Dystopian & Alternative History Fiction Books

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Book SynopsisFar future lawman Judge Dredd has been a mainstay of the British comics scene for over thirty years and now you can follow his earliest cases in this vast collection of graphic novels.This second volume features the very first Dredd epic The Cursed Earth, written by comic legends Pat Mills (Marshal Law) and John Wagner (A History of Violence) and featuring the art of Mike McMahon (The Last American) and Brian Bolland (Batman: The Killing Joke).

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Book SynopsisShe had made me envious. Strange as it might seem, I had not known envy before. Surely there must be other ways of living, I thought, not hand-to-mouth, alone, in a draughty old shack looking out at the same scene, day after day. Was this to be my future? It’s 2137, and the future’s dark. Sixteen-year-old Flora is scraping out a humble living, selling homegrown supplies from her late grandparents’ run-down Shell Shack and keeping her illegal copy of Pride and Prejudice hidden from the terrifying Uzi soldiers. But Flora’s life changes when she meets Li-li, the daughter of a powerful Rice Lord. Flora is seduced by the lavish lifestyle of her rulers, but also sees the brutality that underpins their lifestyle. What choices will she face on her last days in Eden?Trade ReviewIt’s a disturbing, compulsive read that makes you realise that not so very much needs to shift for this to happen here. HELEN DUNMORE on RunnersThe author as artist evokes people and places with delicacy, humour and truth – a novel of outstanding beauty. COSTA AWARD JUDGES on The Bower Bird

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Book SynopsisIN 2020, BRITAIN IS AT BREAKING POINT...In a country sorely divided, what happens to empathy and tolerance, to generosity of spirit? And can hope survive? In 2020, years of economic turmoil, bitter debates over immigration, and anger at the political elites have created a maelstrom, a dis-United Kingdom. The country is a bomb waiting to explode. Then it does. As the nightmare unfolds, a myriad of voices - from across the political and social spectrum - offer wildly differing perspectives on the chaotic events...and unexpectedly reveal modern Britain's soul with 20/20 acuity. Thoughtful, compassionate and sometimes provocative, Kenneth Steven's 2020 is a parable for our times.Trade Review“Impressive... This novel is so realistic that it is reminiscent of Orson Welles’ classic The War of the Worlds (1938) fictional radio broadcast, which many listeners believed.”—Booklist; “This complex picture of a fraught political future will leave readers unsettled by its terrifying plausibility."—Publishers Weekly, starred review; "As tightly compressed and explosive as a block of Semtex." —Robert Schenkkan, Pulitzer and Tony Award winning writer of Building the Wall; "2020 is a compelling and difficult study of the darkness and pain of societies in conflict. Disconnection and misunderstanding feed the narrative, and leave the reader with no choice but to keep reading more.”—Eric Barnes, author of The City Where We Once Lived; “This book shook me… It caused me to reflect, to look into myself, to look at the world, to look at the UK, to look at the United States, to look at those around me and reflect.” NJ Thompson book blog; “An important book that should be read by everyone… A gripping and compelling narrative.” Undiscovered Scotland; “Clever and challenging… An honest and at times horrific view of the state of the nation, but run through with humanity and ultimately hope, Kenneth Steven has written a parable for our times, and one which we would do well to take note of.” Scots Whay Hae; “Artfully constructed… the tension is perfectly pitched.” The List; “Exerts the unsettling fascination of events that could easily come to pass.” The Herald; “Chillingly plausible, not to say prescient.” Scotsman

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Book SynopsisJellyfisherman Dhiraj Om is struggling to make ends meet, so when a highly valuable pleasure robot called Naomi ends up adrift in his nightly North Sea catch, an opportunity to make some quick money presents itself. Trouble is, she's highly illegal, and her owner, underworld kingpin Agarkka D'Souza, doesn't take kindly to his things being stolen. What''s more, he will do anything to get her back. Man O'War is a taut science fiction thriller set in a London where cutting-edge companies vie for market space with cut-throat black market operations, and around the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt, a wild frontier land on the Niger Delta where one of the world's most powerful oil conglomerates is apparently under threat from dissident rebels.

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Book SynopsisJellyfisherman Dhiraj Om is struggling to make ends meet, so when a highly valuable pleasure robot called Naomi ends up adrift in his nightly North Sea catch, an opportunity to make some quick money presents itself. Trouble is, she's highly illegal, and her owner, underworld kingpin Agarkka D'Souza, doesn't take kindly to his things being stolen. What''s more, he will do anything to get her back. Man O'War is a taut science fiction thriller set in a London where cutting-edge companies vie for market space with cut-throat black market operations, and around the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt, a wild frontier land on the Niger Delta where one of the world's most powerful oil conglomerates is apparently under threat from dissident rebels.

