DESTROYER OF LIGHT

The myth of Hades’ abduction of Persephone, Demeter's daughter, inspires a dark, poetic tale of struggling human colonists and ambiguously motivated aliens on a distant planet.

In Brissett’s short novel Elysium (2014), overlapping narratives chronicled the invasion of Earth by the krestge, hostile and inscrutable multidimensional beings who poisoned our world and murdered or mutated most of humanity. The survivors embarked on a centurieslong journey to the planet Eleusis only to be followed there by the krestge, now offering peace. Deidra, genetically modified to encourage the growth of kremer, a protein-loaded grain vital to the settlers, loses her daughter, Cora, to the marauding rebel army of Dr. Aidoneus Okoni. Okoni vehemently distrusts the krestge’s intentions and plans to weaponize the girl’s unique power to shift into another dimension against them. Years later, Cora (renamed Stefonie and now unhappily married to Okoni) is unexpectedly let loose in the city of Oros to carry out the final phase of his plan. Will Stefonie remain faithful to the mysterious orders given by her abusive, unstable husband, or will she make a break for freedom? Is going home even possible for her? Meanwhile, twin investigators bound by a strong psychic link search for a missing boy whose parents—one human, one krestge—are clearly not saying all they know about his disappearance. Skipping back and forth across the timeline of the story, Brissett uses the alien setting to explore contemporary issues, including racism (the gifted are feared and despised; some attempt to “pass” by obscuring the glowing irises that indicate their psychic talents), the complexities of allyship, and the trauma experienced by child soldiers. The author’s updated take on a classic myth is both clever and entertaining, particularly in her placement of Hecate, goddess of the crossroads, as the sentient interface to the Lattice, the planetary internet and defensive grid, and her characterization of the Hermes-analog as a shuttle pilot named Freddie (as in Mercury).

Richly developed and profound, able to serve both as a stand-alone and a surprising follow-up to the previous work.