Archivist Wasp

A Novel

De: Nicole Kornher-Stace

Narrado por: Abby Craden

Norton Award finalist
YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults 2016
Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Books of 2015
Book Riot Best of 2015
Buzzfeed 32 Best Fantasy Novels of 2015
ABC Best Books for Young Readers
Los Angeles Times Summer Reading
Locus Recommended Reading

Wasp's job is simple. Hunt ghosts. And every year she has to fight to remain Archivist. Desperate and alone, she strikes a bargain with the ghost of a supersoldier. She will go with him on his underworld hunt for the long-long ghost of his partner and in exchange she will find out more about his pre-apocalyptic world than any Archivist before her. And there is much to know. After all, Archivists are marked from birth to do the holy work of a goddess. They're chosen. They're special. Or so they've been told for four hundred years.

Archivist Wasp fears she is not the chosen one, that she won't survive the trip to the underworld, that the brutal life she has escaped might be better than where she is going. There is only one way to find out.


Praise for Archivist Wasp:

"Archivist Wasp is a gorgeous and complex book, featuring a deadly girl who traverses an equally deadly landscape. Wasp won me over, and she's sure to find fans among teens and grown-ups alike."
— Phoebe North, author of Starglass

"A tremendously inventive and smart novel. Archivist Wasp is like Kafka by way of Holly Black and Shirley Jackson, but completely original. Highly recommended."
— Jeff VanderMeer, author of the Southern Reach trilogy

"A gorgeous, disturbing, compelling book with a smart, complicated heroine who bestrides her post-apocalyptic world like a bewildered force of nature. Reading it was a wild ride and a thoroughly satisfying one."
— Delia Sherman, author of The Freedom Maze

"One of the most revelatory and sublime books I've ever read, Archivist Wasp is a must-read for fans of post-apocalyptic fiction. Kornher-Stace is a genius, and I can't wait to see what she does next!"
— Tiffany Trent, author of The Unnaturalists

"Brutal post-apocalypse meets sci-fi techno-thriller meets a ghost story for the ages in this astonishingly original novel from Nicole Kornher-Stace. You've never read anything like Archivist Wasp,but once you have you'll be clamoring for more."
— Mike Allen, author of Unseaming

“Sharp as a blade and mythically resonant, Archivist Wasp is a post-apocalyptic ghost story unlike anything else I’ve read. Trust me, you want this book.”
— Karina Sumner-Smith, author of Radiant

“Archivist Wasp turns destiny on its head, and it re-invents the world you know to do it. Strong. Fast. Addictive.”
— Darin Bradley, author of Noise

“Goes off like a firecracker in the brain: the haunted landscape, the sure-footed, blistering prose — and, of course, the heroine herself, the most excellent Archivist Wasp.”
— Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble

Praise for Nicole Kornher-Stace:

"In richly textured, atmospheric prose, Kornher-Stace delivers a spellbinding tale of deception, betrayal, and the darker possibilities of playacting."—Booklist

"Mesmerizing from the first page and once you get into its flow, a page turner to boot."—Fantasy Book Critic

"Absorbing, exciting, intellectually fascinating, emotionally true, and well-crafted, bobbles and all."—Ideomancer

Terrible narrator

I couldn’t finish because the narrator was so bad I couldn’t understand what she was saying. It wouldn’t let me not review the performance & story, so not fair review because I just couldn’t do it. I’ll read it instead.

Wonderful book-I want the sequel!

I have listened to this book several times and continue to love it. The author creates a fascinating world and Wasp is a great character.

Great characters and dynamics

I came to Nicole Kornher-Stace's writing through their discussions of platonic relationships on Twitter, and I really like what's shown here with the deeply developed relationship between the ghost and Foster and the newly developing one between Wasp and the ghost. A little disappointed to see that the next book doesn't have the same narrator!

Strong Character Without Going Woke

Generally good story and overall narration. What I enjoyed was a strong female main character that didn't exhibit major unrealistic emotional swings for the sake of some woke idea of a strong female lead. She has doubts and struggles with indecision but isn't paralyzed completely, only to suddenly be somehow empowered and overcome all just because she's a strong female lead. I think the characters are written well and the ideas explored in the story are different enough to be original for current times. The only issue I had was with the narrator frequently mispronouncing simple words, almost as if this was read by a computer text to speech engine from the nineties. Nothing major but occasionally frustrating in what otherwise was a pretty well read book. Finished this a bit ago so I can't remember specific words that were mispronounced, just that it was irritating when it happened.

Unique and interesting read

I loved this book. This is a very unique take on a ‘after the end of the world’ society.