Plague Birds: The Red Day Edition

Preorder and save 30%!
Release Date 6/30/26
Finalist for the Nebula and Philip K. Dick Award! 

Return to Jason Sanford's dark sci-fi world in Plague Birds: The Red Day Edition, newly updated and with an additional afterword and short story, "Little Fathers of Darkness," originally published in Robotic Ambitions: Tales of Mechanical Sentience. 

Reviews

"A stand-out work within the landscape of contemporary science fiction. The novel's blend of technology, mysticism, ethics, and human emotions creates a deeply satisfying reading experience. It's a book that challenges the reader, poses questions without easy answers, and constructs a world that lingers in the memory long after the last page has been turned." 
—Distópolis, Novedades & Reseñas Sobre Literatura Fantástica

"Without a doubt, one of the best science fiction novels in recent years... A story with a very well-constructed lore, from the past events that have led to chaos and a great war, the creation of a new post-apocalyptic civilization and its rules, and the lack of a great leader or goverment in a Middle Ages styled world under the control of artificial intelligence. The book is a fierce critique of humanity, which has played at being gods without analyzing the subsequent consequences." 
—Monica Grau Seto, Nuevo Tribuna

"Such a perfect blend of SF and fantasy, weaving memory, loss, technology, and family into a wholly unique tapestry that left me turning the pages just to see what he would do next." 
—Maurice Broaddus, author of Pimp My Airship and the Astra Black trilogy

"A book thick with bloodlines of family, friendship, and history. This is truly Jason Sanford at his finest: a story with real bite. Its characters are so clear and so real that I laughed with them, cried with them, and sat gripping the final pages because I didn't want to let them go. With cities that come alive (literally) and prose with personality, Plague Birds is a book that I'll be thinking about for days, months, years to come." 
—Jordan Kurella, Nebula and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award nominated author

"A masterpiece in world-building, Plague Birds is a wildly imaginative thrill ride set in a weird future populated by biogenetically engineered human/animal hybrids, benevolent and malevolent AIs, alien forces and—strangest of all—plague birds, powerful arbiters of justice who are bonded to AIs that course through their veins. An action-packed and riveting page-turner, I couldn't put it down." 
—Mercurio D. Rivera, World Fantasy Award nominated author

Description

Glowing red lines split their faces. Shock-red hair and clothes warn people to flee their approach. They are plague birds, the powerful merging of humans and artificial intelligences who serve as judges and executioners after the collapse of civilization. And the plague birds' judgment is swift and deadly, as Crista discovered as a child when she watched one kill her mother.

In a world of gene-modded humans constantly watched over by benevolent AIs, everyone hates and fears the plague birds. But to save her father and home village, Crista becomes the very creature she fears the most. And her first task as a plague bird is hunting down an ancient group of murderers wielding magic-like powers.

As Crista and her AI symbiote travel farther from home than she ever imagined, they are plunged into a strange world where she judges wrongdoers, befriends other outcasts, and uncovers an extremely personal conspiracy that threatens the lives of millions.

Plague Birds is a genre-bending mix of science fiction and dark fantasy and the epic story of a young woman who becomes one of the future's most hated creatures, with a killer AI bonded to her very blood.

About the Author

Jason Sanford is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer who’s also a passionate advocate for fellow authors, creators, and fans, in particular through reporting in his Genre Grapevine column (for which he's been a finalist multiple times for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer). He’s also published dozens of stories in magazines such as Asimov’s Science Fiction, Apex Magazine, Interzone, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies along with appearances in various “year’s best” anthologies and New Voices of Science Fiction. His first novel Plague Birds was a finalist for both the 2022 Nebula Award and the 2022 Philip K. Dick Award. Born and raised in the American South, Jason’s previous experience includes work as an archaeologist, journalist and a Peace Corps Volunteer. His website is www.jasonsanford.com.