“The Heart is Eaten Last” by Kameron Hurley is a Nyx novella, set between the first two books. Among other things, we meet Kaos.
It’s a fine novella, and I find myself in the same space as ever with Nyx–appreciating her confidence and determination, but sure that we’d never enjoy a drink together. Her sister is subtly drug in and seems reasonable, and the mystery that they’re solving is right up Nyx’s alley.
As always, it’s well written–it feels lived in, not exotic, despite the alien nature of everything. It’s just technology, it just works, you just shout for your bug-people to do it and it gets done. I’ll be interested in turning back to it again and seeing what I think on reread. Unlike most of her novels, this story doesn’t feel like I need a reread to appreciate it–it was enjoyable, almost light in comparison to the novels. Which is a quirky, interesting place to be in Umayma.