What do you think?
Rate this book
A Sea of Silence
Ten years following the disaster aboard the starship Upon Silver Tides, the fleet has changed, and not for the better. Mortality makes the greedy desperate. Wealth begins to pool as those hungry for opportunity exploit the vulnerable to climb a once-ossified social hierarchy, while those who fall away from the gold rush with nothing to show for it become vicious, always in search of another victim upon which to inflict their anger.
People who just want to live their lives are a perfect mark, in a world where anything but your soul can be stolen and sold back to you at a profit.
People like Annalise Fletcher, and her wife, a fabricant called Sarah.
But something is festering, as those with hungry eyes take freely from anyone weaker than themselves; something that will sweep the whole of the fleet away, and burn gilded castles to ash. The end of everything. Sarah and Annalise will be given the change they've been praying for, but they may not like the shape it takes.
People who just want to live their lives are a perfect mark, in a world where anything but your soul can be stolen and sold back to you at a profit.
People like Annalise Fletcher, and her wife, a fabricant called Sarah.
But something is festering, as those with hungry eyes take freely from anyone weaker than themselves; something that will sweep the whole of the fleet away, and burn gilded castles to ash. The end of everything. Sarah and Annalise will be given the change they've been praying for, but they may not like the shape it takes.
462 pages, Paperback
Published October 8, 2024
2 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Kay F. Atkinson
5 books19 followersHey! I'm Kay, and I write stuff.
I'm a disabled trans woman who writes predominantly speculative fiction and horror with a focus on queer characters and themes, drawing from my own experience, and my own frustrations with mainstream media in general.
I hope you enjoy anything you read!
I'm a disabled trans woman who writes predominantly speculative fiction and horror with a focus on queer characters and themes, drawing from my own experience, and my own frustrations with mainstream media in general.
I hope you enjoy anything you read!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 20, 2025
In the sequel Sarah and Annalise are struggling, trying to eke out a living in the hindfleet. Sarah’s body may need constant readjustment and replacement as she’s slowly falling apart, Annalise may need constant surgeries to remove the implants poisoning her, but at least they are together. Everything is not fine, but they are sure they can make it work, they have to. And at least they are together again. But when fabricants and humans start spewing up silver bile and attacking everything in their path, another parasite appears and spaceships are turned into ramming weapons spreading this new disease, they soon find themselves on the run again. And worst of all, Sarah finds herself separated from Annalise all over.
In a way this book functions as a repetition of the first book (on purpose), moving the reader (and the characters) through the events as if in a fun house mirror. One major difference is that Cora and Sarah now know what’s coming, fear it and love each other, allowing for more trust and communication between them, but also an additional layer of horror, both of which I loved. I in general really enjoyed the additional character development moments in this book, allowing us to see how the characters’ relationships had changed in the time between book one and two and how they dealt with their trauma and fears.
Both Sarah’s and Annalise’s and Sarah’s and Cora’s relationships are given a lot more time and development here and I especially enjoyed the development between Cora and Sarah. Their relationship had been left somewhat unresolved at the end of book one and so I was really excited, when I saw that it got such a big focus here. They were a very important part of the story for me and I really liked reading how they dealt with the events of book 1 as well as a few other questions that were left open in their relationship (and yes. It is poly! Complicated, but poly!). In general, the characters are further explored and we learn a lot more about Sarah’s past and her existence outside of her function of caring for Annalise, which was both really interesting and heartbreaking. Alongside homophobia and transphobia, this story also explores ableism as Sarah loses certain functions and Annalise is disabled from the implants, as well as the way fabricants are dehumanized and treated as disposable machines. We also get to learn a lot more about other people in the fleet (many of which suck!) and a few more world building details, which really added to my enjoyment of the story and made me even more excited to read the third installment of the series. I don’t want to spoiler too much, but if you, like me, thought well book one was good but I have so many questions… some of them are answered here! And many new ones are asked! It’s great!)
