—Amal El-Mohtar, Hugo-award-winning author and critic
“Nicole Kornher-Stace’s Latchkey is equally gorgeous and spooky. In this sequel to Archivist Wasp, Isabel and her companions must save their home by unearthing the secrets of the past. Latchkey vividly asks so many of the right questions about what memories linger after an apocalypse, for worse and for better. Surreal, beautifully rendered cross-genre action-adventure.”
—Fran Wilde, Andre Norton-winning, Nebula and Hugo-nominated author of Updraft and The Bone Universe Series
“Latchkey’s prose is elegantly self-effacing: smooth, easy to read, and full of adroit turns of phrase. Kornher-Stace has a gift for creating atmosphere, from the familial closeness of Isabel’s small community of former upstarts in the Catchkeep-temple, to the ominous claustrophobia of the tunnels beneath Sweetwater, and into the hectic chaos and turmoil of battle. And underwriting every moment is a core of kindness, of compassion—of choosing a path away from cruelty, even when it’s hard: a core that makes this book, for all its darkness, somehow fundamentally uplifting. If I had to choose one word to describe this novel, it would be compelling: in its pacing, its characterisation, and even in its genre-blending approach to worldbuilding, it compels attention. I really enjoyed Latchkey. I can’t recommend it, and Archivist Wasp, highly enough.”
—Liz Bourke, Locus
“The sequel to Nicole Kornher-Stace’s Archivist Wasp is a breathless rollercoaster ride through hope, despair, narrow escapes, and a history that refuses to die, built on a bedrock theme of community and friendship. All the characters are individual, convincing, and alive—including the dead ones. I’ve never read anything like it, except Archivist Wasp. If you’re looking for a fresh voice in dark fantasy, you’ve found one.”
—Delia Sherman, author of The Evil Wizard Smallbone
“Spine-tingling ghost encounters and tension sharp as razorwire make this a sequel well worth waiting for. You will not want to miss this, but you might need to sleep with the lights on and plant a protective circle of ghostgrass around your bed!”
—Tiffany Trent, award-winning author of The Unnaturalists
“Nicole Kornher-Stace’s Latchkey is a little like retracing a war veteran’s scars with a scalpel and asking, ‘So. Does this hurt more than the original?’ It does, of course. Hurts good, hurts deep, this almost-familiar world that bleeds right into ours, where the only thing fiercer than ferocity is tenderness—though both talk equally as tough. After reading Latchkey, one starts seeing ruins superimposed over currently thriving structures. Every struggling patch of city lawn becomes a garden of ghost grass; every breezy puff of leftover winter holds the possibility of frostbite and vertigo and seeing the face of a long-lost friend once more. Has there ever been such longing, fueled by such darkness and adrenaline? Has there ever been such satisfaction, and at such a cost?”
—C. S. E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Bone Swans
“Latchkey is the opposite of escapist: it is, instead, horror for people with the courage to benefit from beholding actual horrors. Building on the deeply-realized Archivist Wasp, in Latchkey we are given a world even more fallen and brutal, for now even the old order of the archivists is broken. Here, when heroes are hurt, they stay hurt; here, the survivors must endure trauma without the words to describe it; here, knowledge itself is both deeply suspect and humanity’s only hope. History itself, embodied by blood-hungry ghosts, by turns cannibalizes the living and provides the only way forward. And yet, for all the loss and bodily pain, Latchkey shows us the power of community and the worth, greater than diamonds, of courage. Cathartic, feminist, explosively imaginative and masterfully told, Kornher-Stace gives us a second-world fantasy that transports our minds while, time and again, it emotionally arrives.”
—Carlos Hernandez, author of Sal and Gabi Break the Universe
“What a great read! This surreal dreamscape of a book delves deeper into the unique world of the Andre Norton Award finalist Archivist Wasp, continuing a resilient heroine’s unusual friendship with a super-soldier ghost amid a far-future dystopia they both struggle to survive and understand.”
—Beth Cato, author of The Clockwork Dagger and Breath of Earth
“Nicole Kornher-Stace’s Latchkey is a completely unique and enthralling story. A blend of fantasy, paranormal and more that defies categorization, I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended!”
