“This was the book I needed. The fun, heisty bits create a tasty coating for real conversations about revolution. Intimate, sweeping, and full of flight."
- Mary Robinette Kowal, USA TODAY bestselling author of The Calculating Stars
*****
“Memorable characters, a fascinating world, tons of action, and deep political intrigue: Flightless, Marie Parks’s impressive solo debut novel, has it all. Readers seeking a fresh voice and skilled storytelling need look no further — your next addictive series is here. I look forward to the next volume!”
- David B. Coe (D.B. Jackson), author of the Thieftaker Chronicles
*****
"Flightless is an exhilarating blend of Maximum Ride and Gentleman Bastards I didn't know I needed."
-AJ Alexanders, author of Not Your Mountain
*****
"A thrilling heist to restore a broken reputation turns into so much more in this stunning solo debut.”
- Jes Honard, author of The Grigori Cycle
*****
"Flightless is fantastic, with characters that fly off the page through a unique world that resonates with modernity. Desperately compassionate rogues lead you through an amazing adventure that kept me turning page after page."
- Daniel Eavenson, Fantasy Book of the Month Podcast
*****
“In great heist stories like this one, things always seem like they are going according to plan until they don’t. Parks manages to perform the same trick with her fantasy universe as a whole, providing us a world which makes sense and then, at the best time, adding a wrinkle which shakes it to its very foundation. Parks’ universe of three species living in strict social and legal hierarchy makes Flightless immediately and, unfortunately, perpetually relevant. By focusing on her wonderful, richly drawn characters and a driving plot, she draws us in, making us long for a better, more just world for them, then long for one for ourselves.”
-Benjamin Gorman, author of Don't Read This Book, You Were Warned, and You People Are Monsters
*****
“A destitute, one-eyed thief with a big heart goes all in on the biggest heist of his life in this sensory, fantasy world in which people are stratified based on their ability to fly.
Parks crafts a tactile and odorous fantasy world full of thieves, political strife, and just the right amount of steam punk. Riff is a glider, technically middle class, but everyone is looked down upon by the winged Divians. To make matters worse, Riff is in poverty and all his ill-gotten gains go to support his family's ailing farm. But when the flying aristocrats dishonor his dead sister's memory and reject his petition for upper class status, Riff is forced to take on a sketchy last minute job---robbing the museum of antiquities for a haughty Divian---in order to save his family.
Flightless is as snappy as an Ocean's Eleven film and Parks infuses the world with rich detail. This is a lived-in world and Riff has the dirt under his nails to prove it. Riff's backstory and entanglement with the broader problems of society gradually unfold until the reader is rooting for the bruised and hungry hero with all their heart.
Readers will eat up this fantasy heist that's given depth by its social conscience and heartfelt hero.”
-Neal Holtschulte, author of Crew of Exiles and Tall Boy Sun
*****
“A moving story of a disadvantaged group's struggle to survive in a society divided by birthright, and a revolutionary reveal that affirms there is honor amongst thieves.”
- Hugh Fritz, author of The Mystic Rampage Trilogy