In general, I think this sequel avoided the second-book-in-a-trilogy-problem very well, because while it did move the plot forward (and left us in a completely different space than it started, which makes me itch to dive into the third installment immediately!) it didn’t feel as if it was just here to move us towards a grand conclusion, instead using the space it had very well for aforementioned character development as well as diving a lot more deeply into psychological horror. While the first book focused on Sarah’s fears,
All in all, another incredible installment of sci-fi psychological horror with additional lesbians and trans characters (I need more of Sunan in book three! I loved them so much!), some really tense horror as well as a great exploration of autonomy under an unjust system and how societal prejudice can force you to change and harden in ways that are damaging to yourself and your relationships. I really enjoyed it and I’m excited to dive into the next book in the series
TW: ableism, death (major character), deadnaming, forced detransition, dissociation, gore, lesbophobia, misgendering, self-mutilation, sexual assault, suicide, surgery (while conscious), transphobia, violence
In a way this book functions as a repetition of the first book (on purpose), moving the reader (and the characters) through the events as if in a fun house mirror. One major difference is that Cora and Sarah now know what’s coming, fear it and love each other, allowing for more trust and communication between them, but also an additional layer of horror, both of which I loved. I in general really enjoyed the additional character development moments in this book, allowing us to see how the characters’ relationships had changed in the time between book one and two and how they dealt with their trauma and fears.
Both Sarah’s and Annalise’s and Sarah’s and Cora’s relationships are given a lot more time and development here and I especially enjoyed the development between Cora and Sarah. Their relationship had been left somewhat unresolved at the end of book one and so I was really excited, when I saw that it got such a big focus here. They were a very important part of the story for me and I really liked reading how they dealt with the events of book 1 as well as a few other questions that were left open in their relationship (and yes. It is poly! Complicated, but poly!). In general, the characters are further explored and we learn a lot more about Sarah’s past and her existence outside of her function of caring for Annalise, which was both really interesting and heartbreaking. Alongside homophobia and transphobia, this story also explores ableism as Sarah loses certain functions and Annalise is disabled from the implants, as well as the way fabricants are dehumanized and treated as disposable machines. We also get to learn a lot more about other people in the fleet (many of which suck!) and a few more world building details, which really added to my enjoyment of the story and made me even more excited to read the third installment of the series. I don’t want to spoiler too much, but if you, like me, thought well book one was good but I have so many questions… some of them are answered here! And many new ones are asked! It’s great!)
In general, I think this sequel avoided the second-book-in-a-trilogy-problem very well, because while it did move the plot forward (and left us in a completely different space than it started, which makes me itch to dive into the third installment immediately!) it didn’t feel as if it was just here to move us towards a grand conclusion, instead using the space it had very well for aforementioned character development as well as diving a lot more deeply into psychological horror. While the first book focused on Sarah’s fears,
All in all, another incredible installment of sci-fi psychological horror with additional lesbians and trans characters (I need more of Sunan in book three! I loved them so much!), some really tense horror as well as a great exploration of autonomy under an unjust system and how societal prejudice can force you to change and harden in ways that are damaging to yourself and your relationships. I really enjoyed it and I’m excited to dive into the next book in the series
TW: ableism, death (major character), deadnaming, forced detransition, dissociation, gore, lesbophobia, misgendering, self-mutilation, sexual assault, suicide, surgery (while conscious), transphobia, violence
October 7, 2024
After the debut of A Quiet Universe, a sequel has shoes to fill that seem impossible. But A Sea of Silence is a really, really, excellent book that fills those shoes and more. It takes the sharp, brutal writing style of the first book, the tattered psychologies of the main characters, and the evolution of a dystopian society after the first book's ending, and forces them into an all new type of horror: interpersonal issues.
Seeing the characters struggling to make sense of the world and stay sane as their lives fall apart all over again, months of personal issues, trauma bubbling under the surface, its somehow just as unnerving to see characters talk frankly about their problems, discuss ways 'out' with compassion and frankness, and more as it was to experience the psychological torments of the first book. While the book doesn't stray from cosmic horror, there's plenty of monstrous, unknowable things, the real horror comes from loss, knowing another intimately, and knowing exactly how desperately you don't want to be alone in this world. Honestly, at times I was even more unsettled by this book than the first: giant monsters and the horror of being killed are one thing, but I'm quite a bit less psychologically prepared for the horror of wanting to be loved when you don't know if you deserve it.
