LIBERTY'S DAUGHTER
SKU:
NK1-23
$18.99
$15.99
$15.99
On Sale
per item
NAOMI KRITZER
*ANDRE NORTON NEBULA AWARD FINALIST!*
*LODESTAR AWARD FINALIST!*
*MINNESOTA BOOK AWARD FINALIST!*
Beck Garrison lives on a seastead — an archipelago of constructed platforms and old cruise ships, assembled by libertarian separatists a generation ago. She's grown up comfortable and sheltered, but starts doing odd jobs for pocket money.
To her surprise, she finds that she's the only detective that a debt slave can afford to hire to track down the woman's missing sister. When she tackles this investigation, she learns things about life on the other side of the waterline — not to mention about herself and her father — that she did not expect. And she finds out that some people will stop at nothing to protect their secrets . . .
Also available from Naomi Kritzer:
Cat Pictures Please
- November 2023 978-1-958880-16-6
- Cover art by Leon Tukker
- trade paperback and ebook
- Order copies below, or buy print or ebooks of this title from these dealers.
*ANDRE NORTON NEBULA AWARD FINALIST!*
*LODESTAR AWARD FINALIST!*
*MINNESOTA BOOK AWARD FINALIST!*
Beck Garrison lives on a seastead — an archipelago of constructed platforms and old cruise ships, assembled by libertarian separatists a generation ago. She's grown up comfortable and sheltered, but starts doing odd jobs for pocket money.
To her surprise, she finds that she's the only detective that a debt slave can afford to hire to track down the woman's missing sister. When she tackles this investigation, she learns things about life on the other side of the waterline — not to mention about herself and her father — that she did not expect. And she finds out that some people will stop at nothing to protect their secrets . . .
Also available from Naomi Kritzer:
Cat Pictures Please
"Kritzer shows off her worldbuilding chops in this impressive mystery set in a near future world in which a group of 'libertarian separatists' have built an archipelago of man-made islands in the Pacific Ocean near the California coast. Each of the six islands is an independent country, with differing approaches to which laws—if any—apply to their citizens. For example, on the least-restrictive, Lib, 'it’s legal to kill people,' but the hope is that murder will be deterred by the prospect of an equally permissible revenge killing. Kritzer makes this world plausible through the eyes of her endearing protagonist, 16-year-old Beck Garrison, who earns money tracking down hard-to-find goods for clients across the islands. Her latest job—a request for size eight sandals—leads her to Debbie Miller, an indentured laborer on the island of Amsterdam, who agrees to hand over the footgear only if Beck locates Debbie’s missing sister, Lynn, who hasn’t been heard from for weeks. Beck’s resourcefulness and audacity garner a clue to Lynn’s whereabouts—but chasing this trail also uncovers a sinister plot, places Beck’s life in danger, and reveals secrets about her life and the world that Beck’s powerful father, Paul, has been keeping from her. The political critique is sharp and the mystery is gripping. Admirers of Chris McKinney’s Water City trilogy will be riveted."
— Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Kritzer's got a sharp knife and she slips it in so smoothly that you barely notice that you're bleeding. The best sf uses the future to make a point about the present, and Kritzer's got today's enshittified, profit-worshipping, sociopathic present's number."
— Cory Doctorow, author of the Little Brother series and The Lost Cause
"There's so much sf about "competent men" running their families with entrepreneurial zeal, clarity of vision and a firm confident hand. But there's precious little fiction about how much being raised by a Heinlein dad would suuuck. But it would, and in Naomi Kritzer's Liberty's Daughter, we get a peek inside the nightmare. . . . This is the setup for Beck's adventure, which sees her liberating bond slaves tricked into fatal work details, getting involved in reality TV production, meeting illegal IWW organizers, and becoming embroiled in a pandemic that threatens the lives of all the steaders. It's a coming of age novel, told with the same straightforward, spunky zeal of Heinlein's juvies, but from the perspective of the daughter, not the dad. Kritzer makes it clear that growing up under the thumb of a TANSTAAFL-worshipping, self-regarding, wealthy autocrat who worships selfishness as the necessary precondition for market clearing would be a goddamned nightmare. She also thinks through some of the important implications of life in one of these offshore libertarian archipelagos, like the fact that the wealthy residents would be overwhelming drawn from the ranks of corporate criminals and tax-cheats, and the underclass would be bail-skipping proles ensnared in the War on Drugs. But Liberty's Daughter isn't a hymn to big government. Most of the steaders are escaping the US government, a state whose authoritarian and cruel proclivities are well-documented. Kritzer uses the labor dispute at the core of the novel to reveal market authoritarianism — the coercive power that hunger and poverty transfers from the have-nots to the haves. Think of Anatole France's wry observation that 'the law, in its majestic equality, equally forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.' If you're familiar with Kritzer's work, you won't be surprised to learn that she tells a zippy, fast moving tale that smuggles in sharp observations about the cleavage lines between solidarity and selfishness."
— Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic
"Everything Naomi Kritzer writes is amazing. Smash that pre-order button."
— Elizabeth Bear, author of Ancestral Night
"The setting for this SF detective story is fascinating. Beck Garrison is a casual private investigator who lives in a community which consists of vast numbers of derelict ships and floating constructs that were cobbled together by a kind of libertarian group and which now makes up a semi-coherent community where indentured servitude has returned and central control is almost nonexistent. She has been insular for most of her life, but when she accepts a job looking for a missing woman, the circumstances of that investigation force her to look not only at the world around her, but the one outside her community, and also at the circumstances of her own family. Her investigation is methodical and to a certain extent predictable, at least at first. But the more she looks into the matter, the more complicated things turn out to be. I had only read Kritzer's fantasy before this but I hope she does more SF in the future."
— Critical Mass
"I loved Liberty’s Daughter. This book offers a different kind of dystopia and a different kind of rebellion against it: a libertarian seastead that has managed to survive forty years while walking smack into all the expected bears, and a kid fighting those bears with all the strength of freedom and agency that the place has accidentally given her. Beck is delightfully skilled in all the things that discomfit adults, sheltered without turning away from unpleasant truths, and stubbornly determined to solve problems wherever she finds them. She’s a Heinlein juvenile protagonist grown clear-eyed about his 'utopias,' and updated to critique his modern descendants: good company for a disturbing, nuanced, and wind-tossed future."
— Ruthanna Emrys, author of A Half-Built Garden
"Liberty's Daughter is a fast-paced, forthright, funny voyage through libertarian seasteads and teenage heroism. Beck Garrison's tendency to wade into trouble to pull others out makes her the perfect mix of thought-provoking and action-packed. Naomi Kritzer always brings both heart and brains to her tales, and Liberty's Daughter is no exception."
— Marissa Lingen, Novel Gazing Redux
"I have been waiting most of a literal decade for this."
— John Chu, author of Beyond the El
"I love Kritzer’s work, and I always will.”
— Kelly Barnhill, Newbery Medalist
Praise for her story collection Cat Pictures Please:
"Kritzer’s flawless collection taps deep wells of emotion and wonder. In the Hugo-winning title story, the internet becomes intelligent and decides that it will try to keep people from harming themselves—if they feed it pictures of cats. . . Her work is indisputably speculative, but it’s a perfect entry point to the genre for readers who prefer fantastical and futuristic elements to stay more in the background, with human (and robotic) feelings always at the fore. This splendid treat is not to be missed."
— Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Kritzer’s sharp, bittersweet memorable stories will stay with you long after you close the book.”
— Jo Walton, author of Among Others
"Reading Kritzer's collected stories is like opening little, beautifully-wrapped presents, one after the other. These stories are full of surprises, but always thoughtful, often charming, invariably meaningful. Her prose is clear and easy to read, and her tales are wonderfully executed. Don't miss this collection!"
—Louise Marley, author of The Child Goddess
— Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Kritzer's got a sharp knife and she slips it in so smoothly that you barely notice that you're bleeding. The best sf uses the future to make a point about the present, and Kritzer's got today's enshittified, profit-worshipping, sociopathic present's number."
