The King's Daughter

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Vonda N. McIntyre (1948–2019) was the award-winning science fiction and fantasy author of Dreamsnake, The King’s Daughter (The Moon and the Sun), and many other highly praised novels and short stories. McIntyre’s books and short fiction won Hugo and Nebula Awards, and her Star Trek and Star Wars tie-ins are beloved by generations of fans. McIntyre founded Clarion West, a writing workshop for speculative fiction writers, and was a founding member of the Book View Café, an author-owned publishing cooperative. A quiet, tireless feminist, she nurtured hundreds of writers. Through her writing, teaching, and works, McIntyre both shaped and nurtured the science fiction/fantasy community.

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Winner of the Nebula Award and now a major motion picture: “A luminous, radiant novel” (Ursula K. Le Guin, author of the Earthsea series).
 
During the late seventeenth century, Louis XIV’s natural philosopher and explorer, Father Yves de la Croix, does what no one has done for four hundred years: he brings a living sea monster to land. Thus begins a stunning fantasy, a journey into science and superstition, and an alternate history in which Yves and his sister, Marie-Josèphe—a lady-in-waiting with her own finely tuned intelligence and insatiable curiosity—struggle to learn from and protect the sea woman. As Marie-Josèphe translates the sea woman’s songs into stories, she hopes to stave off the creature’s inevitable execution—for Louis XIV believes the wondrous being holds the secret to the immortality he craves, a twisted obsession that will force brother and sister to choose between their conscience and their loyalty to king and country . . .
 
The basis for the movie starring Pierce Brosnan, The King’s Daughter is “a dazzling and spirited evocation of the passions, intrigues, and preconceptions of the age, along with a dandy pair of misfit, star-crossed lovers: an enchanting slice of what-if historical speculation” (Kirkus Reviews).
 
“A wonderful book! Adventure, love, history, magic.” —Diana Gabaldon, bestselling author of Outlander
 
“A plot that sings, enchanting romance, and a depth of insight into human nature.” —SF Site
 
“A marvelous alternative-history fable about greed and goodness, power and pathos set at the 17th century court of Louis XIV, France’s glittering Sun King . . . [McIntyre’s] imaginings enliven her history with wonder, but, as in the best fantasy, they serve less to dazzle by their inventiveness than to illuminate brilliantly real-world truths—here, humanity’s responses, base and noble, when confronting the unknown.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
 
“Combines two demanding genres, with some remarkable twists unlike anything I’ve seen before. It is a science fiction story of first contact with an alien race, but told in a setting more often associated with fantasy. It is also historical romance at its best, the type of meticulously researched work that brings another era to life. McIntyre infuses it all with her marvelously unique style.” —Catherine Asaro, award-winning author
 
Previously published as The Moon and the Sun