Lindsay Ellis in conversation with Amal El-Mohtar

J oin us for an evening with author and video essayist Lindsay Ellis to celebrate Apostles of Mercy, book three in the Noumena series, in conversation with Amal El-Mohtar, co-author of the New York Times bestselling This Is How You Lose the Time War.

"Apostles of Mercy takes an already terrific series to new heights. It's equal parts interstellar warfare, geopolitical thriller, and hard-earned romance, with a gripping ending."—Emily St. James, co-author of Monsters of the Week: The Complete Critical Companion to The X-Files and writer for Yellowjackets

First Contact has not been going well.

The nations of Earth are rapidly militarizing against the arrival of the Superorganism, an alien civilization that promises to destroy humanity before it can develop into a real threat. The Superorganism has done it before–to their distant transient relatives, the rebel Superorganisms–and they could easily do it again. But the alien Ampersand and his human interpreter and liaison Cora Sabino are done with trying to save humanity from both the Superorganism and itself; to them, this is a civilization that does not deserve to be saved.

When a strange new form of communication between the two of them reveals to Cora how alien Ampersand truly is, she begins to question her blind devotion–to say nothing of the wisdom of fleeing Earth with him. But she soon learns of a danger that may force them to leave before either of them are ready: a group of superorganism enemies that been wreaking havoc on Earth for decades. Existence on the margins has made them desperate, hungry, and bent on revenge against any of Ampersand's race whose path they cross. Before Cora and Ampersand can make their final escape, these hostile aliens stage an attack, and take that which is most dear to both of them.

Ampersand's enemies will not consider any form of truce; the greatest threat to them is not from the Superorganism, but from an increasingly fearful and violent human civilization newly aware of their existence, and they will not hesitate to destroy humanity before it destroys them. Cora and Ampersand must go to extreme measures to take back what was stolen and prevent wholesale human extermination–but in doing so they may be no better than the civilizations they are trying to escape.

There will be a book signing with Lindsay Ellis and Amal El-Mohtar following the discussion. You can include a copy of Apostles of Mercy with your ticket purchase!

Lindsay Ellis is an author and video essayist on media, narrative, and film theory, and also co-writes and co-hosts the fiction-focused web series It's Lit! for PBS Digital Studios. You can find her on twitter @thelindsayellis, on instagram @namebrandlindsayellis, and on YouTube www.youtube.com/user/chezapoctube

Amal El-Mohtar writes fiction, poetry, and criticism. She won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards for her short story “Seasons of Glass and Iron” and again for her novella This Is How You Lose the Time War, written with Max Gladstone, which also won the BSFA and Aurora awards, became a New York Times bestseller, and has been translated into over ten languages. Her reviews and articles have appeared in the NYT and on NPR Books. She lives in Ottawa, Canada. Online at: amalelmohtar.com.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Macbeth, 70 Hoxton Street, London, United Kingdom