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The Final Decree
Lockhart William “Bill� Templeton III needs a divorce. He’ll have to go halfway across the galaxy to get it.
Bill’s impending marriage to Nelson Wolff could unite two of the most powerful industrial families on Terra Beta. The only problem: Bill’s already married. In his rebellious youth, he took up with Travis, a smuggler and all-around scoundrel, and wound up tying the knot. When he walked away from that life, though, he left some loose ends. Like a marriage certificate.
Now, to get his estranged husband to sign off on the divorce decree, he’ll have to travel to a backwater world hundreds of light years away. When he gets there, he encounters a planetary blockade, instigated by one of his family’s unscrupulous business rivals, as part of an interstellar power play over an unprecedented energy source.
Bill will need all the help he can get to make it to the altar in one piece.
Bill’s impending marriage to Nelson Wolff could unite two of the most powerful industrial families on Terra Beta. The only problem: Bill’s already married. In his rebellious youth, he took up with Travis, a smuggler and all-around scoundrel, and wound up tying the knot. When he walked away from that life, though, he left some loose ends. Like a marriage certificate.
Now, to get his estranged husband to sign off on the divorce decree, he’ll have to travel to a backwater world hundreds of light years away. When he gets there, he encounters a planetary blockade, instigated by one of his family’s unscrupulous business rivals, as part of an interstellar power play over an unprecedented energy source.
Bill will need all the help he can get to make it to the altar in one piece.
- GenresScience Fiction
91 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 28, 2020
1 person is currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Jeffrey Ricker
22books53followersJeffrey Ricker is the author of Detours (2011), the YA fantasy The Unwanted (2014), The Final Decree (2020), and co-author (with ’Nathan Burgoine and J. Marshall Freeman) of Three Left Turns to Nowhere. His stories have appeared in Foglifter, Phoebe, Little Fiction, The Citron Review, The Saturday Evening Post, and others. A 2014 Lambda Literary Fellow and recipient of a 2015 Vermont Studio Center residency, he has an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and teaches creative writing at Webster University.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 30, 2020
By now, it’s likely you know I adore Jeffrey Ricker (see: , , my never-ending-suggestion-that-I’d-like-a-sequel-to-The Unwanted) but it’s maybe less known how much I like me a good pew-pew-pew sci-fi story (okay, maybe that isn’t less known, it’s just less often I get to read them). Jeffrey Ricker doing a queer sci-fi with cranky/grumpy hero trekking half-way across the known damn galaxy because that’s the only way his husband agreed to sign the damn divorce papers so he can marry the guy he’d really like to marry? Oh, I am so in.
The above is more-or-less the set-up: Bill (sorry, Lockhart William Templeton III) really wants to marry his fella. His fella is not only a lovely, cuddly, snuggle-bunny sort of man (maybe not in those words), their marriage would also seal a pretty awesome family “merger� among their two powerful families. There’s just a tiny problem, really. That quickie marriage thing he did as a hotheaded youth to a guy who was so the wrong man. So he reaches out to the ex (but still legally binding husband) and asks him to finally, finally sign the damn papers. And the ex agrees! Except he demands to do it in person and he’s in the middle of nowhere, and so now Bill is filling his backpack with family proprietary tech to keep himself safe and/or on the subtle for the worst vacation ever.
Things are not all, of course, as they seem, and by the time Bill realizes just how not-as-they-seem things are, he dials up from “grumpy� to “sincerely displeased� and I think the snark factor between the characters is sort of the best thing ever. Also, pew-pew science fiction happens, some really wonderful world-building about this future galaxy, and it’s a Jeffrey Ricker book, so you know there’s going to be some feelings and some self-doubt and then maybe an explosion or two because pew-pew. I read this novella in one sitting (I was lucky enough to get to see it before everyone else), but the best news is The Final Decree is now available everywhere.
The above is more-or-less the set-up: Bill (sorry, Lockhart William Templeton III) really wants to marry his fella. His fella is not only a lovely, cuddly, snuggle-bunny sort of man (maybe not in those words), their marriage would also seal a pretty awesome family “merger� among their two powerful families. There’s just a tiny problem, really. That quickie marriage thing he did as a hotheaded youth to a guy who was so the wrong man. So he reaches out to the ex (but still legally binding husband) and asks him to finally, finally sign the damn papers. And the ex agrees! Except he demands to do it in person and he’s in the middle of nowhere, and so now Bill is filling his backpack with family proprietary tech to keep himself safe and/or on the subtle for the worst vacation ever.
Things are not all, of course, as they seem, and by the time Bill realizes just how not-as-they-seem things are, he dials up from “grumpy� to “sincerely displeased� and I think the snark factor between the characters is sort of the best thing ever. Also, pew-pew science fiction happens, some really wonderful world-building about this future galaxy, and it’s a Jeffrey Ricker book, so you know there’s going to be some feelings and some self-doubt and then maybe an explosion or two because pew-pew. I read this novella in one sitting (I was lucky enough to get to see it before everyone else), but the best news is The Final Decree is now available everywhere.
January 31, 2021
Like a great episode of Star Trek. I loved that Jeffrey Ricker wrote this book about a gay man trying to get an intergalactic divorce and cross-breeds it with commentary about wealth, colonization, and how we move on. My only real complaint is that it's too short, a novella when I wanted more, especially more depth into the character's past. A great quick read that fit exactly what I needed: a space adventure with cool tech centered around a gay relationship that wasn't full of drama or thinly veiled erotica.
February 20, 2021
Fantastic quick read
I consumed this book in just two short sittings. Everything about the characters and storyline had me gripped from page one. Ricker’s prose is quick and detailed, making for a riveting read with both emotion and depth. I’m honestly amazed at how much story and background was squeezed into this few pages—I could have easily read 200 more pages of this story and not gotten bored. I can’t wait to read more from this author, and easily have this bookmarked as a fast reread for the future.
I consumed this book in just two short sittings. Everything about the characters and storyline had me gripped from page one. Ricker’s prose is quick and detailed, making for a riveting read with both emotion and depth. I’m honestly amazed at how much story and background was squeezed into this few pages—I could have easily read 200 more pages of this story and not gotten bored. I can’t wait to read more from this author, and easily have this bookmarked as a fast reread for the future.
February 12, 2023
Started great and was the story I expected from the blurb. Then it got slow and veered in a different direction.
August 10, 2021
I didn't believe I read that ending. I was like "Really? Did the book just end?" It's the most ridiculous finale I've ever read.I picked up this book after reading the blurb, which was a very promising SF story. A guy on the verge of marriage had to travel to a remote planet thousands of light years away to get a divorce from a husband he had married in his reckless youth. The plot moved along fast, events happened quickly,, and then boom, it ended, totally unexpected, but not in a good way. I felt like the author f**ked with me. He led me to believe something and abruptly cut it. I could see his smirk at me "Gotcha".
Well, gotcha back. I could give the book 4 stars, but for the ending I deduct 1 star from it.
Well, gotcha back. I could give the book 4 stars, but for the ending I deduct 1 star from it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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