Axiom's End (Noumena Series #1)

by Lindsay Ellis

Overview

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The alternate history first contact adventure Axiom's End is an extraordinary debut from Hugo finalist and video essayist Lindsay Ellis.

Truth is a human right.

It’s fall 2007. A well-timed leak has revealed that the US government might have engaged in first contact. Cora Sabino is doing everything she can to avoid the whole mess, since the force driving the controversy is her whistleblower father. Even though Cora hasn’t spoken to him in years, his celebrity has caught the attention of the press, the Internet, the paparazzi, and the government—and with him in hiding, that attention is on her. She neither knows nor cares whether her father’s leaks are a hoax, and wants nothing to do with him—until she learns just how deeply entrenched her family is in the cover-up, and that an extraterrestrial presence has been on Earth for decades.

Realizing the extent to which both she and the public have been lied to, she sets out to gather as much information as she can, and finds that the best way for her to uncover the truth is not as a whistleblower, but as an intermediary. The alien presence has been completely uncommunicative until she convinces one of them that she can act as their interpreter, becoming the first and only human vessel of communication. Their otherworldly connection will change everything she thought she knew about being human—and could unleash a force more sinister than she ever imagined.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250256737
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/21/2020
Series:	Noumena Series , #1
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	275,163
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

LINDSAY ELLIS is a New York Times bestselling author, Hugo Award finalist, and video essayist who creates online content about media, narrative, literature, and film theory. After earning her bachelor's in cinema studies from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, she earned her MFA in film and television production, with a focus in documentary and screenwriting, from USC's School of Cinematic Arts. She lives in Long Beach, California. Her debut novel, Axiom's End, was an instant New York Times bestseller.

Editorial Reviews

04/20/2020

Communication and trust are matters of life and death in Ellis’s thoughtful, fast-paced debut. In 2007, two meteorites strike the Los Angeles area within the span of one month and a leak reveals that the U.S. government is aware of extraterrestrial life on earth. Cora Sabino, the whistleblower’s daughter, is abducted by one of these life-forms shortly thereafter. Cora makes a deal to interpret for her abductor, Ampersand, the alien who arrived with the first meteorite whose language she’s able to understand thanks to his advanced technology. She hopes to use her ability to communicate with Ampersand to bargain for her father’s safety from the government. But soon, Cora’s caught in the middle of an interspecies alien conflict as Obelus, who arrived in the second meteorite, hunts down the Fremda group, refugees who arrived on Earth 40 years earlier. Cora and Ampersand bond while working together, but can Cora really trust a being whose conception of morality is so different from her own? Though a too-quick ending is somewhat unsatisfying, the powerful connection that grows between Cora and Ampersand as they teach each other about their respective cultures is masterfully done. Lovers of character-focused sci-fi will find plenty to enjoy in this gripping alternate history. Agent: Christopher Hermelin, the Fischer-Harbage Agency. (July)

Publishers Weekly

2020-05-04
Ellis, a Hugo-nominated media critic and YouTube star, finds alien encounters in our not-too-distant past.

It’s 2007, but not the 2007 you remember. In this timeline, a meteor has struck Los Angeles—at least that’s what the government wants people to believe. Rogue conspiracy theorist Nils Ortega has convinced his followers that the so-called “Ampersand Event” was actually the arrival of an alien spacecraft. College dropout Cora Sabino isn’t convinced. She learned long ago not to trust anything her estranged father has to say. But then her mother and siblings disappear the same night she’s attacked by something that clearly isn’t human….“First contact” stories are almost as old as science fiction. These narratives are varied in their details—both H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds and the 1970s sitcom Mork & Mindy qualify—but they all revolve around the initial encounter between humans and an alien intelligence. At its best, science fiction isn’t really about extraterrestrials and advanced technology, though; instead, it deploys these devices to talk about us in the here and now. Like countless authors before her, Ellis uses first contact to interrogate our tendencies toward xenophobia and prejudice and challenge our conceptions of what humanity means. She also explores trauma and its aftereffects. Nils’ crusade for government transparency and questions about privacy feel contemporary without adding much depth. The same goes for references to financial crisis. The heart of the novel is the relationship between Cora and the part-biological, part-synthetic entity she calls Ampersand. What begins with a physical attack and an abduction turns into a partnership and, ultimately, a deep friendship. As Cora helps Ampersand navigate life on Earth, she learns more about his world and his past. Ellis doesn’t break new ground here, and her prose is uneven. The injections of quirky humor feel particularly strained. But this hits all the necessary notes for a first contact narrative, and this trope might be fresh for at least a portion of Ellis’ fan base.

This is a solid, if not especially imaginative or polished, science fiction debut.

Kirkus Reviews

"Axiom's End is somehow deeply aware of not just what it is to be human, but what it is to be any intelligent species. It's as real as any first-contact story I have ever read. Wonderfully plotted and paced, the adventure never lets up, and neither does the insight." —Hank Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

"So much fun. Lindsay Ellis's experience as one of our sharpest cultural observers gives Axiom's End an edge of realism that makes it both cutting and compelling. Close encounters have a whole new look."
—John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author and Hugo Award winner

"Axiom's End is eerily plausible and wildly entertaining. An alternate history that fully delivers on its premise." —Caitlin Doughty, New York Times Bestselling Author and Mortician

"Lindsay Ellis's storytelling is what good science fiction should be: smart but heartfelt, full of profound ideas delivered with a sense of humanity. Axiom's End is engaging precisely because it is about something all of us have experienced: That moment when you grow up enough to realize that the universe is more wondrous—and dangerous than you could ever have imagined."
—David Wong, New York Times bestselling author

"Axiom's End: if you enjoy first contact tales, alien cultures, inexplicable found families, beautiful chaos and elegantly constructed stories." —Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author and Hugo Award Winner

"Suspenseful and inventive, but also funny and full of action, Axiom’s End remixes the Hollywood alien-invasion playbook." —Patrick Rapa, Philadelphia Inquirer

"Communication and trust are matters of life and death in Ellis’s thoughtful, fast-paced debut...the powerful connection that grows between Cora and Ampersand as they teach each other about their respective cultures is masterfully done. Lovers of character-focused sci-fi will find plenty to enjoy in this gripping alternate history." —Publishers Weekly

"At its core, Axiom's End is warm-hearted...For all of its drama and philosophical conundrums, Ellis's book is ultimately about the power of empathy and kindness in a universe that never has enough of either." —Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"A moving first contact thriller...touching on issues of prejudice and xenophobia along the way, Axiom’s End is the engaging first volume of a projected series." —The Guardian (UK)

“Axiom’s End is the most relatable sci-fi novel in years…if you want to read a serious sci-fi novel that feels like it was written by a fan who understands the pop culture side of fandom, you're in good hands…It’s a heartfelt story of alien first contact, but, luckily, unlike so many “big idea” sci-fi books, it’s utterly unpretentious…You’ve read other books about similar things, but you’ve never read them from this perspective.” —Syfy Wire

“Axiom’s End has gripping action scenes, but the bulk is an examination of language and what it means to communicate at all. Ellis’ endless literary knowledge shines through." —San Francisco Chronicle

From the Publisher