— Cory Doctorow, author of the Little Brother series and The Lost Cause
"There's so much sf about "competent men" running their families with entrepreneurial zeal, clarity of vision and a firm confident hand. But there's precious little fiction about how much being raised by a Heinlein dad would suuuck. But it would, and in Naomi Kritzer's Liberty's Daughter, we get a peek inside the nightmare. . . . This is the setup for Beck's adventure, which sees her liberating bond slaves tricked into fatal work details, getting involved in reality TV production, meeting illegal IWW organizers, and becoming embroiled in a pandemic that threatens the lives of all the steaders. It's a coming of age novel, told with the same straightforward, spunky zeal of Heinlein's juvies, but from the perspective of the daughter, not the dad. Kritzer makes it clear that growing up under the thumb of a TANSTAAFL-worshipping, self-regarding, wealthy autocrat who worships selfishness as the necessary precondition for market clearing would be a goddamned nightmare. She also thinks through some of the important implications of life in one of these offshore libertarian archipelagos, like the fact that the wealthy residents would be overwhelming drawn from the ranks of corporate criminals and tax-cheats, and the underclass would be bail-skipping proles ensnared in the War on Drugs. But Liberty's Daughter isn't a hymn to big government. Most of the steaders are escaping the US government, a state whose authoritarian and cruel proclivities are well-documented. Kritzer uses the labor dispute at the core of the novel to reveal market authoritarianism — the coercive power that hunger and poverty transfers from the have-nots to the haves. Think of Anatole France's wry observation that 'the law, in its majestic equality, equally forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.' If you're familiar with Kritzer's work, you won't be surprised to learn that she tells a zippy, fast moving tale that smuggles in sharp observations about the cleavage lines between solidarity and selfishness."
— Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic
"Everything Naomi Kritzer writes is amazing. Smash that pre-order button."
— Elizabeth Bear, author of Ancestral Night
"The setting for this SF detective story is fascinating. Beck Garrison is a casual private investigator who lives in a community which consists of vast numbers of derelict ships and floating constructs that were cobbled together by a kind of libertarian group and which now makes up a semi-coherent community where indentured servitude has returned and central control is almost nonexistent. She has been insular for most of her life, but when she accepts a job looking for a missing woman, the circumstances of that investigation force her to look not only at the world around her, but the one outside her community, and also at the circumstances of her own family. Her investigation is methodical and to a certain extent predictable, at least at first. But the more she looks into the matter, the more complicated things turn out to be. I had only read Kritzer's fantasy before this but I hope she does more SF in the future."
— Critical Mass
"I loved Liberty’s Daughter. This book offers a different kind of dystopia and a different kind of rebellion against it: a libertarian seastead that has managed to survive forty years while walking smack into all the expected bears, and a kid fighting those bears with all the strength of freedom and agency that the place has accidentally given her. Beck is delightfully skilled in all the things that discomfit adults, sheltered without turning away from unpleasant truths, and stubbornly determined to solve problems wherever she finds them. She’s a Heinlein juvenile protagonist grown clear-eyed about his 'utopias,' and updated to critique his modern descendants: good company for a disturbing, nuanced, and wind-tossed future."
— Ruthanna Emrys, author of A Half-Built Garden
"Liberty's Daughter is a fast-paced, forthright, funny voyage through libertarian seasteads and teenage heroism. Beck Garrison's tendency to wade into trouble to pull others out makes her the perfect mix of thought-provoking and action-packed. Naomi Kritzer always brings both heart and brains to her tales, and Liberty's Daughter is no exception."
— Marissa Lingen, Novel Gazing Redux
"I have been waiting most of a literal decade for this."
— John Chu, author of Beyond the El
"I love Kritzer’s work, and I always will.”
— Kelly Barnhill, Newbery Medalist
Praise for her story collection Cat Pictures Please:
"Kritzer’s flawless collection taps deep wells of emotion and wonder. In the Hugo-winning title story, the internet becomes intelligent and decides that it will try to keep people from harming themselves—if they feed it pictures of cats. . . Her work is indisputably speculative, but it’s a perfect entry point to the genre for readers who prefer fantastical and futuristic elements to stay more in the background, with human (and robotic) feelings always at the fore. This splendid treat is not to be missed."
— Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Kritzer’s sharp, bittersweet memorable stories will stay with you long after you close the book.”
— Jo Walton, author of Among Others
"Reading Kritzer's collected stories is like opening little, beautifully-wrapped presents, one after the other. These stories are full of surprises, but always thoughtful, often charming, invariably meaningful. Her prose is clear and easy to read, and her tales are wonderfully executed. Don't miss this collection!"
—Louise Marley, author of The Child Goddess
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR