{"id":151665,"date":"2025-09-12T14:47:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T14:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/151665\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T14:47:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T14:47:05","slug":"alex-aster-surprises-fans-with-new-series-reveal-starside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/151665\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Aster surprises fans with new series reveal ‘Starside’"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2013 Like Taylor Swift with her secret \u201cEras Tour\u201d cleaning cart entrance<\/a>, Alex Aster arrived at the HarperCollins offices from the freight elevator.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Clad in a bedazzled silver dress and thigh-high mesh boots, hiding in a maze of cubicles, the \u201cLightlark\u201d author<\/a> had successfully duped her most loyal fans into thinking they\u2019d come for her 30th birthday party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over 100 readers flocked to New York City, some flying in from as far as Alaska and London. They didn\u2019t know they were about to be the first to hear Aster announce her debut adult fantasy novel, a new series called \u201cStarside.\u201d They also didn\u2019t know they\u2019d be going home with 100 pages of the yet-to-be-published manuscript.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alex Aster surprises fans with new fantasy series reveal<\/p>\n

As USA TODAY sat down with Aster to talk about how she pulled off the ruse, the author shook off nervous energy and hid upstairs from fans. When she finally descended down the stairs, she posed against a backdrop of question marks to face the eager readers.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t think that I invited you here for a birthday party, did you?\u201d she asked them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The cheers were ear-splitting and abundant, as were the phones poised to record the moment Aster ripped the question marks to reveal the silvery cover of \u201cStarside.\u201d Book influencers and everyday readers lined up hurriedly to take photos with Aster and get their manuscripts signed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The surprise took more than a year to execute. Aster\u2019s team didn\u2019t sell the foreign rights to the book or submit it for film and TV rights to keep from spilling the beans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOver a year ago, I sold (\u201cStarside\u201d) to Harper and I asked them to keep it a secret,\u201d Aster tells USA TODAY. \u201cI really just wanted to keep it mine for as long as possible, and go back to that place of me being 12 years old in my bedroom, just me and the page and just no one looking over my shoulder and writing exactly what I wanted to read. The story meant so much to me that I wanted to go back to that simplicity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fans travel to New York for a major book surprise<\/p>\n

Aster sent the “birthday party” call-out to her fans via Substack to gauge interest. She was shocked at how many sign-ups it got.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI sat and I cried,\u201d Aster says. \u201cWriting is so solitary, it\u2019s just me and the page \u2026 but sometimes you remember that you\u2019re writing for an audience, and to hear them talk about my books and what my books have meant to them, it made me so emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor Hinshaw, 26, saw that invite from her home in Alaska. She thought it would be a long shot that she\u2019d get picked to attend the party, but she put a new dress in her Amazon cart just in case. She had just bought plane tickets to visit her husband, who was in military officer training. Then she got the confirmation from Aster\u2019s team. Would he be OK with her dropping another $1,000 on flights and a hotel for this? He gave her a resounding, supportive \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

I talked to Hinshaw before and after the reveal. Before, she said she was most excited about meeting Aster at the party. \u201cThis is so intimate, this is so different. I\u2019ve never done anything like this before,\u201d Hinshaw told me.<\/p>\n

When I caught up with her later, Hinshaw was beaming. She didn\u2019t even want to wait until her plane ride home to dive into the manuscript; she read it that night.<\/p>\n

Kaitlin Santiago, 24, flew in from Chicago \u2013 her first time traveling by herself. She said Aster\u2019s books have helped her get into reading and inspired her to write on her own. She was also excited to meet Aster and other like-minded readers.<\/p>\n

Chatting with her after, Santiago let out a shriek: \u201cI loved \u2018Summer in the City,\u2019 now I get to have new adult (novels) in fantasy? Are you kidding me? I\u2019m so excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Starside\u2019 by Alex Aster is coming early next year<\/p>\n

\u201cStarside\u201d comes out March 24. It\u2019s set in a land split in two \u2013 Starside is where the magical, powerful immortals live, and Stormside is where mortals scramble for even just a taste of that magic. Every 50 years, the gates between the two open, allowing 50 challengers to embark on a deadly quest to traverse between them. Our vengeful protagonist, Aris, wants to journey through the gates to kill the gods. To survive the dangerous challenge, she might need the help of Harlan Raker, a merciless king\u2019s guard who once betrayed her.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is the author\u2019s adult romantasy debut and her longest book yet. She wrote it at the same time she wrote \u201cLightlark,\u201d which catapulted Aster into BookTok and literary fame.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my favorite book I\u2019ve ever written,\u201d Aster says. \u201cI cried when I wrote a lot of parts. It really means a lot \u2013 I truly feel like this is the story that just comes from my soul.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a busy year for Aster, who has four books coming out (two, \u201cGrim and Oro,\u201d are sold as a companion duology set in the \u201cLightlark\u201d universe). Her secret? Late nights, early mornings and little sleep. She uses the downtime between marketing newly published books to work on new ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTruly, I get up every single morning so excited to write and this is what I love to do,\u201d Aster says. \u201cI definitely can\u2019t sustain this schedule long. But for these last few years and for the next few years, I\u2019m so happy to be writing this much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Romantasy reigns on BookTok: Best books from the internet\u2019s favorite genre<\/a><\/p>\n

Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY\u2019s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram<\/a>, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter<\/a> or tell her what you\u2019re reading at cmulroy@usatoday.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n