12 new August science fiction and fantasy releases to help wind down summer
By Lacy Baugher
August 2021 release: In the Watchful City – S. Qiouyi Lu
In the Watchful City is a novella that explores borders, power, diaspora, and transformation in a way that many fantasy and science fiction readers may not have encountered before. Described as a mix of Lavie Tidhar’s Central Station and Catherynne M. Valente’s Palimpsest, the story is set in the futuristic city of Ora, where a complex and dreamlike network known as the Gleaming keeps tabs on its citizens.
Anima is one of the humans tasked with keeping watch over the city’s population through the Gleaming when a mysterious visitor arrives in Ora with a strange collection of objects. Through four items, which include a fish scale and a bundle of letters, this visitor tells a series of interconnected tales that expand Anima’s understanding of everything she thought she knew about the world around her and the purpose of her life.
The official synopsis describes the story as follows.
"The city of Ora uses a complex living network called the Gleaming to surveil its inhabitants and maintain harmony. Anima is one of the cloistered extrasensory humans tasked with watching over Ora’s citizens. Although ær world is restricted to what æ can see and experience through the Gleaming, Anima takes pride and comfort in keeping Ora safe from all harm. All that changes when a mysterious visitor enters the city carrying a cabinet of curiosities from around the world, with a story attached to each item. As Anima’s world expands beyond the borders of Ora to places—and possibilities—æ never before imagined to exist, æ finds ærself asking a question that throws into doubt ær entire purpose: What good is a city if it can’t protect its people?"
In the Watchful City is available on August 31.