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Lightless
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
40 posts | 31 read | 80 to read
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BUZZFEED AND KIRKUS REVIEWS * With deeply moving human drama, nail-biting suspense--and bold speculation informed by a degree in physics--C. A. Higgins spins a riveting science fiction debut guaranteed to catapult readers beyond their expectations. Serving aboard the Ananke, an experimental military spacecraft launched by the ruthless organization that rules Earth and its solar system, computer scientist Althea has established an intense emotional bond--not with any of her crewmates, but with the ship's electronic systems, which speak more deeply to her analytical mind than human feelings do. But when a pair of fugitive terrorists gain access to the Ananke, Althea must draw upon her heart and soul for the strength to defend her beloved ship. While one of the saboteurs remains at large somewhere on board, his captured partner--the enigmatic Ivan--may prove to be more dangerous. The perversely fascinating criminal whose silver tongue is his most effective weapon has long evaded the authorities' most relentless surveillance--and kept the truth about his methods and motives well hidden. As the ship's systems begin to malfunction and the claustrophobic atmosphere is increasingly poisoned by distrust and suspicion, it falls to Althea to penetrate the prisoner's layers of intrigue and deception before all is lost. But when the true nature of Ivan's mission is exposed, it will change Althea forever--if it doesn't kill her first. Praise for Lightless "Gripping . . . sci-fi flavored with a hint of thriller."--New York Daily News "[A] measured, lovely science-fiction debut [that is] more psychological thriller . . . contained, disciplined, tense . . . The plot is compulsive. . . . Lightless is the first of a planned series, and you can't help looking forward to learning what's next."--The New York Times "Lightless is full of suspense and fun as hell to read."--BuzzFeed "Absolutely brilliant . . . This is science fiction as it is meant to be done: scientific concepts wedded to and built upon human ideals."--Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of the October Daye series "The stakes in this story are high--life and death, rebellion and betrayal--and debut novelist Higgins continually ratchets up the tension. . . . A suspenseful, emotional story that asks plenty of big questions about identity and freedom, this is a debut not to be missed."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "A taut, suspenseful read."--Tech Times "Lightless is an exercise in lighting a very slow fuse and building the tension to an unbearable pitch while making us guess just how apocalyptic the ultimate explosion will be. . . . It is a high-wire act, a wonderment, and a fine accomplishment from a name we'll be seeing again."--Sci Fi From the Hardcover edition.
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review
BMWtheAuthor
Lightless | C.A. Higgins
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Panpan

An interesting climax that required an expositional slog to get to. For the full review, please visit http://benjamin-m-weilert.com/index.php/2020/02/06/book-lightless-2015/

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Sumi
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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2nd book for 24in48.

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jpmcwisemorgan
Lightless | C. A. Higgins

Ok, ok I know it‘s supposed to be #light for today‘s #NoteworthyNovember but this is what I think of when I saw the prompt. I was excited so I checked Book Outlet to see if maybe they had a copy and guess what? They do. I ordered it and it‘s on it‘s way. That‘s how much I liked this book - I‘m buying a copy of my own. I‘ll post a picture when I get it.

28 likes1 stack add
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jpmcwisemorgan
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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#Space, the final frontier. I don‘t read a lot of books about space or set in space, which might be a little odd given that I grew up watching Star Trek and Dr. Who. The four books in the photo are books with space that I‘ve read and loved in the last year and a half. I found Lightless and Sleeping Giants because of Litsy, and don‘t regret that! #30daysofreadathon

catsuit_mango If you want a little more space, have you tried the Mars trilogy? 7y
jpmcwisemorgan @catsuit_mango I haven‘t tried that series but I‘ve put it on my list to check out. Thanks! 7y
catsuit_mango @jpmcwisemorgan i hope you'll like it :) 7y
36 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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rjsthumbelina
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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Pickpick

This audiobook was strange for me. I liked it, but dont think I liked it quite as much as others have. Most of the action is psychological, which frustrated me since the world and the science fiction set ups were so good. I am invested enough in the story that I definitely need to know where the story goes from here. (But it almost makes me mad that I care so much about it! It's like I love it in spite of myself) (37-counting my books here now)

