It’s almost my birthday here in Australia—a birthday I share, give or take a few time-zones—with an incredible Brooklyn-based sci-fi writer named Ben Fransisco.
I first met Ben at Clarion South back in 2007, where be blew me away with a series of delicate, nuanced short stories that found homes in magazines like the Realms of Fantasy, Shimmer, and Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet.
Ben’s stories are extraordinary, even more so because they’re rare. Precious glimpses of an extraordinary talent which appear every couple of years, then disappear beneath the weight of Ben’s other life where he worked for high-profile non-profits advocating for LGBTQ rights and immigrant rights.
He’s legitimately one of those people who changes the world for the better, which makes it really hard to begrudge his job pulling him away from writing.
Hard, but not impossible. I’m an unreasonable man who always wishes his favourite writers would produce more work.
Which is why the recent release of this book made me extraordinarily happy.
Val Vega: Secret Ambassador of Earth is Ben’s debut novel, a YA adventure written by someone with an unmatched passion and love of science fiction who grew up without seeing themselves represented on the screen or in the books they loved.
It’s an extraordinary book, and I’m not the only person to think so. Kirkus gave it a starred review, dubbing it “a captivating, heartfelt tale about family, diplomacy, and finding one’s place in the universe”.
It’s been out a little over a month now, and still flying with a five star rating on Amazon and Goodreads.
I got to read part of the book while helping Ben sort through the publishing logistics of getting Val Vega out into the world, and I absolutely cannot wait for my copy of the finished thing to find its way to Brisbane.
Trust me, if you love sci-fi, you want a copy of this one.
I’ll leave you with a final rave about the book from M. M. De Voe (A Flash of Darkness):
“If interstellar peace is your dream and you love a diverse cast of fabulously weird and brilliant aliens; if you believe in the power of one good human to survive personal hardship and save our planet, and if your dream is to discover that this human hero happens to be a humble, witty and smart-as-hell Latinx teenager, then this is the book for you! Everyone else should read this book for the absolutely fun ride through a universe that will become so real you’ll be quoting it.”
— M. M. De Voe, award-winning author
