Finalist for the 2022 Nebula Award for Best Novel!
Finalist for the 2022 Philip K. Dick Award!
My debut novel Plague Birds is now out from the award-winning small press Apex Books. Plague Birds is a genre-bending mix of science fiction and dark fantasy and the epic tale of a young woman betrayed into becoming one of the future’s hated judges and executioners, with a killer AI bonded to her very blood.
The novel can be ordered from the following places:
Translations
Praise for Plague Birds
“Without a doubt, one of the best science fiction novels in recent years ... A story with a very well-constructed lore, from the past events that have led to chaos and a great war, the creation of this new post-apocalyptic civilization and its rules, and the lack of a great leader or government where life is almost like the Middle Ages under the control of the IAS. It becomes a fierce critique of humanity, which has played at being gods without analyzing the subsequent consequences.” — Monica Grau Seto, Nueva Tribuna
"A standout work within the panorama of contemporary science fiction. Its blend of technology, mysticism, ethics, and human emotions creates a deeply satisfying reading experience. It's a book that challenges the reader, poses questions without easy answers, and builds a world that remains in the memory long after the last page has been read." — Distopolis
"A masterpiece in world-building, Plague Birds is a wildly imaginative thrill ride set in a weird future populated by biogenetically engineered human/animal hybrids, benevolent and malevolent AIs, alien forces and—strangest of all—plague birds, powerful arbiters of justice who are bonded to AIs that course through their veins. An action-packed and riveting page-turner, I couldn’t put it down." —Mercurio D. Rivera, World Fantasy Award-nominated author
"Such a perfect blend of sf and fantasy weaving memory, loss, technology, and family into a wholly unique tapestry that left me turning the pages just to see what he would do next" —Maurice Broaddus, author of Pimp My Airship and Kingmaker
"A book thick with bloodlines of family, friendship, and history. This is truly Jason Sanford at his finest: a story with real bite. Its characters are so clear and so real that I laughed with them, cried with them, and sat gripping the final pages because I didn’t want to let them go. With cities that come alive (literally) and prose with personality, Plague Birds is a book that I’ll be thinking about for days, months, years to come." —Jordan Kurella, author of the forthcoming novel I Never Liked You Anyway
"For his debut novel, Plague Birds, Sanford has written a lush speculative fiction epic set in a post-apocalyptic world. Filled with genetically enhanced humans and AIs, the story centers on a reluctant heroine-turned-plague bird who must investigate the past to create a new future. Readers desperate for characters who transform tragedy into hope will love how Sanford weaves seemingly disparate threads to a thrilling climax and satisfying conclusion." —Monica Valentinelli, author of the Firefly Encyclopedia
"In this fun and thrilling far-future story where towns are sentient, monks are cannibalistic, and AIs are both gods and jerks, Jason Sanford explores how trust is still a characteristic of the human condition, even if that being is not what we recognize as human at all." —LaShawn M. Wanak, editor of GigaNotoSaurus