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rjsthumbelina
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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I'm trying so hard to continue bc the premise seems so cool, but I am struggling through this audiobook...seems like it's taking forever to make any progress! 😥

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LibrarianRyan
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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So I missed out on #litsypartyofone. I only logged 15 minutes. Shame on me. However I did finally get lights in the bedroom the office and the dinning room. I have been walking around the front of my house with a flashlight for weeks. Plus light make it easier to read. Plus, living room was painted, two chairs and a swing pained, and LOTS of yard work. I suggest NOT buying an old nursery if you don't like yard work. I will play #litsycatchup today

LibrarianRyan Please ignore the bedroom ceiling. The entire ceiling needs to be redone but that is this winter. There are 3 layers of wall paper on the swirling, plus paint. It has to come down just not right now. 7y
ValerieAndBooks Great job! I really like your fixtures. Remodeling/renovations take lots of time and work. When was your home built? 7y
GypsyKat That bottom left light fixture is amazballs!!! 😍 7y
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ferskner Wow, I am in awe! Checking stuff off a list is the best feeling, and makes reading afterward that much sweeter. You have excellent taste in light fixtures! 7y
LibrarianRyan @ValerieAndBooks 1930s I think. One owner but it's been built onto a few times. It was originally a craftsman home. Frank bought it when he brought his bride back from the war. 7y
LibrarianRyan @GypsyKat the two on the bottom I picked. The Aton is my fav. The crystal one in the office is all my guy. It's the only light on the main floor I let him pick but we still have 3 fixtures and. Fan to go. Haven't picked them out yet. I have time. 7y
LibrarianRyan @ferskner thank you. 7y
Smangela Love your pictures 😍 7y
LeahBergen It looks wonderful!! 7y
minkyb Great progress! 7y
TrishTheBibliophile Love the fixtures! 7y
56 likes11 comments
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Moonpa
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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Book haul from the library used book store. Love that Christie cover!

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BillBlume
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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So last week, I finished the Eclectic Readers Podcast MadLibs Reading Challenge. This made for a goofy and interesting way to prioritize my reading in a way I haven't in a very long time. This also helped me clear some books from my TBR list that have been there for too long. The biggest unexpected surprise for me was Lightless by C.A. Higgins. I'll definitely be reading more of her work. #ERMadLibs

EclecticReaders Woohoo!! 🎉👏👏👏 7y
21 likes1 comment
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BillBlume
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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Pickpick

My ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review for Lightless by C.A. Higgins. This book caught me by surprise in all the best ways. Freaking loved this book. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1508674672

#scifi #CAHiggins #Lightless #writercrush #ERMadLibs

BiblioNyan Nice review!! I will have to add this to my stack of stuff to check out. This has a very interesting premise. 8y
jpmcwisemorgan I loved this one too! 8y
BillBlume Thanks, @Bibli0.Nyan! Hope you'll enjoy it, too. 8y
22 likes1 stack add3 comments
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BillBlume
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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So, I'm about three-quarters of the way through Lightless, and C.A. Higgins just revealed the secret mission of the Ananke. I'm not sure if every reader would share my reaction, but I love it! I think this is a great twist, and I can't help but wonder where she plans to go with this. Freakin' awesome! #SciFi #Lightless #CAHiggins #LovingThisBook #ERMadLibs

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BillBlume
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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Since C.A. Higgins references the Laws of Thermodynamics in her novel, I keep thinking about the song, "The 2nd Law: Isolated System" by Muse. #ReadingMusic #GoodSong #SciFi #CAHiggins #Lightless #Entropy #ERMadLibs

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BillBlume
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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I love that even as humanity in C.A. Higgins' Lightless has conquered interstellar travel and advanced to create artificial intelligence, the emoticon still lives. This exchange made me smile and was a nice human touch to this grim story. The intentional shortening of "you" to "u" was also nice. #CAHiggins #scifi #Lightless #emoticon #emoticons #ERMadLibs

