Perfectly aligned for readers of Ian M. Banks’s The Culture series and Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” The Sixth Nik is a galaxy spanning adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of Whalefall and Angel Down.
Deep into space, far past the triworld outposts, beyond range of the lethal trollbot internet, soars The Sickness: a ship woven from biomatter and capable of reacting to every need of its human crew. Sisilla, a nine-year-old cultist with a brain enhanced by arcane tech known as “niks,” has boarded to investigate the enigma of Fém—a plague-riddled planet that has abruptly gone rogue.
The mysterious crew includes a faceless assassin, a beautiful engineer jigsawed by plastic surgery, a peyote-addicted medic, and—most lethal of all—a rugged, NonModded captain with a score to settle with Sisilla. Other dangers abound. A hacked robot begins to believe Sisilla is its daughter. The Sickness itself is mutating, possibly even pregnant. And the secret of Fém is more horrific than anyone could have imagined. To survive, Sisilla will need to forsake her predetermined fate and embrace the unknown.
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“Strange and intense and impossible to look away from, this is sf at its most daring.”
Booklist
“Meticulous scientific fact and bold science fiction. The result is sharp, complex, and gripping.”
Publishers Weekly
“Melds intense body horror with in-depth universe-building, backed up with scientific and philosophical discussions at the level of Andy Weir’s The Martian. Both thought-provoking and viscerally horrific (physically, emotionally, and ethically), Kraus’s latest is sure to spawn fascinating discussions.”
Library Journal
“The redefinition of body horror. People will tell you this book is like drugs. The truth is that it is drugs.”
Meg Elison, Philip K. Dick Award and Locus Award-winning author of Number One Fan
“Fiercely unpredictable and dizzyingly undefinable at times, this bristles with an intensity and a magnetism I cannot help but envy. The Sixth Nik feels like nothing I’ve ever read before… A bold, utterly propulsive masterpiece.”
Eric LaRocca, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
“Completely and utterly destroyed me. A ridiculously awesome book, with a shattering finale.”
Crime Reads
“A beautiful hybrid of sci-fi and horror.”
Capes & Tights