Up Against It

Book cover for Up Against it by Laura J Mixon, the 26 April 2022 edition. It is a rectangle 138 x 197 pixels wide and tall, respectively. The prominent white title plate is a geometric shape, a bit like a sharp-edged speech bubble. The text on the title plate reads "Tor Essentials" with the Tor Books logo (a silhouette of a mountaintop). Below the logo is the title, "Up Against It," in large type, and below that, "with a new introduction by James S. A. Corey, author of the bestselling Expanse novels," in smaller type. At the bottom is the author's name, "Laura J. Mixon," and in small text below that, in parentheses, "writing as M. J. Locke." The artwork behind the title plate is a striking depiction of an asteroid in the aftermath of an attack. The largest rock looms ominously overhead in the foreground, with smaller ejecta scattered about. In the background are what look like cables or rails, backlit by a blue glow: the lights from a large approaching spaceship, perhaps, though no ship is visible within the frame.
Up Against It, a novel in the WAVE series. Copyright 2011, 2022 by Laura J Mixon.

Up Against It is a disaster novel set four hundred years from now, deep in interplanetary space.

A group of hardy souls has carved out a life for themselves in a remote asteroid cluster, Phocaea. Among them are Geoff, a teen rocketbiker who can’t seem to keep out of trouble, and Jane, head of resource management, whose decisions can mean life or death for her fellow ’stroiders.

When an explosion wipes out nearly all their methane ice—the source of their energy, air, and water—the Phocaeans’ lives are changed forever. Worse, the disaster was sabotage—and it spawned a rogue artificial sapient that is wreaking havoc in their computer systems.

The citizens of Phocaea have only three weeks to live—unless they can outwit the saboteurs, subdue the feral artificial sapient, and replace their missing ice stores in time.

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Up Against It is the first book in WAVE, a trilogy about the struggle for survival, and meaning, for the scattered humans—and other intelligent species, both analog and digital—in a future, settled solar system.

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Read a Review   [_Publishers Weekly_]

Free Sample  [_Up Against It  (excerpt, Chapters 1-5) (PDF)_]

[_Order the New Edition_]
Out from Tor Essentials on April 26, 2022. Fabulous new cover art, and a foreword by James S.A. Corey, author of the bestselling The Expanse novels.

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What the critics say…

Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Compulsively readable… Mixon has created a believable ecosystem of struggling, competing, sometimes uncomfortably interacting components, where trust is betrayed painfully, but allies appear unexpectedly.
“Most of all, this smart, satisfying hard SF adventure celebrates human resilience.”

Kirkus Books
“Disaster threatens the survival of an asteroid colony in Mixon’s part thriller, part survival epic… Mixon’s precariously wild frontier is inventive and intensely realized; her characters do dirty-hands jobs and aren’t afraid of making difficult decisions.
“Gripping, well-rounded hard sci-fi, satisfyingly concluded while nicely poised for sequels.”

Library Journal
“A refreshing blend of hard sf and topical issues, with a resilient heroine who faces her challenges with resourcefulness and courage.
“Fans of technically sound sf should enjoy this well-constructed adventure.”

Booklist
“Thrills, action, real characters that you come to care about, and a true sense of what it would be like to live in a space colony—Mixon has given all these.
“Here’s hoping to see more books from this writer.”

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More praise…

“Manages to be both original—full of smart new ways of looking at science fiction ideas—and old fashioned—full of the kind of whiz-bang action-adventure that made so many of us fall in love with the field in the first place.” —Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother

“Smart, fast, and with engineering to die for, Up Against It begins like a rigorous 21st century take on ‘The Cold Equations’ and twists into a compelling sf thriller. Mixon’s extravagantly detailed future never loses sight of the human cost of the choices people make and the brutal political games they play. There are no easy outcomes, but there are heroes. This is a fine novel.” —Kate Elliott, author of Cold Magic

“Crisp prose and actual, believable characters.” —Katharine Kerr, author of the DEVERRY novels

“Starts with a bang and only gets more intense in the pages that follow. Mixon fills the novel with the exciting, mind-bending combination of action and wild ideas that makes for the best SF.” —Jane Lindskold, author of The Firekeeper Saga

“Rigorous extrapolation with an imaginative flair, characters you can care about, and clean, lean, muscular prose are some of the hallmarks of Laura J. Mixon, a bright light on the science fiction scene. Fans of hard SF will eat this up and shout for more.” —George R. R. Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire

“Mixon combines the science of asteroid settlement with a tale of adventure and intrigue in this impressive, well-realized novel set on the solar system’s low-gravity frontier. Recommended.” —Linda Nagata, author of Goddesses

“A fast-paced, gripping story, with strong, memorable characters fighting for the survival of their city.” —Martha Wells, author of The Murderbot Diaries

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