The Marginalia

In a city of pleasure where citizens choose when to transition into fresh bodies and new lives, violent behavior is quelled with the threat of permanent death. Now the city’s worst conflict is whether mandibles or compound eyes are more fashionable this season. Only one unexplained murder haunts its past: that of Ember’s grandfather.

When Ember learns that his suspected killer, Bishop, was allowed to survive and transition, she assaults her and demands answers. She discovers Bishop is innocent when she gives Ember a set of letters from her grandfather that reveal he may have permanently killed himself. They’re accompanied by a book in an unknown language, also in his handwriting.

Convinced the text is the key to solving the mystery of his death and overcoming her grief, Ember sets out with Bishop to unravel its secrets. Meanwhile, she’s hunted by the Guardians: four monstrous enforcers of city law who intend to kill her for assaulting a citizen.

As Ember falls in love with Bishop, she starts realizing it might be worth living in the present instead of the past. But when she discovers the book’s translation lies with the hollow, rusted creatures in the ruined lands outside the city, Ember must find a way to communicate with them before the Guardians kill her, or she’ll lose everything: Bishop, the truth, and her chance for rebirth.

The Marginalia is complete at 92,000 words.