Nicole Kornher-Stace is the author of the Norton Award finalist Archivist Wasp and its sequel, Latchkey. Her short fiction has appeared in Uncanny, Clarkesworld, Fantasy Magazine, and many anthologies. Her latest books are the adult SFF thriller Firebreak (Saga Press, 2021) and middle-grade space adventure Jillian Vs Parasite Planet (Tachyon Publications, 2021). She lives in New Paltz, New York, with her family. Kornher-Stace can be found online on Twitter at @wirewalking.
Lit Hub 21 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books to Look Forward to in 2023 Cyborg Boxcar Children vs. the nanomachines, only make it a character study in possibility, heartache, sacrifice, and friendship. Wonderful. --Max Gladstone, author of Last Exit Kornher-Stace finds a perfect balance between human childhood and otherworldliness by making us fall for the myth and propaganda surrounding 06 and 22 while also making them deeply human, if only deep down. A burning ember of humanity in the midst of overwhelming propaganda. --Bookish Brew's Reviews Kornher-Stace masterfully weaves a deviously creative romp that is somehow both nail-bitingly suspenseful and tenderly cozy, as if the authors of How to Win the Time War had decided to set The Boxcar Children in Snow Crash's tongue-in-cheek hyper-capitalist dystopia. Flight & Anchor is a stunning achievement, one that hauls on the heartstrings as it tickles the brain with the effervescent prose of a Beat master, sure to bust through even the toughest reading slump--though I definitely expect no less from this must-buy author. --Maria Dong, author of Liar, Dreamer, Thief We join twelve-year old super-soldier operatives and inseparable BFFs 06 and 22, years before they'll inspire a people's rebellion in Firebreak, centuries before their exploits will influence the post-apocalyptic Archivist Wasp. On the lam from the cruel program that created them, they're capable of astonishing feats of heroism and destruction, but they're also lost kids who only have each other to rely on. Kornher-Stace's nail-biting novella, full of Easter eggs for fans of her expanding universe, keeps us grounded in stakes that are both world-shattering and movingly human. --Mike Allen, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of Aftermath of an Industrial Accident Nicole Kornher-Stace's Flight & Anchor pulls you along with the speed of a dystopian freight train. Taking the weaponized childhoods of kids like Ender and blending in a touch of Hanna-style rebellion against the mother organization, Kornher-Stace draws you into a story not only of survival but of calculated surrender to drive the best possible outcome. --Kimberly Unger, author of Nucleation Nicole Kornher-Stace deftly--exquisitely--balances the lightness of classic runaway-child books (Boxcar Children! From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler!) with the savagery of survival-in-the-wilderness books (Hatchet! Robinson Crusoe!) to entertaining and harrowing effect. --C. S. E. Cooney, author of Saint Death's Daughter Praise for Firebreak A fight song in praise of fierce friendship and the strength to endure. --Amal El-Mohtar, author of This is How You Lose the Time War A steadfast heroine stands up against a tyrannical corporation in this vivid work of dystopian sci-fi. . . . The effortlessly detailed worldbuilding is captivating. --Publishers Weekly [Firebreak] is a fire that does what literary fires do best: spits rage, radiates the warmth of compassion, and fans the flame of revolution. --C. S. E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Bone Swans: Stories Praise for Archivist Wasp [STARRED REVIEW] A ravishing, profane, and bittersweet post-apocalyptic bildungsroman transcends genre into myth. ?Kirkus Kornher-Stace exhibits immense fluidity and grace of prose. ?Locus Like Kafka by way of Holly Black and Shirley Jackson, but completely original. --Jeff VanderMeer, author of the Southern Reach trilogy Praise for Latchkey Excruciating, cathartic, and triumphant. --Kirkus Reviews Latchkey is a masterful example of sustained tension within. --Den of Geek Fierce, blazing, brilliant. --Jacqueline West, author of The Books of Elsewhere series