Truth of the Divine

The situation with intelligent extraterrestrials on Earth grows ever more complex in bestseller Ellis’s brilliantly considered follow-up to Axiom’s End, which finds human Cora and alien amygdaline Ampersand navigating a political minefield. While the world’s governments debate how many rights, if any, to extend to the amygdalines, unrest builds in the United States due to the lack of public information about the aliens. Out of the turmoil rises the Third Party, advocating a Third Option, a “proposed law that would create an entirely new category of personhood” and severely limit the amygdalines’ ability to function within the U.S. without a human chaperone, essentially classifying them as second-class citizens. As the party’s extremists grow increasingly violent, things are further complicated by the arrival of yet another amygdaline, this one determined to fulfill a suicide pact with Ampersand. Meanwhile, Cora and Ampersand cope with PTSD amplified by their dynamic fusion bond—and Cora realizes that Ampersand has been less than honest with her. Ellis draws skillful parallels between her science-fictional politics and real world issues, gracefully navigating the difficult topics of discrimination, violent extremism, mental health, and addiction. This thought-provoking novel will linger long in readers’ minds. Agent: Christopher Hermelin, the Fischer-Harbage Agency. (Oct.)