Sky Without Stars

by Jessica Brody

Chatine turned her head toward the window just in time to see the voyageur plunge into the permanent layer of clouds that surrounded Laterre. The view from the window went from murky gray—the color that had shadowed her entire life—to a pure, perfect white. It was so bright and clean and soothing, Chatine felt as though she were staring not into a color, but into the absence of color. The absence of everything. Dirt, grime, pain, suffering, hunger, cold.

  Then, weightlessness.

  The juddering beneath her stopped, and they were floating. She was floating. Her body was still restrained to the seat, but Chatine no longer felt as though she were inside of it.

  She was empty. She was made of nothing but air. She was free.

  Outside the window, the white had vanished and the sky was dark. There were no stars. There was no light. But it was nothing like the dark she’d experienced on Laterre. This one didn’t feel heavy and hovering and crushing. It felt infinite and vast and hopeful. Like it was filled with endless possibility.

  The ship banked left, heading toward its final destination.

  And that’s when Chatine saw them.

  Three Sols hanging in the darkness, like jewels in the sky. A massive glowing white orb flanked by two smaller stars—one red, one with the slightest tinge of blue.

  She pressed her face to the plastique of the window and blinked against the light. It was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen. They were just as magnificent and breathtaking as she’d imagined. Brighter and bolder and more exquisite than anything anyone could ever hope to replicate in Ledôme.

  But the thing that surprised Chatine the most about the Sols was that they were there at all.

  She’d spent so many hours lying in darkness or walking under rain-soaked clouds, doubting that the Sols even existed. Convinced it was all just another ruse conjured up by the Ministère to give them false hope.

  And yet, there they were.

  Brilliant. Strong. Unwavering.

  Like sentinels in the sky. Watching over the whole System Divine.

  The ship veered into another sharp turn, and at once Chatine could see the shadowy, colorless sphere of Bastille coming into view on the horizon in front of them and the spinning globe of Laterre growing smaller and smaller behind them.

  As she watched the only home she’d ever known vanish outside her window, Chatine couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of it all.

  She’d finally gotten off that miserable planet.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you, Nicole Ellul, our editor magnifique! Sky Without Stars owes so much to your smart, insightful, and diligent guidance. You helped us go deeper and ask questions we’d never thought to ask, and your enthusiasm, kindness, and friendship helped us every step of the way.

  Jim McCarthy! Merci merci merci for believing in this book from the very beginning. From the moment you said, “You had me at ‘Les Mis in Space,’ ” you have been such a brilliant and passionate cheerleader for this book, and we couldn’t have done this without your support.

  Everyone at Simon & Schuster, you are the dream team and our shining bright Sols in the sky. Mara Anastas, Liesa Abrams, Chriscynethia Floyd, Ruqayyah Daud, Julie Jarema, Emily Hutton, Jessica Handelman, Michael Rosamilia, Heather Palisi-Reyes, Nicole Overton, Elizabeth Mims, Sara Berko, Samantha Benson, Nicole Russo, Caitlin Sweeny, and Anna Jarzab. And a huge shout-out to Mary Nubla and Christine Foye, sales rep extraordinaires! Thank you for getting behind this book before there was even a book to get behind!

  Copyeditors don’t always get the credit they deserve but Clare McGlade deserves all the kudos and all the thanks in the whole System Divine. (Just look at the size of this book!?) We nicknamed you Athena, goddess of copyedits, because of your wisdom and shrewd eye, and because at times it seemed you understood the world and history of Laterre even better than we did!

  Extra sparkly, star-filled cheers for Billelis! We hardly know where to begin thanking you for the most beautiful, dazzling, and perfect cover. And thank you to the insanely talented Francesca Baerald who brought Laterre to life in your gorgeously stunning maps that we are still drooling over!

  Our first EVER reader was Kristin Bair, who, out of the goodness of her heart, read a work-in-progress by two authors she’d never met before. Thank you for your comments, your incisive reading, and your excitement about the world and story we created. Your enthusiasm spurred us on right when we needed it most.

  Thank you to Nini Kauffman-O’Hehir and Fae Leonard-Mann, our fabulous teen beta readers. We’re not sure how you both read Sky Without Stars so fast (again, have you seen the size of this book!?), but we were delighted you ate up the story. Your feedback was invaluable! And to the utterly fantastique and impossibly brilliant Jessica Khoury. Thank you for your comments, ideas, sci-fi genius, and, most of all, for your patient ear as we griped incessantly about plot holes and word counts.

  For two authors who know very little about solar orbits, Goldilocks Zones, or cloud coverage on distant planets, Marguerite Syvertson . . . you saved us! Thank you for taking the time to answer our many, often stupide, questions. And thank you, Joel Skinner, for your energy expertise and enthusiasm for helping us bring a distant imaginary world to life.

  We were fortunate to have some wonderful booksellers read advance copies of this book. Kristen Gilligan (at Tattered Cover), Emily Hall (at Main Street Books), Julie Poling (at Red Balloon Bookshop), and Madeline Dorman (at Blue Willow Books), your support for Sky Without Stars and passion for getting it out into the world is deeply appreciated. Thank you!

  And of course, merci to Monsieur Hugo for lending us Eponine, Marius, and Cosette (among others) so we could reimagine them on a far-off planet in a far-off future.

  JOANNE:

  Thank you to my mum, Kate Matthews, for being my first reader and my first true fan. Jana, Alan, and Janine Lewis, for your love, songs, and endless support. My dad, Frank Rendell, who introduced me to great literature and my brother, Jim Rendell, who was Luke Skywalker to my Leia back in the day!