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Book SynopsisPublius Ovidius Naso (43BC – 17/18AD), known as Ovid, was known as much for his disgrace as for his poetry. By pleasing his contemporaries, befriending patricians and subtly mocking the emperor Augustus, he was transformed from a provincial outsider to Rome’s darling – and, for some, its corrupter. Banished without trial to a remote port on the Black Sea, he continued to write. It is fortunate that most of his work has not been lost. The transformation stories of his masterpiece – The Metamorphoses – inspired not just Shakespeare, Chaucer and Milton, but have been a major influence on European culture. His handbooks of erotic love taught men and women the art of dealing with the opposite sex. They brought him instant literary glory and notable adversaries. His works were banned by the emperor Augustus, by Savonarola, by the Bishop’s Ban, by the Vatican and eventually by the US Custom Office; this latter only lifted in 1930. To discover who was Ovid the man, Michael Solomon travelled in his footsteps, seeking the same landscapes today that Ovid found two thousand years ago.Trade Review"For any Classics lovers this is the perfect exploration into the life of such an influential poet. ...It is profound and well-written, and fully captivates you, bringing you into Ovid’s journey out of exile. If you love Ancient Greece/Ancient Rome or just love the symbolism in Ovid’s poetry then this will bring you into a new dimension of understanding." Inside Out Reviews "The Scapegoat is a thrilling novel with an intriguing character study that is sure to please those interested in the Roman Empire." Historic Chronicles "The Scapegoat is a thoughtful and interesting novel, with a good historical background research and unique take on historical facts. A long yet heartly recommended weekend read." Wild Writing Life "Sardonic, clever, and descriptive, this novel takes the reader not only into the life of the infamous Ovid but also into the heart of 1st century Rome with all of its political intrigue and artifice." Ellen Z Reads "The ending has a twist to it that leaves you with a smile on your face" From the Book Elf "An interesting and unusual read" The Library Door

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Book SynopsisIn an alternate reality a lot like our world, every person's physical size is directly proportional to their wealth. The poorest of the poor are the size of rats, and billionaires are the size of skyscrapers.Warner and his sister Prayer are destitute - and tiny. Their size is not just demeaning but dangerous: day and night they face mortal dangers that bigger, richer people don't ever have to think about, from being mauled by cats to their house getting stepped on. There are no cars or phones built small enough for them, or schools or hospitals, for that matter - there's no point, when no one that little has any purchasing power, and when salaried doctors and teachers would never fit in buildings so small. Warner and Prayer know their only hope is to scale up, but how can two littlepoors survive in a world built against them?Brilliant, warm and funny, this is a social novel for our times in the tradition of 1984 or the work of Douglas Adams.Trade ReviewMunmun is satire at its finest: brilliant, insightful and at times hysterically funny. It's a powerful look at class, wealth and power in our modern world. * Nicola Yoon, bestselling author of EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING *Warner's distinctive voice and language compel readers to pay attention to this detailed world . . . Brilliant, savage, hilarious, a riveting journey through a harsh world that mirrors our own. * Kirkus *This was probably the funniest book I've ever read... Everyone should read this book. * The Guardian on ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL *Funny, warm, enjoyably scatterbrained... An honest depiction of society's reaction to illness and death. * The Observer on ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL *Shocking and funny, unsettling and charming * Roddy Doyle on THE HATERS *Somewhere in the unlikely intersection between 1984 and Douglas Adams sits Munmun, a hilarious and prescient novel that skewers the inequalities of today. In an alternative world, the poor are tiny and the rich skyscraper tall. Warner is the size of a rat, but for how long? * NetGalley *

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Book Synopsis"A brilliant, deeply unsettling work." Books + Publishing. Jeff is dying. Haunted by memories and grappling with shame, he runs away to a remote part of Scotland with a piece of beta tech that allows him to enter the mind of someone in the past. Instructed to only use it three times, Jeff - self- indulgent, isolated and deteriorating - ignores this advice. In the late 1860s, Leonora lives in the Scottish Highlands, surrounded by nature. Contemplating the social conventions that bind her, her contented life and a secret romantic friendship with the local laird are interrupted when her father sends her to stay with her aunt in Edinburgh. But Leonora's ability to embrace her new life is shadowed by a dark presence that begins to lurk behind her eyes, and strange visions. A Superior Spectre is a novel about curiosity, entitlement and manipulation. It reminds us that the scariest ghosts aren't the ones that go bump in the night, but those that are born and create a place for themselves in the human soul.Trade Review'Weighty themes of lust, shame and the power of the male gaze are beautifully balanced by a moving narrative, then wrapped up by the neatest of twists.' Daily Mail; 'A hugely impressive debut novel: imaginative and original, erotic and a little bit magical.' Herald; 'Skilfully manages to weave historical drama and dystopian fiction together … a work of ambition … clever, intelligent and engrossing.' Jennifer McShane, Image Magazine; 'Like all great dystopian novels, it’s intensely political, with an overarching focus on social freedom … it’s consistently a thought-provoking and well-written stab at one of literature’s bleakest genre.' Alison Powell, Buzz Magazine; 'A Superior Spectre is an ambitious and curious venture. Meyer straddles historical drama and dystopian fiction, and yet manages to cross the divide.' Thuy On, Sydney Morning Herald; 'A brilliant, deeply unsettling work with the unapologetically feminist rage, passion and awareness of books such as The Natural Way of Things or Margaret Atwood’s seminal The Handmaid’s Tale.' Books and Publishing; 'This is one of those rare books that penetrates deep into the reader’s most secret self. Read it and hold it close.' The Saturday Paper; 'In turns horrible, sweet, erotic, tense, challenging, beautiful, disgusting, solemn, abhorrent and moving, A Superior Spectre is a novel no serious reader will forget in a hurry.' John Purcell, Booktopia

