The Memory Hunters

Inception meets Indiana Jones in this cinematic, slow burn, romantic fantasy following a headstrong academic and her equally stubborn bodyguard as they unearth an ancient secret that rocks the foundations of their society…and challenges their unspoken love for one another. A sapphic, dark academia-adjacent, climate dystopia -- with mushrooms -- for readers of Blood Over Bright Haven, A Memory Called Empire, and Ink Blood Sister Scribe.
Kiana Strade can dive deeper into blood memories than anyone alive. But instead of devoting her talents to the temple she’s meant to lead, Key wants to do research for the Museum of Human Memory. . . and to avoid the public eye.
Valerian IV's twin swords protect Key from murderous rivals and her own enthusiasm alike. Vale cares about Key as a friend—and maybe more—but most of all, she needs to keep her job so she can support her parents and siblings in the storm-torn south.
But when Key collects a memory that diverges from official history, only Vale sees the fallout. Key’s mentor suspiciously dismisses the finding; her powerful mother demands she stop research altogether. And Key, unusually affected by the memory, begins to lose moments, then minutes, then days.
As Vale becomes increasingly entangled in Key’s obsessive drive for answers, the women uncover a shattering discovery—and a devastating betrayal. Key and Vale can remain complicit, or they can jeopardize everything for the truth.
Either way, Key is becoming consumed by the past in more ways than one, and time is running out.

Mia Tsai is a Taiwanese American author of speculative fiction, including Bitter Medicine and The Memory Hunters. An editor at GigaNotoSaurus, a 2024 Hugo Finalist for Best Semi-pro Zine, she is also a musician, teacher, and erstwhile photographer who earned her bachelors of humanities and arts in music and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University and her masters of music in piano pedagogy at Georgia State University. She lives in the Atlanta area with her family, and, when not writing, is a hype woman for her orchids and devoted cat gopher. She can be found online at MiaTsai.com and @mia.tsai.books on Instagram and Tiktok.