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Megan E. O’Keefe 2025 Novel
Description
A search for a missing person uncovers a galaxy-spanning conspiracy in this thrilling standalone space opera from award-winning author Megan E. O’Keefe.
The Black Celeste is a ghost story. A once-legendary spaceship collecting dust in a cosmic graveyard known as the Clutch. Only famed pirate Bitter Amandine knows better, and she’ll do anything to never go near it again. No matter the cost.
The Black Celeste is a ghost story. A once-legendary spaceship collecting dust in a cosmic graveyard known as the Clutch. Only famed pirate Bitter Amandine knows better, and she’ll do anything to never go near it again. No matter the cost.
Faven Sythe is crystborn, a member of the near-human species tasked with charting starpaths from station to station. She’s trained to be a navigator her entire life. But when her mentor disappears, leaving behind a mysterious starpath terminating in the Clutch, she is determined to find the truth. And only Amandine has the answers.
What they will find is a conspiracy bigger than either of them. Their quest for the truth will uncover secrets Amandine has long fought to keep buried – secrets about how she survived her last encounter in the Clutch, and what’s really hidden out there amongst the stars…
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Praise
"O’Keefe delivers a captivating exploration of identity in this smart, addictive space adventure full of intrigue, visceral danger, and deeply personal stakes. Come for the epic sci-fi action, stay for the charmingly broken characters just doing their best."
—J. S. Dewes, author of The Last Watch on The Blighted Stars
"Full of deftly-plotted twists and turns, The Blighted Stars is a body-hopping, zombie-popping, rock-licking thrill ride."
—Emily Skrutskie, author of Bonds of Brass on The Blighted Stars
"The story’s environmental themes are handled very well (O’Keefe gives the reader much to think about without sounding didactic); the characters are lively; and the writing is full of energy. A very promising series launch."
—Booklist on The Blighted Stars
"The Blighted Stars yields enjoyable adventure full of romantic tension and alien mystery."
—Wall Street Journal
"The Blighted Stars is everything I want in a book: lots of action, lots of character, and lots of heart. Megan E. O’Keefe delights with every page, from her stunning action sequences set on alien planets to her exploration of the twisted pathways taken by the human heart. This is space opera for the ages, wrapped in complicated and delicious layers of family and loyalty and science and love and duty. I couldn’t put it down!"
—Karen Osborne, author of Architects of Memory
"Thrilling, yearning, and paranoid. This book kept me up way too late!”
—Max Gladstone, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author on The Blighted Stars
"The Blighted Stars is a delightfully twisty space opera filled with unique worldbuilding and deft explorations of humanity, family, and power. Add in a dash of rebellion and a hint of romance, and I'm hooked—I can't wait for the next book!”
—Jessie Mihalik, author of Hunt the Stars
"Megan O’Keefe’s new novel begins in the middle of a sudden attack on a spaceship and never once lets up, moving at breakneck speed through danger after deadly danger: zombie-like misprints, a crash-landing on the wrong planet that has a bad habit of collapsing underneath you, and enemies everywhere as the pampered prince of a dynasty and the revolutionary who’s determined to take it down battle to stay alive--and solve a mystery. I know it’s a cliché to say 'You won’t be able to put it down,' but that’s exactly the effect The Blighted Stars has on you! Riveting adventure at a rocketing pace, with engaging characters thrown in for good measure!"
—Connie Willis, author of Doomsday Book
"Emotional arcs and action sequences, vivid worldbuilding, and interesting explorations of body printing and corporate servitude provide an immersive story...O'Keefe's latest has the intrigue, surprises, and high stakes of her previous novels."
—Library Journal on The Blighted Stars