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Some Desperate Glory

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Some Desperate Glory

By: Emily Tesh
Narrated by: Sena Bryer
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About this listen

'Masterful, audacious storytelling'
Tamsyn Muir, New York Times-bestselling author of Gideon the Ninth

'An outstanding novel . . . one of the debuts of the year' Locus

'Deserves a space on shelves alongside genre titans like Ursula K. Le Guin and Octavia Butler'
Publishers Weekly

A thrillingly told space opera about the wreckage of war, the family you find, and the path you must forge when every choice is stripped from you. Some Desperate Glory is the highly anticipated debut novel from Astounding Award and World Fantasy Award-Winner, Emily Tesh.

All her life, Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the destruction of planet Earth. Raised on Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet.

Then Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to the nursery to bear sons, and she knows she must take humanity's revenge into her own hands. Alongside her brother's brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, Kyr must escape from everything she's ever known. If she succeeds, she will find a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could ever have imagined

'A profoundly humane and brilliantly constructed space opera that will have you cheering, swearing, laughing, and ugly-crying. It's perfect' Alix E. Harrow, New York Times-bestselling author of The Once and Future Witches

'This book is astoundingly good. An explosive and extraordinary story that I couldn't stop reading and will never forget' Everina Maxwell, author of Winter's Orbit

2024, Arthur C Clarke Awards, Short-listed

2024, Hugo Award Best Novel category, Short-listed

©2023 Emily Tesh (P)2023 Hachette Audio UK
Adventure Fiction Military Science Fiction Space Opera Time Travel Revenge

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All stars
Most relevant  
I loved this story, the narrator was excellent too. The main character developed through their experience in the story and the other characters were complex rather than simple "goodies" and "badies".

Refreshingly unique take on military space opera

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I couldn’t stop listening, a worthy winner of the Hugo award and rightly sits alongside the greats of Sci fi.

Brilliant story brought to life by the narrator.

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Enough twists and turns and moral dilemmas to keep me listening hours on end. The narration was very good!

Unexpected and thoughtprovoking

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This was an enjoyable book but I did not like the narration - I found the way she emphasised words/shaped sentences irritating. Listen before you buy to save yourself potential annoyance.

Listen to the audio sample first

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I’m going to finish this as it’s promising BUT the narration is awful. Like an AI.

The awful narrator

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I'm one of those hopeless reviewers who always leave 5 stars if they enjoyed a book, but if I could leave 6 I would for this one.

The performance was obviously done with a lot of care and appreciation for the book itself so I want to start off by applauding Sena Bryer for that - they clearly have a fantastic range.

The setting is brilliant - Emily Tesh clearly did her research when it came to radicalisation and fascist society and it really shows. I'm not a huge sci-fi reader but I definitely enjoyed and felt the reality of the world and galaxy she created.

The characters are another point where I think Some Desperate Glory stood out - without delving into spoilers the book offers multiple perspectives that allowed them the flourish and develop in ways that I always felt sci fi sometimes struggles with.

Loved the book, loved the narration, loved the characters

6/6 stars

Absolutely Phenomenal

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Whewwwwww this book is so great and great narration too! If you love problematic queers going through the horrors of the worst of humanity (and I guess beyond humanity) but also love a laugh and the good ok found family trope (yeah) then gwan gewl.

Shout out to queer space operas gotta be one of my favourite genres

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world building and depth were very shallow. some concepts were interesting but the characters and story lacked sufficient development and realism. i would say its suitable for a young adult reader in schooling age like harry potter or mazerunner. very relatable to a young adult

mildly entertaining but shallow

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That was very cool! The story took unexpected turns, was well-paced for the most part and by the end you're so attached to the characters that you don't want it to end. It does end though, in a very satisfying way. This book has great action scenes and interesting, thought-provoking ideas, everything I like in a sci-fi novel. And good queer representation as a bonus!

Military space opera but without glorifying the military

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Very good and fascinating space opera. Maybe a little bit longer than it needed to be but good read

Good story and world building

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