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Book SynopsisThe author of the acclaimed novel Scarborough weaves an unforgettable and timely dystopian tale about a near-future, where a queer Black performer and his allies join forces to rise up when an oppressive regime gathers those deemed "Other" into concentration camps.Set in a terrifyingly familiar near-future, with massive floods leading to rampant homelessness and devastation, a government-sanctioned regime called The Boots seizes on the opportunity to round up communities of color, the disabled, and the LGBTQ+ into labour camps.In the shadows, a new hero emerges. After he loses his livelihood as a drag queen and the love of his life, Kay joins the resistance alongside Bahadur, a transmasculine refugee, and Firuzeh, a headstrong social worker. Guiding them in the use of weapons and close-quarters combat is Beck, a rogue army officer, who helps them plan an uprising at a major televised international event.With her signature "raw yet beautiful, disturbing yet hopeful" (Booklist) prose, Catherine Hernandez creates a vision of the future that is all the more frightening because it is very possible. A cautionary tale filled with fierce and vibrant characters, Crosshairs explores the universal desire to thrive, love, and be loved for being your true self.Trade ReviewCrosshairs is a blistering page-turner. One can describe it as dystopic fiction, but Catherine Hernandez is presenting us with something much more prescient to consider. The novel acts as a provocation and a challenge for readers to locate themselves. Crosshairs offers a glance into a world that is possible if we continue on a trajectory that is frightfully present. Most importantly, Crosshairs asks us what we will do to resist and build a better future when faced with such momentous and dangerous times. * Carianne Leung, award-winning author of That Time I Loved You *Crosshairs is both unnervingly prescient and undeniably profound. A harrowing work that's as much a battle cry as a ballad for the erased, and we should all be listening. * V.E. Schwab, New York Times bestselling author of A Darker Shade of Magic *Crosshairs leaves readers with two promises. The first is that change is possible. If people with privilege can be motivated to take action against systemic oppression, sould can be saved and lives can be spared. The second promise is that without change, we are hurtling towards disaster. Consider this book a call to action. A demand for change before it's too late. * Quill and Quire *Crosshairs made me shiver. It troubled my dreams. Still, I could not put down this dystopia. It was utterly compelling. Catherine Hernandez prophesies Canadian genocide against Queer, Black, Brown, and Indigenous folks. At the same time, she inspires the reader with her depiction of a resistance full of characters who ? even in the face of hatred and complacency ? show love, pride, endurance, courage, and insist on living to the very last breath. * Lawrence Hill, bestselling author of The Illegal and The Book of Negroes *In Crosshairs, Catherine Hernandez shapes a world at once fantastical and familiar, remarkable and relatable . . . The result is a sparkling but devastating novel about corporate and state cruelty, individual as well as community sacrifice, and Queer Black and Brown kinship that must be protected at all costs. Timely, unapologetic, complicated. * Jenny Heijun Wills, award-winning author of Older Sister, Not Necessarily Related *A beautiful, unapologetic, and unwatered-down...dystopian [novel] that holds a sobering mirror up to our own world * New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu *Every character has a moment to tell their story. Hernandez delivers beautiful and heartbreaking scenes in a story that is hard especially because of how close it feels to our present. * Booklist *Catherine Hernandez is groundbreaking. Her talent is remarkable. I dare you not to cry or scream or marvel or, like me, do all at once while reading this book. This story is a masterpiece of voice and metaphor, image and embodiment. But it is also a perfectly crafted portrait of us now, of us then, of the us we hope to be. I love this book, this big, bright missive that not only breaks the ground, but that gifts us with the steps to take in order to get to the other side, together. * Cherie Dimaline, bestselling author of The Marrow Thieves and Empire of Wild *Hernandez is unrelenting in her portrayal of the regular violence, assault and abuses faced by these Otherized people in 'civil societies.' She excels in her ability to show the ease of even the most brazen fascism and the pervasiveness of the feelings and scenarios that elicit its subsequent rise. * USA Today *Hernandez's storytelling throughout is compelling, and she builds tension and intrigue as the story moves forward, leaving the reader ravenous for the outcome. . . A rare and wonderful and formidable feat. * Letticia Cosbert Miller, The Toronto Star *Catherine Hernandez's sharp-eyed, queer dystopian fantasy is no gentle wake-up call. It is a blaring fire alarm and a call to arms against authoritarianism, white supremacy, and transphobia. * BookPage *

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Book SynopsisLonglisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2022.Nephthys Kinwell is a taxi driver of sorts in Washington, DC, ferrying ill-fated passengers in a haunted car: a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere with a ghost in the trunk. Endless rides and alcohol help her manage her grief over the death of her twin brother, Osiris, who was murdered and dumped in the Anacostia River.Unknown to Nephthys when the novel opens in 1977, her estranged great-nephew, ten-year-old Dash, is finding himself drawn to the banks of that very same river. It is there that Dash-reeling from having witnessed an act of molestation at his school, but still questioning what and who he saw-has charmed conversations with a mysterious figure he calls the "River Man," who somehow appears each time he goes there.When Dash arrives unexpectedly at Nephthys's door one day bearing a cryptic note about his unusual conversations with the River Man, Nephthys must face both the family she abandoned and what frightens her most when she looks in the mirror.Creatures of Passage beautifully threads together the stories of Nephthys, Dash, and others both living and dead. Morowa Yejidé's deeply captivating novel shows us an unseen Washington, D.C., filled with otherworldly landscapes, flawed super-humans, and reluctant ghosts, and brings together a community intent on saving one young boy in order to reclaim themselves.Trade ReviewIn this beautifully written and gloriously conceived novel, Morowa Yejide reveals her mastery yet again. This novel is both contemporary and ancient, frightening and stirring, playful and wise, an unforgettable blurring of reality and genres from its haunted Plymouth automobile to the mysteries in the fog in this alternate America and hidden Washington, DC. With its lyricism and bold imagination, Creatures of Passage is unlike anything you've ever read. * Tananarive Due, author of Ghost Summer: Stories *Comparisons will be made to Toni Morrison and they will be well founded, but Morowa Yejide is in a class of her own with Creatures of Passage, a mesmerizing tale about love, loss, revenge, death, and restoration that hovers close to the edge of fantasy yet is deeply grounded in history and in a reality easily recognizable in the contemporary world. * Elizabeth Nunez, author of Even in Paradise *Although set in our recent past, Creatures of Passage is at heart a powerful ghost story about people haunted by the shadows of time and the shadows of blood. In the pages of this novel we discover a world that is fully recognizable, as concrete and real as Toni Morrison's Ohio, but also as fantastic and mythical as Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Macondo. That said, make no mistake: Morowa Yejide is a masterful storyteller in her own right, able to spin and sustain an inventive tale illuminated by a singular truth, that death is 'another form of living. * Jeffery Renard Allen, author of Song of the Shank *

