
Hello and welcome to our cover reveal for Darby Harn’s forthcoming Sci-Fi/Space Opera novel, Stargun Messenger! I am so thrilled to show you this incredible cover by Al Hess! Before we get into the reveal itself, be sure to take a look at all of the info for the forthcoming book and prepare yourself for the epicness that is this cover!
Stargun Messenger by Darby Harn
Series: Stargun Messenger
Genre: Sci-Fi/Space Opera
Intended Age Group: Adult
Pages: 368
Published: May 5, 2023
Publisher: Self Published

Book Blurb:
To save the stars, Astra Idari must outrun her own shadow.
Astra Idari is a mess.
She drinks too much, remembers too little, and barely pays for it all as a Stargun Messenger. She hunts down thieves who steal filamentium, the fuel that allows for faster-than-light travel. When Idari meets Gen Emera, she meets the girl of her dreams and the last living star. There’s just one problem.
Filamentium is only found in the blood of living stars.
Everyone wields knives and justifications for butchering the living stars to get around, but once Idari knows the truth, she faces a stark choice. Either she turns Emera over to her employers who control the filamentium monopoly, or risks everything to help Emera fulfill her quest to save her people.
The choice should be simple, but it’s not losing her life that terrifies Idari. It’s finally living. Idari knows she’s human despite outwardly appearing to be an android with a failing memory stitched together by her ship’s irascible AI, CR-UX. She’s been just getting by for longer than she remembers, assured in her humanity, but not enough to risk it.
Idari has lived her entire life in darkness. The dark comforts and shields. The dark preserves in its cold, and Idari may not be able to keep her star out of her shadow.
“If James Joyce had grown up reading X-Men comics and obsessively playing Destiny, he would have written this. A breathtakingly imaginative, star-spanning romp that is equal parts swashbuckling galactic adventure and lyrical introspection about love and identity.”
– Wayne Santos, author of The Chimera Code
See Also:
I Forgor • I Want to Break Free • Rebel Rebel
Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BWWV1NTK
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75434518-stargun-messenger
Cover Reveal:

And there it is! Oh my goodness, I love this cover so much. It’s just so cool looking, with the bright bubblegum pink next to the blue of the character portrait. It’s definitely a striking cover! Also, I’m getting serious Guardians of the Galaxy vibes. Am I alone there? I think maybe it’s the cool looking spacesuit that Astra is wearing, coupled with the jacket and the wicked looking pistol. So cool!
Below I’ve thrown in the full art without all that pesky lettering so you can see the full, unobstructed masterpiece that is this cover art!

The artist, Al Hess, has created some of my favorite covers, including the one for his own recent release, World Running Down. You can see more of his art, learn about his own books (which I highly recommend) and more at the links below!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_AlHess
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alhess_artist/
Website: https://www.alhessauthor.com/
About the Author:

Darby Harn is the author of the SPSFC quarterfinalist Ever The Hero, which Publisher’s Weekly called “an entertaining debut that uses superpowers as a metaphor to delve into class politics in an alternate America.” His short fiction appears in Strange Horizons, Interzone, and other venues. Visit www.darbyharn.com for more.
Website: http://www.darbyharn.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DarbyHarn
FB: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063755514517
IG: https://www.instagram.com/darbywritesbooks/
Newsletter: https://darbyharn.com/subscribe/

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