Firefly meets Dune in this punchy, female-driven space western set on a lawless alien moon!
Ten Low is eking out a living at the universe’s edge. An ex-medic, ex-con, desperate to escape her memories of the war, she still hasn’t learnt that no good deed goes unpunished.
Attempting to atone for her sins, she pulls a teenage girl from a crashed lifecraft. But Gabriella Ortiz is no ordinary girl—she is a genetically-engineered super soldier and decorated General, part of the army that kept Ten prisoner. Worse, Ten realizes the crash was an assassination attempt, and that someone wants Ortiz dead.
To get the General off-world, they must cross the moon’s lawless wastes, face military hit squads, savage bandits, organ sharks and good old-fashioned treachery. But as they race to safety, something else waits in the darkness. Something ancient and patient. Something that knows exactly who she is, and what she is really running from.
A tribute to classic science fiction and space westerns, Ten Low is a rip-roaring adventure with an unforgettable cast of female and non-binary heroes, perfect for fans of Dune, Mad Max, and Firefly!
“I loved Ten Low. Combining the taut characterisation and clever wit of Stark Holborn’s spectacular Westerns with some splendidly inclusive and innovative sci-fi, this is a wonderful fusion of Firefly and Joanna Russ, with a Ennio Morricone soundtrack.” —Joanne Harris, best-selling author of Chocolat
“Mad Max meets Firefly—and that’s awesome.” —Claire North, award-winning author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
“A fantastic, punchy SF action story, full of blood and grit and bitter pasts.” —Adrian Tchaikovsky, award-winning author of Children of Time
“Stark Holborn continues to impress. Great characters and a blistering pace.” —Gareth Powell, award-winning author of theEmbers of War series
“The future of space westerns, Ten Low showed me the most vibrant desert world since Dune. A stunning blend of pulp and literary exploration leaves the old guard masters in the dust.” —Alex White, author of the Salvagers trilogy
“Stark Holborn’s writing is clever, original and thrilling.” —R. J. Barker, author of The Bone Ships and Age of Assassins
“An action-packed SF adventure with an intriguing majority female cast? OH, HELL YES!” —Stina Leicht, author of Persephone Station
“I loved this from beginning to end. There are furious fight-scenes, down-and-dirty characters and incredible world-building. Stark Holborn grabs you by the throat on page one and never lets you go!” —Cavan Scott, bestselling and award-winning author
“A gritty space western that fans of The Mandalorian should lap up. As always, Stark Holborn makes us feel immediately for the characters to the point where we'll follow them through hell. And we do.” —Paul Cornell, author of the Shadow Police andWitches of Lychford series
“Holborn delivers a crisply written space western brimming with hard living, villainy, and the search for redemption....With plenty of action and vivid worldbuilding, this tense adventure will have readers hooked.” —Publishers Weekly
“A good story, with lots of action.” —Booklist
“Holborn shows what a rich imagination she has.” —The Times
“Packed with wildly memorable female characters and the pacey prose keeps things whip-cracking along.” —SFX
Stark Holborn is a novelist, games writer, film reviewer, and the author of Nunslinger and Triggernometry and has worked on games and interactive fiction such as Shadow of Doubt (Colepowered Games) and Mars 2020 (BBC). Stark lives in the South West UK.
Firefly meets Dune in this punchy, female-driven space western set on a lawless alien moon!
Ten Low is eking out a living at the universe’s edge. An ex-medic, ex-con, desperate to escape her memories of the war, she still hasn’t learnt that no good deed goes unpunished.
Attempting to atone for her sins, she pulls a teenage girl from a crashed lifecraft. But Gabriella Ortiz is no ordinary girl—she is a genetically-engineered super soldier and decorated General, part of the army that kept Ten prisoner. Worse, Ten realizes the crash was an assassination attempt, and that someone wants Ortiz dead.
To get the General off-world, they must cross the moon’s lawless wastes, face military hit squads, savage bandits, organ sharks and good old-fashioned treachery. But as they race to safety, something else waits in the darkness. Something ancient and patient. Something that knows exactly who she is, and what she is really running from.
A tribute to classic science fiction and space westerns, Ten Low is a rip-roaring adventure with an unforgettable cast of female and non-binary heroes, perfect for fans of Dune, Mad Max, and Firefly!
Reviews
“I loved Ten Low. Combining the taut characterisation and clever wit of Stark Holborn’s spectacular Westerns with some splendidly inclusive and innovative sci-fi, this is a wonderful fusion of Firefly and Joanna Russ, with a Ennio Morricone soundtrack.” —Joanne Harris, best-selling author of Chocolat
“Mad Max meets Firefly—and that’s awesome.” —Claire North, award-winning author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
“A fantastic, punchy SF action story, full of blood and grit and bitter pasts.” —Adrian Tchaikovsky, award-winning author of Children of Time
“Stark Holborn continues to impress. Great characters and a blistering pace.” —Gareth Powell, award-winning author of theEmbers of War series
“The future of space westerns, Ten Low showed me the most vibrant desert world since Dune. A stunning blend of pulp and literary exploration leaves the old guard masters in the dust.” —Alex White, author of the Salvagers trilogy
“Stark Holborn’s writing is clever, original and thrilling.” —R. J. Barker, author of The Bone Ships and Age of Assassins
“An action-packed SF adventure with an intriguing majority female cast? OH, HELL YES!” —Stina Leicht, author of Persephone Station
“I loved this from beginning to end. There are furious fight-scenes, down-and-dirty characters and incredible world-building. Stark Holborn grabs you by the throat on page one and never lets you go!” —Cavan Scott, bestselling and award-winning author
“A gritty space western that fans of The Mandalorian should lap up. As always, Stark Holborn makes us feel immediately for the characters to the point where we'll follow them through hell. And we do.” —Paul Cornell, author of the Shadow Police andWitches of Lychford series
“Holborn delivers a crisply written space western brimming with hard living, villainy, and the search for redemption....With plenty of action and vivid worldbuilding, this tense adventure will have readers hooked.” —Publishers Weekly
“A good story, with lots of action.” —Booklist
“Holborn shows what a rich imagination she has.” —The Times
“Packed with wildly memorable female characters and the pacey prose keeps things whip-cracking along.” —SFX
Author
Stark Holborn is a novelist, games writer, film reviewer, and the author of Nunslinger and Triggernometry and has worked on games and interactive fiction such as Shadow of Doubt (Colepowered Games) and Mars 2020 (BBC). Stark lives in the South West UK.
