Dear Emma Newman,
It’s tempting to ask, “Where have you been all my life?” but I already know the answer to that question. Until 2013, you had only one published work, a 2011 anthology of short stories
Then the floodgates opened. Since 2013 you’ve published five books in your Split Worlds urban fantasy series, four books in your Planetfall sci-fi series, and two books in your Industrial Magic steampunk series.
So you’re a relatively new and very prolific author. Still, it seems a shame that I only learned about you this year.
I heard about the Planetfall series through one of the women in my book group. Based on her recommendation, we decided to read the first book, for which the series was named.
As soon as I finished Planetfall, I started gobbling up the other books.
Your vision of the near future is believable. It’s not hard to see how in a matter of decades corporations might run governments; humans might have a small station on Mars; food, clothing and other items might be printed on 3-D printers; and most people might choose to be chipped, making cellphones and similar technology virtually obsolete. Because you looked at current trends and envisioned a future based on these trends, you built a very credible world.
I love the fact that each of your books features a different protagonist. Your characters are complex and believable. You write about their struggles with such sensitivity that I wasn’t surprised to discover you have a background in psychology.
Your plots are also masterful. In Planetfall, you drop clues, then shock us as we realize just where these clues were leading. After Atlas is completely different — a murder mystery set on Earth — and the detective’s personal story is even more surprising than what he learns during his investigation. Told through the eyes of geologist and artist Anna, Before Mars hands us a conundrum: Is Anna sane, and if she is, what exactly is going on? With its delayed messages between Anna and her family and a communications blackout, Before Mars reminded me just a little of Moon. Finally, Atlas Alone is a chilling story that would make a great discussion-starter in an ethics class. All of the books are different, all of them are good, and all contain enough surprises that I wouldn’t want to give too much away to prospective readers.
While talking with someone about the series I told them that, while each book stands on its own, they should be read in order of publication. Each book builds on what we learn about your world and its characters in the previous books. So I was intrigued to see that you proposed an alternative order that would give readers a different experience. I can see how that would work; After Atlas is key to what we read in Before Mars and Atlas Alone, so putting it first would still make for a coherent experience. Too bad I can’t go back and read the books for the first time that way to see what that reading experience would be like!
The quality of your work and the number of books you have published in the past few years make you one of my writing role models. I plan to look for your other books and look forward to seeing what else you produce in the future.
In awe and admiration,
Kate