{"id":3165,"date":"2022-03-14T12:52:44","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T16:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/?post_type=product&#038;p=3165"},"modified":"2026-06-07T08:54:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T12:54:33","slug":"seeds-for-the-swarm-by-sim-kern","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/index.php\/product\/seeds-for-the-swarm-by-sim-kern\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeds for the Swarm by Sim Kern"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>About the Book<\/h4>\n<p>Rylla McCracken dreams of escaping her family&#8217;s trailer in the Dust States to go to college, but on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, her mother demands she drop out of school to work for Lockburn chemical refinery instead. When Rylla learns Lockburn is planning to dam the Guadalupe River\u2014the last flowing water in Texas\u2014she defies her mother to protest in the state capital. The protest ends in disaster, but her ensuing viral infamy gains Rylla an acceptance to the mysterious Wingates University.<\/p>\n<p>At Wingates, Rylla befriends a diverse group of students, all working on new technologies to save the planet. Besides mountains of homework, Rylla struggles with guilt for leaving her brother behind in the Dust, where tensions with the Lush States are escalating towards civil war. Succeeding at Wingates seems like Rylla\u2019s best chance to help her family, until she uncovers a terrible secret about the school\u2019s billionaire backers. Now, Rylla and her friends are in a race against the rich to reclaim the world-altering technology they&#8217;ve developed\u2014before it&#8217;s too late.<\/p>\n<h4>About the Author<\/h4>\n<p>Sim Kern\u00a0is an environmental journalist and speculative fiction writer, exploring intersections of climate change, queerness, and social justice. You can find links to all their stories at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/simkern.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"simkern.com (opens in a new tab)\">simkern.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow them on Twitter\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sim_kern\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"@sim_kern (opens in a new tab)\">@sim_kern<\/a>, on Instagram\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sim_bookstagrams_badly\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"@Sim_bookstagrams_badly (opens in a new tab)\">@Sim_bookstagrams_badly<\/a>, and on their\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC_GKrR9P-1KNi0B-0MrP6pA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"YouTube channel (opens in a new tab)\">YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h5>Learn More:<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>Read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tor.com\/2022\/10\/12\/excerpts-seeds-for-the-swarm-by-sim-kern\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an excerpt on Tor.com<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>Also Available From:<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/seeds-for-the-swarm\/18956334\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bookshop.org<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/weightlessbooks.com\/seeds-for-the-swarm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Weightless Books<\/a> (for DRM-free ebooks)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/seeds-for-the-swarm-sim-kern\/1141746610\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Barnes and Noble<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alibris.com\/Seeds-for-the-Swarm-Sim-Kern\/book\/52098643\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alibris.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Seeds-Swarm-Sim-Kern\/dp\/1777682304\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amazon.com<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.ca\/Seeds-Swarm-Sim-Kern\/dp\/1777682304\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amazon.ca<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Seeds-Swarm-Sim-Kern\/dp\/1777682304\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amazon.co.uk<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com.au\/Seeds-Swarm-Sim-Kern\/dp\/1777682304\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amazon.com.au<\/a> (etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A debut YA novel for older teens from the Otherwise Honor Listed author of <em>Depart, Depart! <\/em>The first book in a three-book series.<\/p>\n<p><center>&#8220;A deeply humane journey through a near-future where climate change has progressed well past the point of no return. Sim Kern never shies from the ethical implications of their own world-building. It&#8217;s easy to valorize hope, but what happens when our desire for hope leads us to embrace facile, counter-productive solutions? In this queer, self-aware take on the\u00a0<em>Ender&#8217;s Game\u00a0<\/em>scenario of a bunch of brilliant kids drawn together to save the world, you&#8217;ll genuinely be cheering at how Rylla and her friends manage to maintain their belief in the power of science, the value of human life, and need to keep struggling against cynicism and hopelessness.&#8221; \u2060\u2014 Naomi Kanakia, author of <em>Enter Title Here<\/em> and<em> We Are Totally Normal<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8220;Kern doesn\u2019t pull any punches on the environmental consequences of consumer capitalism, nor do they avoid the social and emotional impacts of living through an age of mass extinctions. The subject lends itself to nihilism, but Rylla\u2019s commitment to family, friends, and justice provides a glimpse of hope that is badly needed in the coming fights, real and fictional. Perfect for teen readers struggling with their own feelings of despair in our own unstable world, it is also a welcome and provocative read for all fans of YA.&#8221; \u2060\u2014 Amy Nagopaleen for <em>Strange Horizons<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8220;Seeds for the Swarm is as clever as it is creative, and full of characters so rich and morally complex I wanted to know every inch of their minds. Seeds channels my favourite 2010s dystopias with all the awareness of today. I can\u2019t wait to see what Sim Kern has in store next.&#8221; \u2060\u2014 Elle Grenier, bookseller<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8220;A satisfying ecological take on the dystopian science-fiction novel.&#8221; \u2014 Kirkus Reviews<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left; font-size: 12px;\">Customers outside of CA\/US: due to supply chain issues, worldwide shipping of print books is currently slow and expensive. We recommend shopping with your local indie bookstore. If you do order a print book from us, it will be shipped from the closest print facility to you and will therefore be printed on standard paper and will not include the goodies we send with CA\/US orders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"product_cat":[71,70,69,48,45,53],"product_tag":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Seeds for the Swarm by Sim Kern &#8902; Stelliform Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about Sim Kern&#039;s forthcoming SEEDS FOR THE SWARM, a YA science fiction debut novel from the author of DEPART, DEPART!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/index.php\/product\/seeds-for-the-swarm-by-sim-kern\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seeds for the Swarm by Sim Kern &#8902; Stelliform Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn about Sim Kern&#039;s forthcoming SEEDS FOR THE SWARM, a YA science fiction debut novel from the author of DEPART, DEPART!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/index.php\/product\/seeds-for-the-swarm-by-sim-kern\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stelliform Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-07T12:54:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Seeds-for-the-Swarm-Web-Cover-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1714\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@StelliformPress\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/index.php\/product\/seeds-for-the-swarm-by-sim-kern\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/index.php\/product\/seeds-for-the-swarm-by-sim-kern\/\",\"name\":\"Seeds for the Swarm by Sim Kern &#8902; Stelliform Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/index.php\/product\/seeds-for-the-swarm-by-sim-kern\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/index.php\/product\/seeds-for-the-swarm-by-sim-kern\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Seeds-for-the-Swarm-Web-Cover-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-14T16:52:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-07T12:54:33+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn about Sim Kern's forthcoming SEEDS FOR THE SWARM, a YA science fiction debut novel from the author of DEPART, DEPART!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/index.php\/product\/seeds-for-the-swarm-by-sim-kern\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/index.php\/product\/seeds-for-the-swarm-by-sim-kern\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/index.php\/product\/seeds-for-the-swarm-by-sim-kern\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Seeds-for-the-Swarm-Web-Cover-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.stelliform.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Seeds-for-the-Swarm-Web-Cover-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":1714,\"height\":2560,\"caption\":\"Cover for Sim Kern's SEEDS FOR THE SWARM featuring a girl in profile, goggles pushed up over her hair in a messy braid, looking up at three giant cicadas with circuit-board wings. 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