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BillBlume
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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C.A. Higgins keeps pealing back the layers on this story, and it's impressive how well she controls this plot without sacrificing character. I picked this book to fill a slot in a reading challenge and wasn't very motivated about reading this book. Now that I'm in it, I think I've found a new author to add to my list of those to watch. #CAHiggins #scifi #ERMadLibs

Merethebookgal Awesome! Isn't it nice when that happens? :) 8y
BillBlume @Merethebookgal absolutely! Even went in without having read the jacket copy. Love when going in blind pays off. 8y
22 likes2 comments
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BillBlume
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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I'm about a quarter of the way into Lightless. This book moves quickly, and it keeps ratcheting up the tension with each page. It's a story of a universe built on the belief of a system in complete control, but within this ship, that sense of control is evaporating. #CAHiggins #Lightless #SciFi #tension #suspense

BiblioNyan Sounds like it has a very interesting premise. 8y
17 likes1 comment
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Reese_Pearly.Pages
Lightless | C.A. Higgins
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Thinking of starting this for my next audiobook.

25 likes2 stack adds
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BillBlume
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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What's most interesting about Lightless so far is just how much it doesn't tell the reader. Backstory on the characters introduced so far? Next to nothing. Higgins gives the reader more about the pair of antagonists she's introduced, making for an interesting level of tension where the reader trusts no one, including the POV. #Lightless #CAHiggins #scifi #suspense #tension #pov

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BillBlume
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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I'm a third of the way through the Eclectic Readers Podcast MadLibs Reading Challenge. That leaves eight books for me to read between now and the end of June. Kevin Hearne's Hounded has me moving more quickly again. I've just started Lightless by C.A. Higgins, and judging from the opening pages, this book will be another fast-paced story. I've never read anything by Higgins, but I'm liking the story a lot so far. Straight to the action. #ERMadLibs

jpmcwisemorgan I loved Lightless! I hope you enjoy it. 8y
BillBlume Glad to hear that, @jpmcwisemorgan! Always nice going in with someone else's vote of confidence. 8y
Ruri_kaichou Your list is so much better than mine. 🤣 I got a bunch of scratchouts in mine 8y
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BillBlume @Ruri_kaichou I assure you, it's only because I'm extremely stubborn. Not always a positive trait. If I get desperate for time, I'm seriously considering replacing my choice of Incarceron with a Gotham Academy graphic novel. 8y
Ruri_kaichou Ooooo, I've heard good things about Gotham Academy. If I had the time, I would definitely stick to my original list. 😅 So I'm just going to try and make the books I'm reading work. 8y
BillBlume @Ruri_kaichou I recently read the first volume of Gotham Academy, and I was shocked how much I loved it. 8y
24 likes6 comments
review
Nitabasu
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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Pickpick

Loved this. I'm a sucker for psychological thrillers, and having been promised interrogation scenes with sociopaths and questions about AI, was NOT disappointed.

2 likes1 stack add
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Nitabasu
Lightless | C. A. Higgins

“Her lips were colored like bruises, a red so dark and deep that it touched into purple.

Althea had known women like this woman before. This was the kind of woman who preferred the company of men to the comfortable logic of Althea‘s machines, who looked at Althea with her awkwardness and her impatience and her wiry tangled hair and smirked among others like herself behind their hands.”

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JanJan
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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42 likes1 stack add1 comment
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jpmcwisemorgan
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
Pickpick

Alternates between slow and fast-paced, and for the first quarter or so you don't know where it's heading. I had an inking about half-way through. I enjoyed the sciency aspects of the story. Of course, it is sci-fi so that is to be expected. Other reviews suggesting it's reminiscent of shows like Firefly aren't far off as there is a governmental entity that sees and knows all. Post-apocalyptic fans might like it for that reason.

