A perfect storm of supply chain issues has required us to implement a delayed publication date for Sim Kern’s Seeds for the Swarm. The new publication date for this book is March 1 2023.
We are sorry to disappoint those who are waiting for the book and especially those who pre-ordered. We started this press shortly before the first pandemic lockdown, so we are no strangers to the emergency pivot. But this is the first time we have had to delay a book’s scheduled release. It is our hope that we will be able to send the book out a bit early, with some goodies for those who pre-ordered to enjoy.
In the meantime, if you haven’t seen the fabulous review for Seeds over at Strange Horizons, check it out! Be aware, though, that this review contains a very thorough description of the book’s plot, including spoilers. Here’s an excerpt for the spoiler shy:
The burden of the burning world falls with a peculiar weight on the shoulders of young people: they didn’t cause it, but they carry the curse of growing up in it. Aspiring to fix it is more than coming generations should be asked to do, but the myopia of suicidal capitalists and their tendencies has put that millstone firmly around their necks. In this context, the explosion of young people’s literature exploring humans’ relationship and responsibility to nonhuman life is a positive expression of the growing awareness of—and resistance to—that inheritance.
Sim Kern’s Seeds for the Swarm brings that impulse to a genre—dystopian teen fiction—that has dominated the speculative market since The Hunger Games (2008). Like Suzanne Collins before them, Kern marshals philosophical and social arguments in the course of their characters’ trials and adventures. The result is a fast-paced, challenging first novel that confronts the betrayal of adults in making such a mess of things for the future generations, and explores the multiple reactions of communities on the brink of extinction.
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As the first of a planned trilogy, Seeds for the Swarm delves into fiercely needed and relevant conversations that are poised to deepen in the coming volumes. Kern doesn’t pull any punches on the environmental consequences of consumer capitalism, nor do they avoid the social and emotional impacts of living through an age of mass extinctions. The subject lends itself to nihilism, but Rylla’s commitment to family, friends, and justice provides a glimpse of hope that is badly needed in the coming fights, real and fictional. Perfect for teen readers struggling with their own feelings of despair in our own unstable world, it is also a welcome and provocative read for all fans of YA.
Amy Nagopaleen for Strange Horizons