The Fourth Consort
A Novel
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4.5 • 46 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A new standalone sci-fi novel from Edward Ashton, author of Mickey7 (the inspiration for the major motion picture Mickey 17).
Dalton Greaves is a hero. He’s one of humankind’s first representatives to Unity, a pan-species confederation working to bring all sentient life into a single benevolent brotherhood.
That’s what they told him, anyway. The only actual members of Unity that he’s ever met are Boreau, a giant snail who seems more interested in plunder than spreading love and harmony, and Boreau’s human sidekick, Neera, who Dalton strongly suspects roped him into this gig so that she wouldn’t become the next one of Boreau’s crew to get eaten by locals while prospecting.
Funny thing, though—turns out there actually is a benevolent confederation out there, working for the good of all life. They call themselves the Assembly, and they really don’t like Unity. More to the point, they really, really don’t like Unity’s new human minions.
When an encounter between Boreau’s scout ship and an Assembly cruiser over a newly discovered world ends badly for both parties, Dalton finds himself marooned, caught between a stickman, one of the Assembly’s nightmarish shock troops, the planet’s natives, who aren’t winning any congeniality prizes themselves, and Neera, who might actually be the most dangerous of the three. To survive, he’ll need to navigate palace intrigue, alien morality, and a proposal that he literally cannot refuse, all while making sure Neera doesn’t come to the conclusion that he’s worth more to her dead than alive.
Part first contact story, part dark comedy, and part bizarre love triangle, The Fourth Consort asks an important question: how far would you go to survive? And more importantly, how many drinks would you need to go there?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Humor, interspecies diplomacy, and unexpected alliances enliven this zippy sci-fi romp from Ashton (Mickey7). Set nearly 20 years after the galactic Unity confederation approached Earth about joining, the narrative finds former soldier and engineer Dalton Greaves disillusioned, unemployed, and newly single. When scientist Nee recruits him for a job as one of Unity's first earthling emissaries, he reluctantly joins the crew of Boreau, a giant snail-like alien. Their mission is to make first contact with a newly discovered sentient species, the minarch, described as looking like "the bastard child of a tarantula and a velociraptor." Dalton must convince the minarch to join Unity before Unity's rival organization, the arrogant, technologically superior Assembly, can do the same. While Dalton and Assembly foot soldier Breaker, who stands less than five feet tall with a "wolf-like" head, are on the planet for negotiations, Boreau and the Assembly destroy each other's ships in orbit, marooning them. During negotiations, the minarch queen, First Among Equals, astonishingly offers to make Dalton her consort. His answer must be diplomatic and honorable considering that in this society males have no rights—and that the last consort was eaten. Ashton strikes an impressive balance of humor, action, and thought-provoking sci-fi concepts. It's a lot of fun watching his eccentric characters navigate sticky situations.
