Markmaker

By Mary Jessica Woods,

Book cover of Markmaker

Book description

He swore to paint the truth. Now he is living a lie.

For the Noxxiin people, tattoos define identity: they commemorate birth, ancestry, accomplishments—even crimes. As a tattoo artist living on an ancient generation ship, Mariikel Serix has sworn to record the truth. So when he becomes an unwilling accomplice…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Markmaker as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I had the honor of reading this in a critique group before it came out and again when the editors were done with it.

Mariikel Serix is an alien tattoo artist trying to pay back for a wrong he'd done and finds himself embroiled in a shipwide political struggle against the clans. It's a great SF story with deeply woven themes of personal honor and doing the right thing when society pushes you to conform.

The world-building is amazing, especially the tribal society of a generation ship that's part of a nomadic fleet. It's a beautiful book and a great…

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