The Language of Liars

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"Pitch-perfect science fiction about linguistics and consequences. This book destroyed me."—Yoon Ha Lee, New York Times bestselling author of Ninefox Gambit

Speak another people's language. Know them. Become them.

And discover you've destroyed them.

In his training as a spy, Ro was warned: you will always be living a lie.

Jumping into a Star Eater's mind in the first place requires a moment of perfect psychic connection, and he has studied all his life to comprehend their species. Admires them, respects them, is reverent at the idea of being one of them—the only species physiologically capable of mining the element needed for lightyear-spanning space travel. The species all others crave to know more of, but who have notoriously shared so very little. The species Ro's own small civilization, with its dwindling resources and withering reach, needs to know more about.

It will feel real, his elders impressed upon him. It will never be real.

But Ro's certainty runs deep: he will be different. Ro will not be an imposter hiding the truth of his past, because his heart will be one of them. He will be one of them.

To understand is to become. It never occurs to him that the mere act of understanding can destroy.

Reviews

"Truly ambitious science fiction, melding convincingly alien species with all-too-familiar impulses. Packs an enormous punch in a very small space."—Marie Brennan, author of A Natural History of Dragons

"Pitch-perfect science fiction about linguistics and consequences. This book destroyed me."—Yoon Ha Lee, New York Times bestselling author of Ninefox Gambit

“The Language of Liars is, quite simply, a brilliant book. A fast paced and thoughtful linguistic deconstruction of the colonial mindset and enterprise. It’s Get Out meets Embassytown with shades of Dune while being something that is entirely its own. Incredibly clever and written with a love and reverence for the power of language, it will have you turning the pages in a frenzy to see what happens next. I inhaled it all in one sitting and you probably will too.”—Wole Talabi, World Fantasy finalist and author of Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon

"I felt shattered, betrayed by all my hopes. Everything we believe about linguistics says shared language leads to greater understanding and compassion. This is why I translate. But language is also a technology, and technologies can destroy. S.L. Huang shows how lies using language can create an unthinkable disaster."—Sue Burke, author of Semiosis

"S. L. Huang's The Language of Liars is a story about an earnest, precocious linguist who sacrifices everything for answers only to stumble on far bigger questions. This is my favorite kind of science fiction: a thought-provoking exploration of the hidden costs of civilization with an aching emotional core. The Language of Liars is a beautiful, brilliant, heartbreaking story of culture, history, and the trespasses we commit in pursuit of understanding. If you loved Arrival, A Memory Called Empire, or Translation State, read this."—Yume Kitasei, author of The Deep Sky

"Thoughtful, gripping, and heartbreaking. If you liked R.F. Kuang's Babel, you should read The Language of Liars."—CD Covington, author of Filling Your Worlds with Words: A writer's guide to linguistic worldbuilding

About the Author

S. L. Huang is a Hollywood stunt performer, firearms expert, Nebula Award finalist, and Hugo Award winner with a math degree from MIT and credits in productions like “Battlestar Galactica” and “Top Shot.” The author of the fantasy novella Burning Roses as well as the Cas Russell novels including Zero Sum Game, Null Set, and Critical Point, Huang’s short fiction has also appeared in Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, Nature, Tor.com, and more, including numerous best-of anthologies.