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Book SynopsisLonglisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2022.Nephthys Kinwell is a taxi driver of sorts in Washington, DC, ferrying ill-fated passengers in a haunted car: a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere with a ghost in the trunk. Endless rides and alcohol help her manage her grief over the death of her twin brother, Osiris, who was murdered and dumped in the Anacostia River.Unknown to Nephthys when the novel opens in 1977, her estranged great-nephew, ten-year-old Dash, is finding himself drawn to the banks of that very same river. It is there that Dash-reeling from having witnessed an act of molestation at his school, but still questioning what and who he saw-has charmed conversations with a mysterious figure he calls the "River Man," who somehow appears each time he goes there.When Dash arrives unexpectedly at Nephthys's door one day bearing a cryptic note about his unusual conversations with the River Man, Nephthys must face both the family she abandoned and what frightens her most when she looks in the mirror.Creatures of Passage beautifully threads together the stories of Nephthys, Dash, and others both living and dead. Morowa Yejidé's deeply captivating novel shows us an unseen Washington, D.C., filled with otherworldly landscapes, flawed super-humans, and reluctant ghosts, and brings together a community intent on saving one young boy in order to reclaim themselves.Trade ReviewIn this beautifully written and gloriously conceived novel, Morowa Yejide reveals her mastery yet again. This novel is both contemporary and ancient, frightening and stirring, playful and wise, an unforgettable blurring of reality and genres from its haunted Plymouth automobile to the mysteries in the fog in this alternate America and hidden Washington, DC. With its lyricism and bold imagination, Creatures of Passage is unlike anything you've ever read. * Tananarive Due, author of Ghost Summer: Stories *Comparisons will be made to Toni Morrison and they will be well founded, but Morowa Yejide is in a class of her own with Creatures of Passage, a mesmerizing tale about love, loss, revenge, death, and restoration that hovers close to the edge of fantasy yet is deeply grounded in history and in a reality easily recognizable in the contemporary world. * Elizabeth Nunez, author of Even in Paradise *Although set in our recent past, Creatures of Passage is at heart a powerful ghost story about people haunted by the shadows of time and the shadows of blood. In the pages of this novel we discover a world that is fully recognizable, as concrete and real as Toni Morrison's Ohio, but also as fantastic and mythical as Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Macondo. That said, make no mistake: Morowa Yejide is a masterful storyteller in her own right, able to spin and sustain an inventive tale illuminated by a singular truth, that death is 'another form of living. * Jeffery Renard Allen, author of Song of the Shank *

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Book Synopsis‘She belongs to me – property rights would prevail.’ Evie is a near-perfect bioengineered human. In a broken-down future England where her kind has been outlawed, her ‘husband’ Matthew keeps her safe but hidden. When her existence is revealed, she must take her chances on the dark and hostile streets where more than one predator is on the hunt.Trade ReviewWritten with flair and humanity... mesmerising. * The Times *‘Not since Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep have I felt so strongly about where artificial intelligence might lead us. Highly recommended.’‘Consistently engaging, fast-moving and surprising, The Actuality gives familiar science fiction themes a fresh and compassionate look, and makes of them something new.’The Actuality is smart, literary science fiction. * Infinite Speculation *The Actuality offers a rich contemplation of ethical and philosophical questions about artificial life and intelligence. * BBC Culture *

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Book SynopsisWhen the dead begin speaking to sixteen-year-old Kim Nguyen, her peaceful childhood is over.A delicate meditation on the nature of ghosts, belief, and how the future is shaped by the past. When the dead begin speaking to sixteen-year-old Kim Nguyen, her peaceful childhood is over. Suddenly everyone wants to exploit her new talent—her family, the Vietnamese government, and even the spirits themselves.

