A dazzling, inventive, and thought-provoking new novel from the ingenious author of Jennifer Government and Lexicon. Gilly, Talia, Anders, and Jackson are astronauts captaining a new and supposedly indestructible ship in humanity's war against an alien race. Confined to the ship for years, each of them holding their own secrets, they are about to learn there are threats beyond the reach of human ingenuity--and that the true nature of reality might be the universe's greatest mystery.
In this near future, our world is at war with another, and humanity is haunted by its one catastrophic loss--a nightmarish engagement that left a handful of survivors drifting home through space, wracked with PTSD. Public support for the war plummeted, and the military-industrial complex set its sights on a new goal: zero-casualty warfare, made possible by gleaming new ships called Providences, powered by AI.
But when the latest-launched Providence suffers a surprising attack and contact with home is severed, Gilly, Talia, Anders, and Jackson must confront the truth of the war they're fighting, the ship that brought them there, and the cosmos beyond.
Industry Reviews
"[A] terrific sci-fi thriller."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Something for everyone: space combat, interpersonal tension, and aliens, ultimately leading to a story about survival."--Kirkus Reviews
"Compelling and innovative. In unpredictable ways... Barry takes a story that has been done countless times before and makes it seem original."--Associated Press
"A fast-paced, intelligent military space opera...Barry brings his skills of characterization and satire to the fore...Barry delivers some stunning action sequences and provides a bittersweet resolution."--The Guardian
"Providence is an absolute treat. Pulls the trick of being both irrepressibly old-school sci-fi and creepingly relevant to the data-driven future."--Austin Grossman, author of Soon I Will Be Invincible
"An astonishing novel! Providence is Philip K. Dick and William Gibson fueled by pure adrenaline (with a bit of Spielberg and Ridley Scott thrown in). The brilliant, unstoppable imagination of Max Barry glows on every page of this action-filled, yet emotionally resonant, tale. It will keep you riveted from first page till last. I read in one sitting and I guarantee you'll do the same."--Jeffery Deaver, author of The Never Game
"Action-packed and unsettling, Providence is a sleekly-written parable about the absurdity of war--and the deeply human urge to destroy everything we don't understand, whether it comes from a distant planet or right here on Earth." --Annalee Newitz, author of Autonomous and The Future of Another Timeline
"Brain-bending adventure."-Newsweek
"I could not put Providence down until I'd finished it in one thrilling sitting. This is science fiction at its best-a ship so believably alive and characters so determined, flawed, and compelling that you'll forget you're not also part of the crew."--Peng Shepherd, author of The Book of M
"Max Barry has a true comic writer's pessimism, imprisoning his crew in a ship as indifferent and unreadable as any alien enemy. What must this ship think of its crew? Are they its children? Or an infection it must deal with? Providence is a light-hearted thriller with a superb dark, existential sting in its tail."--London Times
"After all this myth and fantasy, time for some proper SF with aliens and futuristic hardware. Max Barry's Providence sees the four-strong crew of an AI-controlled spaceship shot into deep space to take part in a war against a reptilian extraterrestrial species nicknamed salamanders. Claustrophobia and isolation lead to tensions on board, while the ship itself, almost godlike in its indifference to the people within, pursues its mission regardless. The result is a quirky, character-driven commentary on the mechanisation of conflict and the sheer perversity of human nature."--Financial Times (UK)