  Many thanks to my friends, especially my hard-working and creative mama friends who know the juggle like I do: Katia Belousova, Luisa Giugliano, Emma Iacono-Mannings, Dina Jordan, Leslie Kauffman, Caroline Roland-Levy, Stephanie Schragger, and Julie Von. Lesley Sawhill, Ron Aja, and Brandon Sawhill-Aja, thank you for your wonderful friendship and for bringing Shakespeare so deeply into our lives. And, of course, Pamela Mann for your beautiful poems and Donna Lewis for being my best Welshie—I love you always forever!

  Jess Brody! You are the most incredible teacher, inspiration, coauthor, and most of all friend. Thank you for letting me play Les-Mis-in-Space dolls with you!! You are the capitaine of this voyageur, and you and your endless talent keep us up in the sky, flying in the right direction, and making sure we’re not losing characters or vital plot points along the way. May the fun continue and the tea never run out. And thank you to Charlie Fink for putting up with our endless chat and the dumb questions about science and how to fix things.

  And finally, Brad Lewis and Benny Rendell. Every day I learn from you and laugh with you. Benny, you shine on stage and behind the camera and make me so proud to be your mum (plus, your knowledge of all things Star Wars and sci-fi has been exceedingly useful for this book!). Brad, you’re my own personal Krishna and Foucault rolled into one. Thank you for your unending wisdom and love. Je t ’adore!

  JESSICA:

  I would be nothing without my amazing author clan: Jessica Khoury, Jennifer Wolfe, Marie Lu, Stephanie Garber, Marissa Meyer, Leigh Bardugo, Beth Revis, Danielle Paige, Laini Taylor, Brendan Reichs, Morgan Matson, Kami Garcia, Andrea Cremer, Suzanne Young, Len Vlahos, J. R. Johansson, Alexandra Monir, Tamara Stone, Anna Banks, Emmy Laybourne, B. T. Gottfred, Carolina Munhóz, Raphael Draccon, Robin Benway, and Mary Pearson. Thank you, all you beautiful souls, for your support, encouragement, and constant reassurances that I’m not crazy . . . it’s just part of the process.

  And special thanks to Christina Farley and Vivi Barnes
. Five years ago, you two taught a retelling class that I sat in on, and you asked us to write down classic stories that we loved in one column and possible alternate settings in another. By the end of that class, I had written “Les Misérables” and “space” in my two columns and had drawn a line between them. A line that would eventually become this novel. Thank you for your inspiration.

  But this book certainly would not exist without you, Jo. I will never forget that dinner where you said, “Les Misérables is one of my favorite books!” and I said, “Do you want to retell it in space with me!?” The three-year process that has resulted from that fateful night has been some of the best years of my life. From the delirious late-night chocolate-fueled revisions, to your hilarious comments in the manuscript, to our epic brainstorming sessions (we really should invest in Skype), I’m quite certain I’ve never laughed so much in my life, and I’ve definitely never had this much fun writing a book. Thank you for being there to lift me up, delete my unnecessary adverbs, and replace every instance of [Jo! Help! This needs one of your epic descriptions!] with another one of your epic descriptions. The best part about writing with a partner is there’s always someone who’s not freaking out about the book. So far . . .

  Thank you to Jo’s family—Brad and Benny—for lending me your superstar for hours and days on end. I’m not sure how any of us would survive without her, am I right? And thank you to my own family—my parents, Laura and Michael Brody, my sister Terra Brody, my brother-in-law, Pier, and of course, always, Charlie. The sky is never starless when you’re around. I love you and would live anywhere with you: even the Frets.

  And last but never, ever least, thank you to my readers around the world, who have followed me from book to book, across cities, centuries, dimensions, and now galaxies. Thank you for indulging me in every creative whim that strikes my fancy—from spoiled heiresses, snowed-in airports, and magic jewelry boxes to mysterious plane crashes, time loops, and now Laterre. I would never be able to travel to any of these magical places without you. Even in my darkest nights, you are the light that keeps me going.

  Merci beaucoup.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  JESSICA BRODY the author of several popular novels for teens and tweens, including The Geography of Lost Things, The Chaos of Standing Still, Boys of Summer, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, A Week of Mondays, Better You Than Me, and the Unremembered trilogy. She lives with her husband and four dogs near Portland, Oregon. Visit her online at JessicaBrody.com.

  JOANNE RENDELL is the author of three novels and holds a PhD in English literature. She teaches fiction writing to teens and kids and is a board member for the youth Shakespeare company, New Genesis Productions. With her husband and son, Joanne divides her time between New York City and New Paltz, New York. Visit Joanne at JoanneRendell.com.

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  Simon Pulse

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  SIMON PULSE

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  First Simon Pulse hardcover edition March 2019

  Text copyright © 2019 by Jessica Brody Entertainment LLC and Joanne Rendell

  Jacket illustration copyright © 2019 by Billelis

  Map illustrations copyright © 2019 by Francesca Baerald

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  Jacket designed by Jessica Handelman

  Interior designed by Mike Rosamilia

  Jacket illustration copyright © 2019 by Billelis

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Brody, Jessica, author. | Rendell, Joanne, author.

  Title: Sky without stars / by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell.

  Description: First Simon Pulse hardcover edition. | New York : Simon Pulse, 2019. | Series: System Divine ; 1 | Summary: “This sweeping reimagining of Les Misérables tells the story of three teens from very different backgrounds who are thrown together amidst the looming threat of revolution on the French planet-colony of Laterre”—Provided by publisher.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018030021 | ISBN 9781534410633 (hc) | ISBN 9781534410657 (eBook)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Space colonies—Fiction. | Criminals—Fiction. | Revolutions—Fiction. | Science fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.B786157 Sky 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018030021