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Book SynopsisOn the eve of the Occupy Wall Street protests, C is flat broke. Once a renowned textile artist, she's now the sole proprietor of an arts supply store in Lower Manhattan. Divorced, alone, at loose ends, C is stuck with a struggling business, a stack of bills, a new erotic interest in her oldest girlfriend, and a persistent hallucination in the form of a rogue garden gnome with a pointed interest in systems collapse . . . C needs to put her medical debt and her sex life in order, but how to make concrete plans with this little visitor haunting her apartment, sporting a three-piece suit and delivering impromptu lectures on the vulnerability of the national grid? Moreover, what's all this computer code doing in the story of her life? And do the answers to all of C's questions lie with an eco-hacktivist cabal threatening to end modern life as we know it? Replaying recent history through a distorting glass, The Visitors is a mordantly funny tour through a world where not only civic infrastructure but our darkest desires (not to mention our novels) are vulnerable to malware; where mythical creatures talk like Don DeLillo; where love is little more than a blip in our metadata. It peers into How We Got Here and asks What We Do Next, charting the last days of a broken status quo as the path is cleared for something new.Trade Review‘It’s as if The Big Short were set in the dreamworld of Rachel Ingalls's Mrs. Caliban . . .’ Audrey Wollen, New York Times ---- ‘The Visitors addresses it subjects through a blurry, somewhat hypnotic dance of symbols and signifiers.’ Wall Street Journal ---- ‘It’s both a bold, imaginative play on very recent history and a trenchant prophecy of the terrifying times we’re collectively staring down the barrel of.’ Anna Cafolla, The Face Summer Reads 2022 ---- ‘[A]s its semi-fictional world frays at every edge, we stay close with C., a deeply written character who could be any of us: beset by the stresses of debt, anxious about decisions made and decisions to come, yet filled with all the rich longing, desire, and tenderness that renews our humanity, even at the worst of times.’ Lithub, included in ‘35 Novels You Need to Read This Summer’ ---- ‘Here is a refreshing novel by an author willing to take chances...The Visitors stands as a pensive and important work...rare and exciting company.’ Necessary Fiction ---- ‘“Is it possible to imagine something so fully that it takes on a life of its own? So many systems run only on belief.” It's possible that a novel, like this one, does, too.’ Star Tribune ---- '[A] mordantly funny requiem for the early 21st century . . . The odd touch of magic does nothing to diminish the story's uneasy relevance to the contemporary state of affairs. Fans of such paranoia masters as DeLillo and Pynchon should give this a look.' Publishers Weekly ---- 'The Visitors is a slim book with a lot going on. . . The book accepts, and even delights in, the strenuous absurdity of its characters' efforts to index the relationship between the virtual and the material, or to locate the source of reality in imagination.' Daisy Hildyard, The Guardian ---- 'The Visitors is conceptually bold. Stevens threads through needles of political theory so deftly you barely feel them piercing the brain. Her work calmly suggests this: the apocalypse is coming for us all, baby - so, what are you doing about it?' Annie Hayter, The Big Issue ---- 'Jessi Jezewska Stevens's frighteningly brilliant new novel The Visitors is both a bold reimagining of the recent past and an all-too-likely prophecy of what's to come. Caustic, intimate, and consistently surprising, this novel cements Stevens's place as one of the great chroniclers of our cruel and terrifying times.' Andrew Martin ---- 'In Jessi Jezewska Stevens' timeless novel, The Visitors, nothing is as it seems, everything is in motion, and progress and decay are simultaneous. Amidst credit scores and talking spectres, revolutionary impulses and the indissoluble truths found in a lifelong friendship, Stevens paints a brilliant and richly captivating portrait of an artist teetering between her own past and an American collapse happening in real time. Stevens' intimacy with history borders on the telepathic. The Visitors is transcendent and astounding in every way.' Michael Zapata ---- 'Jessi Jezewksa Stevens' scalpel-fine prose - slicing with wit and pathos - belies the bewildering scope of The Visitors, which lays bare everything from the audacity of modern finance to the visceral costs of debt, love, and success. Yet while collapse looms nigh, every page beams with defiant jubilance and gut-punch insights. Equal parts revelatory and moving, The Visitors cuts to the core of the delusion and disillusionment of our era.' Jakob Guanzon ---- 'The Visitors is such a unique gem of a novel-an intimate and affecting character study that is somehow also a DeLillo-esque container for diamond-sharp insights into big data, eco-terrorism, and the subprime mortgage crisis-that, like the garden gnome who haunts its protagonist, I'm half-convinced it couldn't possibly exist. But it does, and it is dazzling, and Stevens' readers are incredibly lucky to have it.' Adam Wilson ---- 'This book is a speedball, with lines as beautifully sad and weary as John Berryman's lines, and a premise as wild and lit as one of Philip K. Dick's premises. Stevens is a writer who makes you want to slow down and read each sentence carefully, even as you want to race forward and see what happens.' Benjamin Nugent ---- 'One of my favorite writers has written another imaginative and attentive marvel. The Visitors is about business: the business of staying alive, the business of being with others, the business of staying sane, and the business of business.' Rivka Galchen ---- 'An orgy of synaptic firing and flourish, The Visitors is a novel of longing, lostness, and late capitalism told with roving imagination and warmth.' Tracy O'Neill Bookseller Praise ---- 'Jessi Jezewska Stevens has created a parallel timeline as tumultuous and dread-inducing as our own, yet somehow this distorted reality reveals more about the preoccupations of existing than it's lived counterpart ever could. Part time capsule, part user manual, and part hallucinatory malware, The Visitors will still be with you long after the lights have gone out.' Josie Smith, Greenlight Bookstore ---- 'What would you do if an interrogating gnome appeared in your apartment one morning and never left? If you are C, the artist-protagonist of Jessi Jezewska Stevens' enthralling novel, The Visitors, you constantly question whether your gnome is real or imagined, all while operating a NYC art supply store, mourning the end of your marriage and your fertility, hiding from personal bankruptcy, and longing for a romantic relationship with your oldest friend, Zo. Apart from C's personal troubles, a terrorist group called GoodNite is destroying city power grids and staging protests around the world. Stevens fully immerses readers into C's world, exploring the artist's relationship to her craft, how loneliness exploits our deepest fears and vulnerabilities, the affection and jealousy between childhood girlfriends, and the permanent scar of immigrant trauma. A clever, thought-provoking novel that is as surprising as it is satisfying.' Lori Feathers, Interabang Books ---- 'Stevens' writing is vicious and cerebral, an enthralling combination. she has a lovely knack of hinting and alluding to goings-on elsewhere (the best kind of narration, imho). a cynical sophomore novel that deserves all the praise it will no doubt receive.' Doug Riggs, Bank Square Books

