Orbit bags Emily Tesh's 'epic and intimate' debut novel

Little, Brown science fiction and fantasy imprint Orbit has snapped up fantasy author Emily Tesh's "phenomenal" debut novel, Some Desperate Glory.

The narrative follows Kyr, a young soldier who has been trained since birth to avenge the destruction of Earth at the hands of an all-powerful alien weapon called the Wisdom. When Command assigns her brother Magnus to a useless suicide mission, and vows to bear sons or die trying, she knows she must take humanity's revenge into her own hands. But she soon learns that not everything she has been raised to believe is true, and the Wisdom is far more complex and dangerous than she could ever have imagined.

Commissioning editor Emily Byron acquired world rights in a two-book deal from Heather Shapiro at Baror International, on behalf of Kurestin Armada at Root Literary. It is set to publish in October 2022.

Byron said: "Some Desperate Glory is the space opera of my dreams, full of complex characters and boundless imagination. By turns epic and intimate, it had me gripped from first page to last, and manages to combine hugely high stakes with one of the best character arcs I’ve seen. It is a phenomenal debut and we are thrilled to welcome Emily to Orbit."

Tesh, a two-time Astounding Award finalist, is the author of the World Fantasy Award-winning novella Silver in the Wood and the sequel Drowned Country. She said: "Some Desperate Glory is the most ambitious book I have ever written. It’s an intensely character-driven story about survival and escape and growth; a story that begins in a very dark place in order to find a way out. The villain of Kyr’s journey is Kyr herself, and I am thrilled to share her bad adventures with the world."