Skyward Inn is a speculative science fiction novel by Aliya Whiteley published by the Solaris imprint of Rebellion.

The titular inn is situated in The Protectorate which is an enclave on an Earth which has just won a war against an alien civilisation, the Qitans, far across the galaxy through a portal. The co-owners of the Inn are human and Qitan, veterans escaping the aftermath of the war and seeking a quiet life. The Protectorate eschews modern technology, so the parts of the story set there are not shiny technological sci-fi, the feel is very pastoral or frontier like. Almost like one of those classic Cornish smuggler pubs in a Victorian novel.

Mrs Whistler is the story of American painter James Abbot McNeill Whistler, Jimmy to his friends, as told through the eyes of his long-suffering muse, Maud Franklin.

I was really excited to get this brief as I’ve been intrigued by Whistler’s work since learning about him in Art History lessons at college. As well as being notorious for his witticisms in social circles many of his works and his art philosophy were quite radical for the time.