Song of Spores
Weird space opera novel, Song of Spores by Bogi Takács, deals with the everyday challenges of life in intergalactic space, like politics, family, and sentient fungus.
Hugo Award-winner Bogi Takács spins a tale of adventure, mystery, and political intrigue in space.
HAILING MUSHROOM ROCK
Three experienced counterintelligence operatives from Alliance Treaty Enforcement are on a mission to find the source of shapeshifting infiltrators within Alliance space. Will the gruff Ereni commander, the Chasidic Jewish shapeshifter, and the cynical insectoid grandma be able to work together? Or will their differences drive them apart before they can reach their goal?
Not to mention dealing with the sentient spaceship and symbiotic pilot, who only signed on to provide transportation, not to be eaten by giant space fungus. Are they even on the right side of history when everything comes crashing down?
Can the galaxy possibly survive? This is weird space opera at its finest!
REVIEWS
“Song of Spores is a rare find: a truly innovative science fiction novel with psychological depths as nuanced and complex as our own world. Takács reveals emself to be a true heavy hitter, marrying the sharp, cinematic coolness of Peter Watts with Le Guin’s lyrical, unbounded imagination. The characters are fascinating, the plot both riveting and batshit unpredictable, the writing beautiful. An absolute gem.” (Maria Dong, author of Liar, Dreamer, Thief and Psychopomp)
“A rollicking adventure full of fungi, shapeshifters, and groupmind shenanigans. Song of Spores bursts with inventive exuberance. As always with Bogi Takács, it’s also a thoughtful book with light to shed on gender, collective identity, neurodiversity, religion, and what happens when an organization is more concerned with cleaning messes up quickly than with protecting its own.” (Ada Hoffmann, author of The Outside and Resurrections)
“Is it enough that Song of Spores revives the zesty weirdness of the classic space opera without the self-important bloat and anthropocentric pulp baggage? No! Because Bogi Takács effortlessly models the kindness and curiosity we’ll need to find our way among the stars, not by fetishizing what it means to be human but by celebrating how all sentient beings grow by being humane.” (Cody Goodfellow, Wonderland Award-winning author of Radiant Dawn and New Tomorrow)
“What does it mean to be alien among humans as well as extraterrestrials? These characters connect and intersect in a kaleidoscopic gamut of identity and experience: insect and mammal, hive mind and individual, investigator and criminal. That’s not even mentioning the tensions of strict religious Judaism versus queer genders boosted by practical alien shapeshifter tech. Yes, please. I need more science fiction as original as Song of Spores.” (Evan J. Peterson, author of Better Living Through Alchemy)
“Song of Spores is a fast-paced interstellar adventure with a diverse cast and sentient fungi! I loved the premise and the characters, and I hope to see more set in this world.” (Catherine Lundoff, publisher at Queen of Swords Press)
“Takács’s first full-length novel is a SF procedural set in a far-flung part of space with a shapeshifting protagonist and an alien crew […] They deftly weave intersex, trans, and other identities into this fine book that thrillingly crosses genre lines.” (Booklist)