Looking for more cozy, queer sci-fi? What about a standalone with found family and neurodiversity? If you answered yes to either of those questions, you’ll want to add Al Hess’ Key Lime Sky to your 2024 must read list.
Hess’ upcoming release with Angry Robot Books follows a struggling food blogger with a passion for pie after he witnesses a UFO explode over his small town. Seen as eccentric for his questioning and belief in the extraterrestrial, despite all of the strange happenings occurring across town, the writer turns to his blog to document the event alongside the only person in town who believes him: a handsome bartender.
Interested? Want to know more? Here’s the official synopsis:
Denver Bryant’s passion for pie has sent him across Wyoming searching for the best slices, but his food blog is a failure and its trickling income isn’t enough to pay his rent next month.
Driving home from a roadside diner, Denver witnesses a UFO explode directly over his tiny town of Muddy Gap. When he questions his neighbors, he seems to be the only one to care that the residents’ strange behavior and a shower of hail-that-isn’t-hail could be evidence of something extraterrestrial. Frustrated that his reputation as town eccentric is impeding his quest for answers, he details the events on his failing blog, and his online popularity skyrockets, driving him to search for answers.
The only person in town who takes him seriously is handsome bartender, Ezra. They investigate over pie and the possibility of romance, but when people start vanishing and reality folds in on itself, it’s suddenly a race against time to find the extraterrestrial source and destroy it before it consumes not only Muddy Gap but everything beyond. Denver’s always been more outsider than hero, but he’s determined to ensure that a world with Ezra – and with pie – still exists tomorrow.
If that wasn’t enough to pique your interest (or, if it was, and you’re clamoring for more), here are some fun facts about the book, courtesy of Hess himself, as revealed in an Instagram post leading up to today’s cover reveal. Not only is the word “pie” intentionally used 314 times throughout the novel, but the book was on submission for 10 minutes before it was taken to acquisitions. Hess has described the novel as: “an homage to chasing the unknown, to quirky small towns, and to the connections you make as a misfit that help you realize you aren’t as alien as you’ve come to believe.”
But wait – there’s more! Hess has an incredible author website (seriously, check out his book pitches as choose your own gay adventures) that has art of all of his characters, including those in Key Lime Sky (Denver, Ezra, Molly, Trevor & Taisha).
Now that I’ve got you interested, here is the official cover of Key Lime Sky, featuring art from Al Hess himself and cover design by Karen Smith.
Key Lime Sky releases with Angry Robot Books late next summer and is currently set to hit shelves on August 13, 2024. You can find pre-order links (and even request a copy!) here.
Please note, while Hess’ upcoming release is charming, quirky, and wholesome, featuring a strong romantic sub-plot between an autistic, non-binary MC and a plus-sized pansexual love interest, it does come with some content warnings, courtesy of the publisher: language; brief violence; anxiety; on-page autistic meltdowns; mentions of ableism; mentions of parental drug addiction and verbal abuse; open door sex and sexual elements; hospitalization; alcohol use; mentions of racism, police, and jail time; brief fatphobia.
Want to know more about the book’s inspiration? Check out Hess’ Instagram post on the topic here!
Want to see more of Hess’ art? He’s got a separate Instagram account for it here!
And here’s one more glimpse of the cover!
Okay, this does sound pretty cute! Not my kind of story, but I can appreciate the green cover at least 🙂
It’s definitely a niche sort of story, but nice to see more cozy SFF! I do love how bright the cover is, too. 🙂