Slow Gods

Finalist for the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel!

Shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction!

Best of the Year at Gizmodo, Library Journal, and more!

"An astonishing, thought-provoking and above all touching story of found meaning and lost humanity." --Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of Children of Time

Slow Gods is the galaxy-spanning tale ​of one man's impossible life charted against the fate of humanity amongst the stars--a powerfully imaginative space opera from multi-award-winning author Claire North, perfect for fans of A Memory Called Empire and The Vanished Birds.

My name is Mawukana na-Vdnaze, and I am a very poor copy of myself.

In telling my story, there are certain things I should perhaps lie about. I should make myself a hero. Pretend I was not used by strangers and gods, did not leave people behind.

Here is one truth: out there in deep space, in the pilot's chair, I died. And then, I was reborn. I became something not quite human, something that could speak to the infinite dark. And I vowed to become the scourge of the world that wronged me.

This is the story of the supernova event that burned planets and felled civilizations. This is also the story of the many lives I've lived since I died for the first time.

Are you listening?