Countess

Palumbo places The Count of Monte Cristo in space, where an empire thrives on the labor of refugees it claims to have rescued. Virika Sameroo is descended from Caribbean people relocated to resource-rich worlds, where they toil for the empire’s profit. Her family emigrates, eventually giving Virika the opportunity to rise in the military ranks. Just as she feels she’s made it, the racism she’s learned to ignore rises up, and she is falsely convicted of murder. She is sentenced to die deep in a prison planet, losing her mother, her girlfriend, and her career all at once. In her cell, she learns despair and rage before gaining the chance for revenge. Though Palumbo’s book is novella-length, she covers many of Monte Cristo’s details while exploring revolution, workers’ rights, and racism. The brevity of the novella is aided by the story’s familiar foundation, coupled with passages of exposition. While this doesn’t leave as much space for deep characterization, readers can easily fill in the gaps themselves.