Thanks to the usual cast of suspects who held me when I was, predictably, freaking out over the book—Fox, Laura, Aileen, and Kalita. You helped soothe the worried weasel, and your unique flavors permeate the book in their own way. And thanks to Renee, who I was staying with when my agent’s notes came in for this book, and who was tolerant enough to let me read the revamped first three chapters of the book to her so I could see whether it made sense.
As always, thanks to my, uh, best friend, Angie.
Thanks to my father, who has been relentlessly supportive of my career. Thanks to Evan Gregory, my beleaguered agent, who told me, “You do realize that most space operas are about starship battles, not soup, right?” and yet boldly got out there to sell this unwieldy sucker. And thanks to my editor, Diana Pho, who clasped this odd little soup-book to her heart and brought it into the Tor fold. (And thanks to everyone else at Tor who helped push this book out the door.)
And hey! Thanks to you. You read this! In an age where there’s a new Marvel or Star Wars movie out every three minutes, that’s a very kind usage of your time.
But last, there’s thanks to the woman who I literally could not have done this without. The woman who, when I slouched upstairs to push the first 500 words of yet another novel into her hands, dropped everything to read it right then because she knew I’d stop writing if anyone else rejected me in any way. The woman who, when I said, “You know, we should spend lots of money to try eating at snooty Michelin-starred restaurants,” became more enthusiastic than I did because damn that woman loves fine cuisine. The woman who yelled at me when this novel started to drift off-track and wrenched The Sol Majestic back into shape.
I love you, Gini.
Arf.
Ferrett Steinmetz
@ferretthimself on Twitter
www.theferrett.com
Also by Ferrett Steinmetz
Flex
The Flux
Fix
The Uploaded
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
FERRETT STEINMETZ is a graduate of both the Clarion Writers’ Workshop and Viable Paradise. He was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2012 and the Compton Crook Award in 2015. He is the author of numerous short stories as well as the ’Mancer trilogy and The Uploaded. Ferrett lives in Cleveland with his very clever wife, a small black dog of indeterminate origin, and a friendly ghost.
Visit him online at www.theferrett.com, or sign up for email updates here.
Twitter: @ferretthimself
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
1. Three Days, Fifteen Hours, Thirty Minutes to Savor Station
2. After Sixty Minutes on Savor Station
3. After Ninety Minutes at Savor Station
4. The First Night at Savor Station
5. The First Morning at Savor Station
6. Three Hours to Find a Chef
7. The Third Day at Savor Station
8. Timeless, Until the Decision
9. Five Weeks, Three Days Until the Wisdom Ceremony
10. Five Weeks, Two Days Until the Wisdom Ceremony
11. Five Weeks, One Day Until the Wisdom Ceremony
12. One Afternoon Closer to the Wisdom Ceremony
13. Halting State
14. Five Weeks Until the Wisdom Ceremony
15. Four Weeks and Four Days Until the Wisdom Ceremony
16. Half an Hour Until the Party
18. There Is Only Now
19. Thirty Seconds Until Captain Lizzie
20. Three Hours Before Kenna Is Released from Jail
21. Three Weeks Until the Wisdom Ceremony
22. Three Hours Until the Escargone
23. A Long, Slow Infinity to Die In
24. Zero Seconds to Disappointment
25. Six Weeks in the Escargone
26. Unknowable Months in the Escargone
27. The Morning After
28. Two Weeks and Six Days to the Wisdom Ceremony
29. Two Weeks and One Day to the Wisdom Ceremony
30. Two Weeks to the Wisdom Ceremony
31. Two Hours Until the Wisdom Ceremony
32. Ninety Minutes Until the Wisdom Ceremony
33. One Hour Until the Wisdom Ceremony
34. Fifteen Seconds and/or Eight Minutes Before the Wisdom Ceremony
35. Wisdom
36. The Wisdom Ceremony
37. Five Minutes to Freedom
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Also by Ferrett Steinmetz
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE SOL MAJESTIC
Copyright © 2019 by Ferrett Steinmetz
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Roger Harris / Science Photo Library
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
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Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-16819-1 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-1-250-16818-4 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250168184
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First Edition: June 2019