The Fourth Consort

The Fourth Consort - Hardcover

$29.00
$29.00
Skip to product information
The Fourth Consort
  • The Fourth Consort
The Fourth Consort - Hardcover

The Fourth Consort - Hardcover

by Edward Ashton
$29.00
$29.00

Book Overview

by Edward Ashton (Author)

A new standalone sci-fi novel from Edward Ashton, author of Mickey7 (the inspiration for the major motion picture Mickey 17).

Dalton Greaves is a hero. He's one of humankind's first representatives to Unity, a pan-species confederation working to bring all sentient life into a single benevolent brotherhood.

That's what they told him, anyway. The only actual members of Unity that he's ever met are Boreau, a giant snail who seems more interested in plunder than spreading love and harmony, and Boreau's human sidekick, Neera, who Dalton strongly suspects roped him into this gig so that she wouldn't become the next one of Boreau's crew to get eaten by locals while prospecting.

Funny thing, though--turns out there actually is a benevolent confederation out there, working for the good of all life. They call themselves the Assembly, and they really don't like Unity. More to the point, they really, really don't like Unity's new human minions.

When an encounter between Boreau's scout ship and an Assembly cruiser over a newly discovered world ends badly for both parties, Dalton finds himself marooned, caught between a stickman, one of the Assembly's nightmarish shock troops, the planet's natives, who aren't winning any congeniality prizes themselves, and Neera, who might actually be the most dangerous of the three. To survive, he'll need to navigate palace intrigue, alien morality, and a proposal that he literally cannot refuse, all while making sure Neera doesn't come to the conclusion that he's worth more to her dead than alive.

Part first contact story, part dark comedy, and part bizarre love triangle, The Fourth Consort asks an important question: how far would you go to survive? And more importantly, how many drinks would you need to go there?

Author Biography

EDWARD ASHTON is the author of the novels Three Days in April, The End of Ordinary, Mickey7, Antimatter Blues, and Mal Goes to War, as well as of short stories which have appeared in venues ranging from the newsletter of an Italian sausage company to Escape Pod, Analog, and Fireside Fiction. He lives in a cabin on the shore of an inland sea, where he enjoys cancer research, teaching quantum physics to sullen graduate students, and whittling.

Number of Pages: 288
Dimensions: 1.04 x 9.44 x 6.39 IN
Publication Date: February 25, 2025
ISBN9781250286338
Author Edward Ashton
PublisherSt. Martin's Press
GenreLiterature
FormatHardcover
PublishedFebruary 2025
LanguageENG- English
Pages288
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

Action & Adventure Fiction Science Fiction

1% fer Each of the Seven Seas

Every purchase sends 7% of our profits to The Ocean Cleanup. No fine print, no opt-in — just how we sail.

Whoever Ye Be, Welcome Aboard

Queer lit, music, art, philosophy, fiction — stories for every kind of soul. Come as ye are, matey.

More by Edward Ashton

After the Fall

After the Fall - Hardcover

After the Fall - Hardcover

By Edward Ashton

About Edward Ashton

EDWARD ASHTON is the author of the novels Three Days in April, The End of Ordinary, Mickey7, Antimatter Blues, and Mal Goes to War, as well as of short stories which have appeared in venues ranging from the newsletter of an Italian sausage company to Escape Pod, Analog, and Fireside Fiction. He lives in upstate New York in a cabin in the woods (not that cabin in the woods) with his wife, a variable number of daughters, and an adorably mopey dog named Max.

You may also like