Suzanne Palmer in Person

Join us on Tuesday, June 9 at 7 PM as Suzanne Palmer launches her new novel, Ode to the Half-Broken. She will be joined in conversation by Elizabeth Bear.

In the abandoned New York Botanical Gardens, forty years after the world nearly ended, a worn-out robot is attacked, and realizes old evils are stirring
Wrestling with themes of loneliness, connection, and purpose, this hope-punk sci-fi is for fans of Becky Chambers’s Monk & Robot duology—featuring a cyborg dog!
Thirty years ago the world nearly ended.
Be was there, but the old robot has since settled into a life of isolation in the abandoned New York Botanical Gardens, determined to forget their role in that cataclysmic conflict.
But then they wake up in a bathtub. And their leg is missing. And the only one to ask for help is a very chatty cyborg dog. Be may want to forget the world, but it seems the world hasn’t forgotten them.
Forced out of solitude, Be embarks on a quest to reclaim their leg, accompanied by that talkative (read: smart-ass) dog and a human mechanic with nightmares of her own. Their motley crew soon discovers that recovery from the war is uneven and faltering, and Be begins to suspect a malicious hand trying to rekindle old conflicts. In order to stop them, Be needs to come to terms with both their own past and who they have become. Being left alone is no longer an option, and peace may be impossible.
A tale of resilience and hope, this is an ode to those struggling to become whole in a world half-broken.

Suzanne Palmer is a multiple Hugo Award-winning Science Fiction/Fantasy author who lives in western Massachusetts. By day she is a Linux systems administrator for the Sciences at Smith College. "Ode to the Half-Broken" is her fifth novel, a stand-alone work set in the not too distant future about a retired war mech and a cyborg dog navigating a world that has fallen apart and is trying to pull itself back together, as unseen foes try to push it back to the brink.

Elizabeth Bear was born on the same day as Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, but in a different year. She is the recipient of the 2005 Astounding Award (Formerly the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer) and the author of over 30 novels and more than a hundred short stories.
Her notable works include the Jenny Casey series (2005), comprising Hammered, Scardown, and Worldwired, which were collectively Locus Award winners for Best First novel; Carnival (2006), recipient of a special citation from the Philip K. Dick Award; "Tideline" (2007), winner of the Hugo Award for Best Short Story, the Sturgeon Award, and the Asimov Reader's Poll; "Shoggoths in Bloom" (2008), winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novelette; and Machine (2020), a Dragon Award nominee.
Her most recent books are The Folded Sky (2025), a space opera set in her White Space universe (nominated for the Dragon and Locus Awards), and Angel Maker (2025), a sequel to 2015's gaslamp/steampunk cult classic Karen Memory.
She is currently nominated for a Hugo Award for best series for the White Space novels.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College Street, South Hadley, United States

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