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Book Synopsis'Satire at its best' ELEANOR CATTON'Outrageous, comic, disturbingly timely' THE GUARDIANBold, darkly funny and brilliantly bizarre, She’s a Killer is the story of what happens when a stubborn slacker is forced to confront a very weird world.Thirty-something Alice has an IQ of 159 (almost a genius) and lives at home with her mother, with whom she communicates only by Morse code. Meanwhile, the climate is in crisis. Wealthy immigrants are flocking to New Zealand for shelter, stealing land, driving up food prices and taking over. When Alice meets attractive wealthugee Pablo, she thinks she has found a way out of her dull existence. But then in walks his teenage daughter, Erika, an actual genius with impeccable eye makeup, and Alice finds herself drawn into action of the most radical – and dangerous – kind. Just what is a slacker to do?Trade Review'A wild ride . . . made me think about similarities between NZ and Ireland as we face climate change, housing crises and the righteous anger of the young' Sarah Moss, Best Books of 2023, Irish Times'Savagely funny . . . An outrageous, comic, disturbingly timely novel' The Guardian'Funny, thought-provoking, bold and unusual . . . McDougall’s humour, pointed social observations and shocking plot twists combine with moving insights on self-knowledge, family and friendship' The Independent'Satirical thrills' New Scientist, Best New Science Fiction Books of October ‘Darkly funny, scarily prescient’ Red Magazine, 10 Best Books of October'Alarmingly prescient . . . tightly-written . . . [She's a Killer] comes into its own as the pace of the action increases, and makes for a propelling finale' The Telegraph'Savagely witty and oddly moving, this is a dark and timely satire to savour' Editor's Choice, The Bookseller'Kirsten McDougall’s brisk speculative novel takes a clifi premise and moulds it into a bizarre and bracing thought experiment, twisting the psychology of disempowerment into fast-paced action' Sydney Morning Herald'Smart, assured, and extremely funny, She's A Killer is a marvellously eccentric book that both skews and skewers the anxieties of our age . . . This is satire at its best' Eleanor Catton, Booker Prize Winner, author of Birnam Wood'A fabulously dark pleasure, delivered in prose of singing tautness' Luke Jennings, author of Killing Eve'McDougall’s dystopian future is no distant vision: it’s disturbingly familiar, urgently relevant. Narrator Alice is a brilliant creation – complex, prickly, often hilarious – and I was utterly in her thrall as she swept me along to the book’s astonishing finale. Unputdownable' Catherine Chidgey, author of Remote Sympathy 'Darkly funny, utterly terrifying . . . A powerful, pre-apocalyptic book that’s an inspired scream at our fingers-in-ears approach to the climate crisis. I couldn’t stop thinking about it’ Fran Littlewood, author of Amazing Grace Adams ‘Deeply weird, compulsively readable, and a relevant allegory of a very possible future. I loved it’ Julie Mae Cohen, author of Bad Men'Original, unputdownable, darkly funny . . . I don't think I'll ever forget it' Becky Hunter, author of One Moment 'Pitch black, wildly compelling, enormous fun' Heather Parry, author of Orpheus Builds a Girl'A gem . . . there is a surprise on every page, as Alice’s behavior is never routine, and Simp is a wild card. Not quite a misanthrope, not quite a sociopath, Alice is compelling, hilarious, and dangerous all at once' Booklist (Starred Review)'Quirky, utterly original, and also very funny' Meath Chronicle‘A thumping good story’ New Zealand Herald‘Damn funny . . . a dextrous and talented writer who has really hit her stride’ STUFF Magazine'Brilliant' Greg Fleming, NZ Listener‘Lively, engaging and often hilarious . . . McDougall has created a world that slips easily between the entirely recognisable and the slightly strange’ Academy of New Zealand Literature‘Equipped with an exhilaratingly badly-behaved protagonist, She’s a Killer builds from a slice of very strange life into a thriller by way of a succession of stunning comic set pieces. You’ll laugh – a lot. And then you’ll cry and be really surprised about it since you were laughing so much’ Elizabeth Knox, author of The Absolute Book‘The novel’s sense of humour – it’s full of sharp one-liners and witty writing – doesn’t detract from the seriousness of the subject underpinning the narrative, making She’s a Killer a great read for those who like a bit of edge to their literary fiction’ Books & Publishing

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Book SynopsisIt’s the late postgenomic era and the loss of habitable landmass has led to severe limits on human birth. In the drive for species perfection, fewer and fewer can breed, and the long-simmering tension between the reproductive ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ is coming to the boil. A young woman’s body is found, and Detective Cooper-Clark (Coop to his friends) thinks it a routine case: yet another victim of the ‘red-dirt cocktail’ of drugs, disease and despair. But when he discovers the female had recently miscarried an illegal pregnancy, the case turns anything but routine. Convinced the lost baby is the key to the murder, Coop finds himself sucked into the dirty waters of state-sponsored eugenics and to the heart of an existential struggle for control over human reproduction.

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Book SynopsisKings of a Dead World is Jamie Mollart's latest dystopian novel. The Earth’s resources are dwindling. The solution is The Sleep: periods of hibernation imposed on those who remain with only a Janitor to watch over the sleepers. In the sleeping city, elderly Ben struggles with his limited waking time and the disease which is stealing his wife from him. Outside, lonely Janitor Peruzzi craves the family he never knew. Around them both, dissatisfaction is growing. The city is about to wake.

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Book SynopsisTwo years into a devastating flu pandemic, food shortages are critical. The streets are full of angry protestors objecting to the government’s proposed rationing. Policing demonstrations is firmly outside the Health Enforcement Team’s remit, but that doesn’t stop their boss sending them in. As the threat escalates, the team find themselves being drawn into a government cover up, investigating a terrorist cell, and tugging at the threads of a global conspiracy. As tensions rise throughout the city and the nation, the stakes have never been higher. Dead Man Driving by Lesley Kelly is the latest book in the Health of Strangers series.