I really wanna hug these robots.
Seeing the characters struggling to make sense of the world and stay sane as their lives fall apart all over again, months of personal issues, trauma bubbling under the surface, its somehow just as unnerving to see characters talk frankly about their problems, discuss ways 'out' with compassion and frankness, and more as it was to experience the psychological torments of the first book. While the book doesn't stray from cosmic horror, there's plenty of monstrous, unknowable things, the real horror comes from loss, knowing another intimately, and knowing exactly how desperately you don't want to be alone in this world. Honestly, at times I was even more unsettled by this book than the first: giant monsters and the horror of being killed are one thing, but I'm quite a bit less psychologically prepared for the horror of wanting to be loved when you don't know if you deserve it.
I really wanna hug these robots.
October 22, 2024
A Sea of Silence begs the question: even if our gods are willing to show us mercy, are we capable of giving ourselves the same grace?
Where A Quiet Universe focuses largely on the internal machinations of its characters, A Sea of Silence rages at the broken world surrounding it, demanding to be heard. It’s a heavy, angry novel, tackling the complexity of broken political regimes, predatory commercial greed, loss of individuality, the sickly-sweet toxicity of apathy, and the prolonged erosion of the human spirit. There’s far less in the way of eldritch horrors and derelict spaceship halls, and more confrontation of personal trauma and shortcomings. Because of that, I find myself relating to this novel much more than I did with A Quiet Universe. It left me a sobbing mess (yet again) and examining my role in the degradation of my own relationships in a way I don’t know any other work has. Atkinson has an uncanny, preternatural ability to put to words both the inner jumble of anguish that comes with mental health problems and the intrusive visions brought on by eldritch beings beyond our comprehension. I laughed when I needed it most. I loved the characters more than I thought I could. I cried, a great, big, ugly cry. Does it live up to A Quiet Universe as a worthy sequel to a stellar debut? I’d say it delivers in spades. And then some.
Where A Quiet Universe focuses largely on the internal machinations of its characters, A Sea of Silence rages at the broken world surrounding it, demanding to be heard. It’s a heavy, angry novel, tackling the complexity of broken political regimes, predatory commercial greed, loss of individuality, the sickly-sweet toxicity of apathy, and the prolonged erosion of the human spirit. There’s far less in the way of eldritch horrors and derelict spaceship halls, and more confrontation of personal trauma and shortcomings. Because of that, I find myself relating to this novel much more than I did with A Quiet Universe. It left me a sobbing mess (yet again) and examining my role in the degradation of my own relationships in a way I don’t know any other work has. Atkinson has an uncanny, preternatural ability to put to words both the inner jumble of anguish that comes with mental health problems and the intrusive visions brought on by eldritch beings beyond our comprehension. I laughed when I needed it most. I loved the characters more than I thought I could. I cried, a great, big, ugly cry. Does it live up to A Quiet Universe as a worthy sequel to a stellar debut? I’d say it delivers in spades. And then some.
November 20, 2024
I quite liked the first book, A Quiet Universe, it was good horror a genre that I quite like in games but always had a hard time getting into in books and it's also good sci-fi which is the genre I tend to read the most(thrillers being the other) so A Sea of Silence is three things I adore together and it does all three of them together really well.
I can't read A Quiet Universe anymore without reading A Sea of Silence, they are two parts of a whole having one without the other feels wrong.
Both are written so well, they have great characters with CERHA being my favorite and they have great atmosphere. The first two paragraphs of A Quiet Universe stuck to me the most and the last few pages of A Sea of Silence as well.
I can't read A Quiet Universe anymore without reading A Sea of Silence, they are two parts of a whole having one without the other feels wrong.
Both are written so well, they have great characters with CERHA being my favorite and they have great atmosphere. The first two paragraphs of A Quiet Universe stuck to me the most and the last few pages of A Sea of Silence as well.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews