The Rift

by Nina Allan

Overview

Selena and Julie are sisters. As children they were closest companions, but as they grow towards maturity, a rift develops between them.
There are greater rifts, however. Julie goes missing at the age of seventeen. It will be twenty years before Selena sees her again. When Julie reappears, she tells Selena an incredible story about how she has spent time on another planet. Selena has an impossible choice to make: does she dismiss her sister as a damaged person, the victim of delusions, or believe her, and risk her own sanity in the process? Is Julie really who she says she is, and if she isn’t, what does she have to gain by claiming her sister’s identity?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785650475
Publisher:	Titan
Publication date:	06/25/2019
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	1,225,206
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 6.80(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Nina Allan's debut novel The Race was shortlisted for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the BSFA Award and the Kitschies Red Tentacle. She has won the BSFA Award for Short Fiction, the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire, and the Aeon Award. She has been shortlisted for the British Fantasy Award four times and was a finalist for the 2014 Shirley Jackson Award. She blogs at ninaallan.co.uk.

Editorial Reviews

"Moving, subtle, and ambiguous, this is a good pick for literary-sf fans" - Booklist

“a reminder that upheaval is rarely resolved so easily as in books, that human relationships can often be messy, complicated, and unresolvable things” Barnes & Noble SFF blog

“an exceptionally rich, haunting and immersive reading experience that will linger on your mind for a long time after you've finished reading it”  Rising Shadow 

“a lot of fun concepts here and a fully crafted alien world” Sciencefiction.com

“worth the read” Gamers Sphere

"The Rift will appeal to any science-fiction lover. It’s well written and surprising in a way that many of the clumsier science-fiction stories today aren’t. As the story delves deeper into fantastical territory, it might be off-putting to some. Nonetheless, for those willing to remain with the story until the end, it is worth the investment. Through the unbelievable and the disturbing, the book maintains a level of practicality that is refreshing." - Portland Book Review

From the Publisher

04/24/2017
In this fractured postmodern drama of a pair of separated sisters, the warmth of togetherness has to survive the coldness of rational fact. Julie disappeared one summer day 20 years ago, presumably the victim of a local predator. Her sister, Selena, settled into being an only child, even as her father continued to obsess over his missing daughter. After he dies, Julie returns, claiming she fell through “the rift” into another world, Tristane, that’s threatened by an alien memory-stealing parasite. Selena wants to believe Julie’s story, even as their mother refuses to. Allan crafts mirrored portraits of two women at odds with their own lives coming into a more stable orbit around each other. But the duplications in their narratives (both are taken in by older, capable women, neither has a long-term relationship, both prefer solitude to socializing) seem more like repetitive reproductions than reflections that might offer additional insight into the story’s themes. (July)

Publishers Weekly

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