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Book SynopsisIn a near future, where civilisation has collapsed, a government of youth has taken power in North America. All older people deemed responsible for the cataclysmic climate emergency are relocated, but a breakaway group escapes exile to seek freedom … at devastating cost… 'The dystopian future landscape of The Forcing comes with a heightened realism that grips and shakes you … provocative and insightful, visceral and terrifying' SciFi Now Book of the Month ‘A superbly handled tale of struggle and survival in a maimed world’ The Times 'Smart, gripping, and all too plausible … announces Paul E. Hardisty as the true heir to John Christopher' Tim Glister The jaw-dropping, passionate and provocative climate-emergency thriller from one of the world's leading environmental scientists. ___________ Civilisation is collapsing… Frustrated and angry after years of denial and inaction, in a last-ditch attempt to stave off disaster, a government of youth has taken power in North America, and a policy of institutionalised ageism has been introduced. All those older than the prescribed age are deemed responsible for the current state of the world, and are to be 'relocated', their property and assets confiscated. David Ashworth, known by his friends and students as Teacher, and his wife May, find themselves among the thousands being moved to 'new accommodation' in the abandoned southern deserts – thrown together with a wealthy industrialist and his wife, a high court lawyer, two recent immigrants to America, and a hospital worker. Together, they must come to terms with their new lives in a land rendered unrecognisable. As the terrible truth of their situation is revealed, lured by rumours of a tropical sanctuary where they can live in peace, they plan a perilous escape. But the world outside is more dangerous than they could ever have imagined. And for those who survive, nothing will ever be the same again… _________ 'A compelling, moving story of survival in a dying world … a novel that might have actually predicted our future' Ewan Morrison 'A bold, beautifully written and imagined novel about an all-too plausible future – Paul Hardisty is a visionary' Luke McCallin 'Hardisty is a fine writer' Lee Child 'An excellent blend of deep suspense, thriller and – to be honest – horror. The message within it is all too plausible, the solution to the problem distinctly chilling' James Oswald 'Fierce, thoughtful, deeply humane and always compelling … the tension builds from page one and never relents' David Whish-Wilson 'Outstanding! Thrilling and thought provoking. If there's any justice, this book will be HUGE!!!' Michael J Malone ‘A clear-eyed reckoning with social and political currents we don't like to examine … tough, suspenseful and action-packed’ Jock Serong 'The book I've been waiting and hoping for…' Paul Waters What readers are saying… ‘Stark, gripping, often poignant’ ‘Riveting and suspenseful’ ‘A twist I didn’t see coming’ ‘Dark and disturbing’ ‘I got a real Atwood vibe’ ‘A masterpiece’ ‘Powerfully told’ ‘Full of pace’ ‘An author at the very top of his craft’ ‘The biting intensity of a thriller and the majestic world-building of a classic dystopian tale’

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Book SynopsisIn a world ravaged by climate change, a young woman's job of enforcing Britain's one-child policy is compromised when she discovers an illegal sibling on the ministry hit list, and that sibling is hers… `A tightly paced plot set in an all-too imaginable future … a page-turning, thought-provoking read´ Jo Callaghan ‘With echoes of V for Vendetta, ONE serves as a stark warning, challenging societal norms and individual sacrifices in the face of adversity’ SciFi Now Book of the Month ‘Pleasingly terrifying’ New Scientist `A terrifying vision of a global climate emergency, a jaw-dropping government conspiracy and some truly devastating twists … one hell of a speculative thriller´ Tom Hindle ––––––––––––––––––– One law. One child. Seven million crimes… A cataclysmic climate emergency has spawned a one-child policy in the UK, ruthlessly enforced by a totalitarian regime. Compulsory abortion of 'excess' pregnancies and mandatory contraceptive implants are now the norm, and families must adhere to strict consumption quotas as the world descends into chaos. Kai is a 25-year-old `baby reaper´, working for the Ministry of Population and Family Planning. If any of her assigned families attempt to exceed their child quota, she ensures they pay the price. Until, one morning, she discovers that an illegal sibling on her Ministry hit-list is hers. And to protect her parents from severe penalties, she must secretly investigate before anyone else finds out. Kai's hunt for her forbidden sister unearths much more than a dark family secret. As she stumbles across a series of heinous crimes perpetrated by the people she trusted most, she makes a catastrophic discovery that could bring down the government … and tear her family apart. ––––––––––––––––––– `Eve Smith is a master storyteller for our troubled times´ Simon Conway `Chillingly plausible … both thrilling and deeply moving´ Philippa East `All too convincing and scientifically plausible … as much a warning as an entertainment´ Paul E. Hardisty `Amazing, beautiful writing, jam-packed with clever ideas´ Helen Fitzgerald `Gripping, frightening and deep … a very brilliant, masterful book´ Sarah K. Jackson `Simmering with great intelligence and insight that never fails to be terrifyingly and thrillingly plausible´ James Goodhand `A visionary storyteller´ Awais Khan `A gripping and pacy thriller set in an all too plausible and terrifying future´ David Beckler `Meticulously crafted, no detail is overlooked … so authentic it doesn't feel speculative at all´ Sarah Sultoon `Raises troubling issues about the balance between saving the planet and our individual human rights … brilliant!´ Guy Morpuss `Pulse-pounding and heart-rending in equal measure, this book is a tour-de-force´ Louise Mumford `A powerful warning and a gripping thriller´ Greg Mosse `A chilling, poignant novel that holds a mirror up to our world … sensational´ Vikki Patis `Gripping and unsettling´ Shen Yang `Compulsive and addictive´ Adam Simcox `Another taut and terrifying thriller from Eve Smith´ Louise Swanson `A terrifying, yet plausible read. Too scary to imagine in reality, and yet…´ Heather Fitt `Horrifying and gripping in equal measure … a jaw-dropping glimpse of the catastrophe around the corner … Astonishing´ Lucy Martin

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Book SynopsisThe reader arrives in Adam Bodor's world, the periphery of civilization, at the break of dawn. Adam, the foster son of Brigadier Anatol Korkodus is waiting at the dilapidated station for a boy who is arriving from a reformatory. Soon afterwards, Korkodus is arrested for unfathomable reasons. Yet this decaying and sinister world is not devoid of a certain joie de vivre: people eat gourmet dishes, point out their interlocutor's hidden motives with incredibly dark humor and enjoy the region's stunning natural beauty.

