title: Planetfall (A Planetfall Novel)
author:  Emma Newman 
description: <b>Praise for <i>Planetfall</i></b><br><br>&ldquo;Cathartic and transcendent.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>The New York Times<br><br></i>&ldquo;An exceptionally engaging novel that explores the complex relationship between mythology and science...Surprising plot turns and richly developed characters make for a vivid, riveting read.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>The Washington Post<br><br></i>&ldquo;I have been waiting for this book for a very long time. <i>Planetfall</i> is gripping, thoughtful science fiction in the vein of Tiptree or Crispin. Unique, timely, and enthralling...Emma Newman has crafted a story that turns inward on itself in a beautiful spiral; the written equivalent of the golden mean.&#160; Absolutely worth your time. Science fiction is meant to show us things about ourselves that we need to know.&#160;<i>Planetfall</i> is some of the finest sociological science fiction I have read since Tiptree...Absolutely beautiful. What a glorious, heartbreaking maze of a book.&rdquo;&mdash;Seanan McGuire, author of <i>A Red Rose Chain<br><br></i>&ldquo;Newman has crafted a thrilling tale of murder, mystery and madness on a world where humanity is still its own worst enemy. Horrifying and heartbreaking in equal measure, the catastrophe driving this narrative will keep you riveted until the very last page. Don&rsquo;t miss this one.&rdquo;&mdash;Kameron Hurley, author of the&#160;<i>The Mirror Empire<br><br></i>&ldquo;A fascinating and propolsive tale about what could happen when actual humans try to settle a planet and about how little protection technology can really offer in the face of our inherent weaknesses.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>Locus<br><br></i>&ldquo;Incredibly well-realized world building...Thrilling.&rdquo;&mdash;io9.com<br><br>&ldquo;Builds and builds to this remarkable crescendo...The ending had me breathless...an awesome book.&rdquo;&mdash;Roxane Gay, author of <i>An Untamed State<br><br></i>&ldquo;Think&#160;<i>Interstellar</i>, think&#160;<i>Prometheus</i>. We have a destiny waiting for us among the stars, and now it's calling to us. A great genre debut, and beautifully written: an unfolding alien mystery, and complex, utterly believable characters. You will want to believe.&rdquo;&mdash;Stephen Baxter, National Bestselling Author of&#160;<i>Ultima<br><br></i>&ldquo;Filled with wonders, revelations, and edge-of-the-seat suspense, <i>Planetfall</i> is a fascinating, heartbreaking exploration of love and loneliness set against an awe-inspiring backdrop. An instant classic of the genre.&rdquo;&mdash;Gareth L. Powell, BSFA Award-winning author of&#160;<i>Ack-Ack Macaque<br><br></i>&ldquo;A strange but mesermizing book in which almost nothing is as it seems...Reeads at once like a character study, a mystery, a hard science-fiction tale about the colonists on an alien world, and a surrealist science fiction about alien life. Above all, this is a novel about the price of secrets.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>RT Book Reviews<br><br></i>&ldquo;This heartbreaking adventure is a tragedy of science and faith...[Newman]&#160;carefully manages her pacing until events make each revelation as inevitable as it is destructive.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>Publishers Weekly</i>
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  # [Acknowledgments](toc01.html)
  
  
  Thanks first and foremost to Lee Harris, my editor, who has been an excellent
  friend and given good advice throughout the ups and downs of my career to
  date. It’s great to be working with you again, Lee!
  
  
  Thanks to my agent, Jennifer Udden of the Barry Goldblatt Literary Agency, for
  sanity checks and edits.
  
  
  And, of course, thanks always to Peter. For everything.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # [About the Author](toc01.html)
  
  
  ![EmmaNewman.png](EmmaNewman.jpg)
  
  
  Photograph by Lou Abercrombie
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **EMMA NEWMAN** writes dark short stories and science fiction and urban
  fantasy novels. She won the British Fantasy Best Short Story Award 2015, and
  _Between Two Thorns,_ the first book in Emma’s Split Worlds urban fantasy
  series, was short-listed for the British Fantasy Best Novel and Best Newcomer
  2014 awards. Her first science fiction novel, _Planetfall,_ was published by
  Roc in 2015. Emma is an audiobook narrator and also cowrites and hosts the
  Hugo-nominated, Alf