesbian space pirates, sentient spaceships and Vietnamese-inspired galactic empire

Items included in the full box option:

• Paths of Fate mug inspired by The Song of Achilles with artwork by Rosie Thorns
• Griffin Antiquities jewellery case inspired by Crescent City, designed by Alice Maria Power
• Burning Kingdoms chain pin inspired by The Jasmine Throne, designed by Chloe @ no0nedesigns
• Multi-fandom Strike a Bargain desk calendar, designed by Chatty Nora with artwork by Po @ polarts

Tropes for The Red Scholar's Wake include: Space Opera, Marriage of convenience

Shortlisted for the 2023 BSFA Award for Best Novel, shortlisted for the 2023 Arthur C. Clarke Award!

Photo credit to @rebireads