The Wings Upon Her Back
core novel 2024 The Wings Upon Her Back
Record
| First published | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.04 (1,892 ratings, collected 2026-09-15) |
| Page count | 336 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9781616964146 |
Synopsis
The Wings Upon Her Back is set in the isolated, war-torn city of Radezhda, once blessed by five gods who granted its people advanced technologies before falling into an unexplained, eternal sleep. As a teenager, Zenya ran away from home to join a mechanically augmented warrior sect, driven by the ambition to earn mechanized wings and become a protector of the city she loved. Trained under the charismatic and demanding leader Vodaya, she rose over twenty-six years of service to become the formidable enforcer known as Winged Zemolai. After more than two decades of unquestioning loyalty, a single act of mercy, letting a spy go free, upends everything: Zemolai is violently cast out of her sect, stripped of her wings, and left scarred and facing death.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Wings Upon Her Back
- Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
- Author: Samantha Mills
Awards (verified)
- Compton Crook Award (Best First Novel), 2025: won; Presented annually by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society since 1983; confirmed via File 770's own reporting (an award-adjacent, reliable genre-news outlet).
- World Fantasy Award (Best Novel), 2025: finalist; Did not win; confirmed directly via the World Fantasy Convention's own official nominations/winners page.
Sources
- Tachyon Publications, The Wings Upon Her Back
- File 770, Samantha Mills Wins 2025 Compton Crook Award
- 2025 WFC Nominations and Winners (World Fantasy Convention)
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