—Jennifer Brody, award-winning author of The 13th Continuum
“Latchkey has the fierce heart of Fury Road and the kindness of Station Eleven—a deliriously readable future ghost story sewn through with action, healing, and hope.”
—Leah Bobet, multiple award-winning author of An Inheritance of Ashes
“"Nicole Kornher-Stace is a goddess of grit and heartworn heroes. In Latchkey, book two of the Archivist Wasp Saga, the reader is hurled into a world of ruins, raiders, and lost tech. It’s a severe setting, and Kornher-Stace could’ve gone full grim future, but instead, she manifests character friendships that just may get the reader through the long dark of troubled times.”
—Patty Templeton, author of There Is No Lovely End
Praise for Archivist Wasp
“A ravishing, profane, and bittersweet post-apocalyptic bildungsroman transcends genre into myth . . . Equal parts dark fantasy, science fiction, and fable, Wasp’s story is structured as a classic hero’s journey. Her bleak and brutal world, limned with the sparest of detail, forges her character: stoic, cynical, with burning compassion at the core; in contrast, the rich and mosaic (if capricious and violent) underworld overflows with symbol and metaphor…Difficult, provocative, and unforgettable—the most dangerous kind of fiction.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“With understated skill, Archivist Wasp twists myth, fantasy and science fiction into a resonant tale of erasure and absence—and an aching riinder that regaining what has been lost isn’t always the answer.”
—NPR
“Young adults will be able to relate to Wasp’s inner turmoil and her battle to understand a world full of inexplicable hatred and violence…A must-have for dystopian fans who prefer to avoid love stories and pat endings.”
—School Library Journal
“Kornher-Stace exhibits immense fluidity and grace of prose…And her action scenes are cinematic.”
—Locus
“This book Mad-Max-Fury-Roaded me, like a boss…Archivist Wasp is a book I will treasure.”
—Ana Grilo, The Book Smugglers
Latchkey
Book Two of the Archivist Wasp Saga
Copyright © 2018 by Nicole Kornher-Stace.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. All characters, names, locations, and events portrayed in this book are fictional or used in an imaginary manner to entertain, and any resemblance to any real people, situations, or incidents is purely coincidental.
Cover art by Jacquelin de Leon, jacquelindeleon.com.
Copyright © 2018 by Jacquelin de Leon. All rights reserved.
FIRST EDITION
July 10, 2018
Published by Mythic Delirium Books
https://mythicdelirium.com
Our gratitude goes out to the following who because of their generosity are from now on designated as supporters of Mythic Delirium Books: Saira Ali, Cora Anderson, Anonymous, Patricia M. Cryan, Steve Dempsey, Oz Drummond, Patrick Dugan, Matthew Farrer, C. R. Fowler, Mary J. Lewis, Paul T. Muse, Jr., Shyam Nunley, Finny Pendragon, Kenneth Schneyer, and Delia Sherman.
Also by Nicole Kornher-Stace
Novels
ARCHIVIST WASP
andre norton award finalist
DESIDERIA
Novelettes
THE WINTER TRIP
TYCH
Poetry
DEMON LOVERS AND OTHER DIFFICULTIES
Also available from Mythic Delirium Books
Collections
world fantasy award winner
BONE SWANS: Stories by C. S. E. Cooney
shirley jackson award finalist
UNSEAMING by Mike Allen
THE SPIDER TAPESTRIES
Seven Strange Stories by Mike Allen
Anthologies
world fantasy award finalist
CLOCKWORK PHOENIX 5
Edited by Mike Allen
CLOCKWORK PHOENIX 4
Edited by Mike Allen
CLOCKWORK PHOENIX 3
New Tales of Beauty and Strangeness
Edited by Mike Allen
CLOCKWORK PHOENIX 2
More Tales of Beauty and Strangeness
Edited by Mike Allen
CLOCKWORK PHOENIX
Tales of Beauty and Strangeness
Edited by Mike Allen
MYTHIC DELIRIUM: Volume Two
Edited by Mike and Anita Allen
MYTHIC DELIRIUM
An international anthology of prose and verse
Edited by Mike and Anita Allen
Novels
THE BLACK FIRE CONCERTO by Mike Allen
Novelettes
THE SKY-RIDERS by Paul Dellinger and Mike Allen
Poetry
HUNGRY CONSTELLATIONS by Mike Allen
Latchkey Page 37