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Liepman Literary Agency
Marc Koralnik
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English
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COMPANY TOWN

Madeline Ashby

The much-anticipated debut from an up-and-coming science fiction writer, this brilliant, twisted mystery about a woman who must choose whether to rescue a town or herself is one of i09's “40 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books That Will Rock Your World In 2016” and an Amazon Best Book of the Month for May
They call it Company Town—a city-sized oil rig off the coast of the Canadian Maritimes, now owned by one very wealthy, powerful, byzantine family: Lynch Ltd. Hwa is of the few people in her community (which constitutes the whole rig) to forego bio-engineered enhancements. As such, she's the last truly organic person left on the rig—making her doubly an outsider, as well as a neglected daughter and bodyguard extraordinaire. Still, her expertise in the arts of self-defense and her record as a fighter mean that her services are yet in high demand. When the youngest Lynch needs training and protection, the family turns to Hwa. But can she protect against increasingly intense death threats that seem to be coming from another timeline?
Meanwhile, a series of interconnected murders threatens the city's stability and heightens the unease of a rig turning over. All signs point to a nearly invisible serial killer, but all of the murders seem to lead right back to Hwa's front door. Company Town has never been the safest place to be, but now the danger is personal.

MADELINE ASHBY is a science fiction writer, futurist, speaker, and immigrant living in Toronto. She writes a column for the Ottawa Citizen. She has written narrative scenarios and science fiction prototypes for organizations like Intel Labs, the Institute for the Future, SciFutures, Nesta, Data & Society, and others. Her short fiction has appeared in Nature, FLURB, Tesseracts, Imaginarium, and Escape Pod. Her other essays and criticism have appeared at BoingBoing, io9, WorldChanging, Creators Project, Arcfinity, and Tor.com.
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Published 2016-07-01 by Tor

Comments

“What really makes the novel succeed as a thriller is that protagonist, the tough-as-nails martial arts expert Hwa . . . Ashby deftly introduces an escalating series of solid hard science-fiction ideas, ranging from global warming to cyborgs, spaceships and even possible multiple timelines”

“The skill with which Ashby introduces her various SF elements is worthy of the best Heinlein . . . . Company Town never falters in its pacing. It's a terrific ride.”

“The world is an updated version of Raymond Chandler's, with gray morals and broken characters, and Hwa's internal monologue has just the right balance of introspection and wit . . . [a] very solid page-turner.”