Defenders

When Earth is invaded by telepathic aliens, humanity responds by creating the defenders. They are the perfect warriors - seventeen feet tall, knowing and loving nothing but war, their minds closed to the aliens. The question is, what do you do with millions of genetically engineered warriors once the war is won?

Defenders is a novel of power, alliances, violence, redemption and yearning for connection - from one of the brightest new stars in science fiction.

“McIntosh is without a doubt one of the most underrated science fiction authors writing today. Defenders is an emotional, action-packed story . . . McIntosh's cautionary near-future tale, told from multiple perspectives, serves as a brutally honest portrayal of how humans carelessly exploit, destroy - and in this case create - other species”

SF of the highest quality . . . Defenders works as a morality tale of mistrust and betrayal on an epic scale SUN
Vividly cinematic, at times uncomfortably brutal, and it reads like a runaway train . . . Will McIntosh is one of the brightest stars in science fiction right now . . . If you're not reading him yet, you're missing out TOR.COM
McIntosh is without a doubt one of the most underrated science fiction authors writing today. Defenders is an emotional, action-packed story . . . McIntosh's cautionary near-future tale, told from multiple perspectives, serves as a brutally honest portrayal of how humans carelessly exploit, destroy - and in this case create - other species RT Book Reviews (Top Pick)
What makes Defenders such an incredible novel is McIntosh's pure elegance, the beauty of its simplicity. Each element of the novel, the characters, the situations, the world, the results of the world's actions, organically feed into each other as the novel progresses SFFWorld
This military science fiction novel offers fast paced action Publishers Weekly
McIntosh's novels often blend unlikely scenarios and genre tropes in ways that make you rethink them. Here he's brought together the classic veterans' "coming home" story with telepathic alien invasion and issues around what it means to have been genetically engineered for one purpose. It's a posthuman scenario that McIntosh is exploring in all its messy complexity io9.com
A fascinating take on how political alliances shift over time: One's bosom friend today can be one's deadly enemy tomorrow, and vice versa. McIntosh has his finger on the pulse, again Kirkus
When the characters scream "run", you will want to run. When Lila's fear paralyzes her, you won't be able to move. As the story continues the writing only gets better, the plotting only gets tighter, the tension ratchets up again and again and again. Every book I read by McIntosh, the guy just gets more and more amazing in his ability to absolutely shatter me Little Red Reviewer

Will McIntosh is a Hugo Award winner and Nebula finalist whose short stories have appeared in Asimov's, Strange Horizons and Interzone among others. He is the author of the novels Love Minus Eighty, Soft Apocalypse and Hitchers, and is the father of twins. He lives in Virginia.

When Earth is invaded by telepathic aliens, humanity responds by creating the defenders. They are the perfect warriors - seventeen feet tall, knowing and loving nothing but war, their minds closed to the aliens. The question is, what do you do with millions of genetically engineered warriors once the war is won? Defenders is a novel of power, alliances, violence, redemption and yearning for connection - from one of the brightest new stars in science fiction.

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