Valerie Valdes

“This…is a space opera that takes place after a war. The main character, Kel, is a refugee who has holed up on a planet, like Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars. She’s a hermit, and she doesn’t want to deal with anything. The love interest in this book is Dare. He is a former soldier, and eventually she discovers this. The two of them are very similar, in terms of having a stoic personality and a wry sense of humor that emerges at unexpected times. They tend to be very quiet, but in a fight, they will go all out. They both are sword fighters, but Dare is a brute-force, giant sword guy while Kel has a more sword-and-board technique using a shield. She is more of a bodyguard; he is more of a whirlwind. Unbeknownst to each other, they are enemies from opposite sides of the previous war. They do have to overcome their distrust and that underlying enmity while acknowledging their mutual attraction. And they have to fight back to back, because that’s what battle couples do!” Read more...

The Best Fantasy Novels With Battle Couples

Valerie Valdes, Novelist

“This is really good, fun, brilliantly well written, and the characters stay with you. One of our judges said that they went back and immediately started reading this one again—this, out of hundreds of books. So that’s praise.” Read more...

The Best Science Fiction of 2021: The Arthur C Clarke Award Shortlist

Tom Hunter, Journalist