In the Watchful City

A poetic, ambitious debut novella that explores a fantastical, bio-cyberpunk city through the lens of several interconnected stories, in the vein of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. Debut author S. Qiouyi Lu has written a multifaceted story of borders, power, diaspora, and transformation.

The city of Ora is watching. Anima is an extrasensory human tasked with surveilling and protecting Ora’s citizens via a complex living network called the Gleaming. Although ær world is restricted to what æ can see and experience through the Gleaming, Anima takes pride and comfort in keeping Ora safe from harm.

When a mysterious outsider enters the city carrying a cabinet of curiosities from around with the world with a story attached to each item, Anima’s world expands beyond the borders of Ora to places — and possibilities — æ never before imagined to exist.

But such knowledge leaves Anima with a question that throws into doubt ær entire purpose: What good is a city if it can’t protect its people?

"This masterful work positions Lu among the vanguard of contemporary futurism and speculative fiction." —Publishers Weekly, starred review