Gripping, intelligent science-fiction from worldwide bestselling author Garth Nix. For fans of the Expanse series by James S A Corey including Leviathan Wakes, and David Weber's Honor Harrington books.
Caught me a mountain
Rode it to the stars
It's business as usual for Ship Leader Parnell Shi-Sawahla and the crew of the corvette Sassafras. Ride a Massif to a new system, fight the enemy, repeat. For more than two hundred years humans have been hitching rides on these sentient, starfaring mountain ranges, colonising planets and exporting an on-again, off-again war between Earth and Mars.
But the big questions are always there, behind every battle, every new colony, every new star system discovery.
Why do the Massifs carry humans to the stars?
Why do they help us export our wars?
What's in it for the Massifs?
Ship crews aren't supposed to ask these questions, they aren't supposed to think about these questions, and they definitely aren't supposed to go deep and talk to Massif avatars. But now Parnell and his tight-knit crew must try to find the answers, to save not only themselves but the future of humanity.
'Nix showcases his worldbuilding prowess in his first adult sci-fi novel, a riveting space opera set in the 24th century. The result is a staggering adventure that should win Nix a whole new set of fans.' Publishers Weekly, starred review
'Strange galaxy-faring mountain ranges, a loyal renegade spaceship crew, plenty of military action, and a creepy interstellar mystery combine to make a compelling science fiction epic set in an inventive new universe.' – Marko Kloos, bestselling author of the Frontline series
About the Author
Garth Nix OAM has been a full-time writer since 2001, but has also worked as a literary agent, marketing consultant, book editor, book publicist, book sales representative, bookseller, and as a part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve. Garth's books include the Old Kingdom fantasy series: Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen, Clariel, Goldenhand and Terciel and Elinor; SF novels Shade's Children and A Confusion of Princes; fantasy novels Angel Mage; The Left-Handed Booksellers of London and sequel The Sinister Booksellers of Bath; and a Regency romantasy, Newt's Emerald.
His novels for children include The Ragwitch; the six books of The Seventh Tower sequence; Frogkisser! and the Keys to the Kingdom series; plus, co-written with Sean Williams, the Troubletwisters and Have Sword Will Travel series and Spirit Animals Book Three: Blood Ties. He is also the author of more than sixty published short stories, some of them collected in Across the Wall and To Hold the Bridge. His most recent books are Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz: Stories of the Witch Knight and the Puppet Sorcerer, which collects all nine stories of the god-slaying duo; and the children's novel We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old Overlord.
More than seven million copies of Garth's books have been sold around the world, they have appeared on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, The Bookseller and others; and his work has been translated into 42 languages. He has won multiple Aurealis Awards, the ABIA Award, Ditmar Award, the Mythopoeic Award, CBCA Honour Book, and has been shortlisted for the Lodestar Award, the Locus Awards, the Shirley Jackson Award and others. In 2025, Garth was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for 'services to literature'.