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jpmcwisemorgan
Lightless | C. A. Higgins

I've completed three of my nine book-long #novembertbr, two of which were holdovers from October. This has my attention right now but I'm also reading The Girl with all the Gifts. I have 9 books out from the library and I really need to get that stack down so I've been focusing on them.

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MandaChittles
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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Mehso-so

Listened to this one on audiobook. It was a lot of fun, especially if you love sci-fi & the television series Firefly. I think it would make an excellent movie - tonnes of suspense and good looking characters. And technology that I imagine would be similar to Minority Report. A good read to get your techy nerd on.

21 likes1 stack add
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Read66
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
Pickpick

Really enjoyed this suspense-filled sci-fi - a great story and well-developed characters (including the petulant and young artificial intelligence trying to control the human beings in "her" world). I am really looking forward to reading the next book in the series!

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Chessa
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
Mehso-so

⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked this book, but didn't love it. The premise sounded great: 3-person crew on an experimental spaceship on a secret mission? Sign me up! However, it quickly became focused so solely on power and politics and very very very long interrogation scenes between a boring sociopath and a suspected terrorist. Yawn. I was here for the quirky singularly focused ship's mechanic, Althea, but bored by the ambiguously defined System vs Malt-y-Nos.

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Liberty
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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Pickpick

It's #FunFridayPhoto time! Today's challenge: a photo set off-planet Earth. Not only is LIGHTLESS not on Earth, it's not on any planet at all - it's set entirely in a spacecraft! AND WHOOO-OMG IS IT GOOD. It's crazy-smart, crazy-fun science fiction, with a dash of 'WOW THAT GOT DARK FAST, SOMEONE HOLD ME.' It's like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY meets FIREFLY. And there's now an excellent sequel! 🚀✨❤️

DuckOfDoom Need to read it.. like now 8y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled Now THAT'S a good review - adding to stack!! 8y
jpmcwisemorgan Firefly you say? Sold! 8y
See All 11 Comments
SuperPunkNinja Firefly? As in Captain Mal? I'm there. 8y
[DELETED] 3144876009 I loved it! Looking forward to the sequel. 8y
Dragon Me too, Firefly ! 8y
coffeenebula Stack this book? Yessir, Cap'n Tightpants! 8y
shainareads Welp, you persuaded me! 8y
MandaChittles I heard the audiobook of this is great too! 8y
RealLifeReading You had me at Firefly 8y
PNWBookseller85 Firefly ❤️ 8y
144 likes39 stack adds11 comments
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MDodge
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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Pickpick

Morning off from work means more reading time :) just finished this. So so good, can't wait to read the sequel!

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Kmmsellers
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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Anya sleeps while I head to work. But, I am listening to Lightless on audio, so at least the drive will be fun.

LauraBeth The good life 🐶 8y
Kmmsellers @LauraBeth absolutely! If only we could all be so lucky. 🐶🐾 8y
15 likes2 comments
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MemoirsForMe
Lightless | C. A. Higgins
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Just read this in the Penguin Random House Audio newsletter: "On Thursday July 28th, starting at 10 AM ET, for 24 hours we‘re giving away a FREE audio download of LIGHTLESS by C.A. HIGGINS. Visit our Facebook page or our Volumes app on that day to access the download." Has anyone heard of this one?

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Emily.R
Lightless | C.A. Higgins
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Pickpick

Enjoyed Lightless very much. It was an exciting, suspensful read that I couldn't put down. And lucky for me, I have an arc of Supernova 😊

Liberty Yesssssssss. 8y
2 likes1 comment
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sherri
Lightless | C.A. Higgins
Mehso-so

I was sold on this book when I heard it likened to the show Firefly. I wanted to love this book so much, but settled for liking it. The plot and some of the characters were great. Domition and Gagnon fell flat for me.

4 likes1 stack add
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ej0728
Lightless | C.A. Higgins
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Mehso-so

I'm still uncertain about this book. It was a good psychological thriller but I felt as though it tread a beaten path. AI gone rogue seems to be a common theme and while this was better than most, I wasn't head over heels for it. I'll read the sequel because I'm not sure where it can go.