Supernova

Physicist C.A. Higgins follows up her gripping debut, Lightless, with a focused and spellbinding sequel, Supernova. The spacecraft Ananke--a newly born artificial intelligence--must learn to cope with her immense power and burgeoning moral sense. Althea, the mechanic, computer expert and AI mother, sees her influence over the ship slipping away as Ananke relies more on computer logic than human emotion in interactions with other crews and spacecraft. When Althea takes drastic measures to rein the ship back under her control, the battle of wills turns horrifying and deadly.

Constance, known as Huntress, travels the solar system on her own ship, fighting a bureaucratically totalitarian government whose reach spreads across the solar system. Her control of the resistance force, however, begins to fray at the edges while she attempts to rid the planets of anyone allied with the government. Weathering uneasy alliances and outright betrayal, she discovers the true price of single-minded, violent fanaticism.

Higgins unapologetically places strong women in the foreground of a cosmic power struggle; she writes resilient female characters who make their own plans and decisions, unfettered by the influence of men. Constance may take into account the perspectives of her male allies, but she chooses her own direction, while Althea alone must come to terms with her singular role in Ananke's upbringing.

With Supernova, Higgins explores the literal astronomical meaning of the title, along with more metaphorical implications, as both the resistance and Ananke's powerful amoral intelligence come to a possibly explosive end. --Rob LeFebvre, freelance writer and editor

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