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Book SynopsisValentine Weis is a salvager in the future wastelands of Utah. Wrestling with body dysphoria, he dreams of earning enough money to afford citizenship in Salt Lake City – a utopia where the testosterone and surgery he needs to transition is free, the food is plentiful, and folk are much less likely to be shot full of arrows by salt pirates. But earning that kind of money is a pipe dream, until he meets the exceptionally handsome Osric. Once a powerful AI in Salt Lake City, Osric has been forced into an android body against his will and sent into the wasteland to offer Valentine a job on behalf of his new employer – an escort service seeking to retrieve their stolen androids. The reward is a visa into the city, and a chance at the life Valentine’s always dreamed of. But as they attempt to recover the “merchandise”, they encounter a problem: the android ladies are becoming self-aware, and have no interest in returning to their old lives. The prize is tempting, but carrying out the job would go against everything Valentine stands for, and would threaten the fragile found family that’s kept him alive so far. He’ll need to decide whether to risk his own dream in order to give the AI a chance to live theirs. File Under: Science Fiction [ Finding Your Way Everybody Hurts Body Bound City Dreams ]Trade Review“Full of adventure, charm, and deeply human insights, the world in Hess’s World Running Down is an apocalypse you won’t want to leave.”“A piercing mix of relevant social commentary braided into a riveting scifi adventure.""Books, like Hess's characters, still dare to love""A rousing and touching read.""It poured warmth and light into my chest""playful and lovingly crafted romp.""A profoundly charming, funny, romantic, and endearing read.""wildly fun trans sci-fi adventure""World Running Down is a Valentine’s Day release in the vein of Becky Chambers’ cozy, progressive science fiction.""I'm still buzzing with excitement.""Engaging prose and compelling dialogue make this novel an easy read""should please those looking for a diverting and fun queer-sf read."

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Book SynopsisAll language is artificial. And it has started to disappear. Ink had cut himself off after the death of his partner, Neav, a decade ago. However, he wakes one day to find he has no concept of the past and can only think of Neav in the present tense. Social media reports two dozen cases in a so-called ‘amnesia crisis’. Ink knows his new loss has nothing to do with memory. As does Ihlo. Ihlo, a votary in the Order, has sworn an oath to protect Klova – the artificial language that enables everyone to think, speak and know. She’s certain the impossible has happened: a corruption in the code. However, her sudden suspension forces her to act alone. As case numbers steadily rise, the Order’s security agency race to find the fault and stem the spread. Ink and Ihlo’s own desperate efforts to locate the source bring them together and cause them to confront loss and the vulnerability of truth through the lens of perception. When the corruption mutates, all are forced to ask: what next? Where will this end? Which concepts will we lose? What words will we have left?

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Book Synopsis‘Life advice: never unbury a body. Granted, better advice might be don’t murder, but I guess technically I never did that. So I stand by my original statement.’ Clementine Finch’s life just became complicated. Struggling with infertility in a society threatened by overpopulation, Clem returns to her childhood home to mourn the sudden death of her parents. Freedom from the extremist movement against pregnancy – #stopoverpopulation – is a welcome bonus. Reconnecting with figures from her past and chatting to the crows in her garden, Clem spends the winter months tending to her mother’s strangely thriving vegetable patch. But when her troubled brother Billy arrives, paranoid about the wellness brand he works for, Clem feels her quiet life slipping away. Then she discovers her mother’s hidden laboratory and her life is forever changed… Presenting a frighteningly believable version of our future, Fertile Ground examines one woman’s attempts to come to terms with the legacy her mother has left her. A legacy which has the potential to affect the future of every life she cares about – and those she doesn’t.

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Book SynopsisAndrea Víctrix presents a dystopian vision of Palma, Mallorca, now named ‘Turclub’, in the year 2050. The unnamed narrator, who bears a certain resemblance to the author, had placed himself in voluntary cryo-stasis in 1965, fatigued by modern ‘civilization’ and morality, only to reawaken 85 years later with the physique of a 30-year old. Villalonga sets up an intriguing interplay between the narrator and the eponymous, androgynous Andrea Víctrix, so-called Director of Pleasure, in a satirical, sometimes self-ironizing exploration of contemporary issues such as gender and sexuality, consumerism, environmental disaster and the politics of big business. Both of its time and startlingly prescient, Andrea Víctrix merits a place amongst the greats of European dystopian fiction.Trade ReviewRACHEL FARMER (LUNATE LITERARY JOURNAL) - full review HERE Andrea Víctrix is certainly a unique reading experience, veering from grotesque and macabre to ludicrously funny in the space of a single paragraph… Ultimately, it is a rich, multi-layered work—one that would benefit from being studied in depth. It seems unlikely that a single reading can hope to unearth all its treasures. EUROPEAN LITERATURE NETWORK. Full review here Villalonga’s prose, in Johnson’s expertly crafted translation is extravagant and striking, perfectly suited to the city of Turclub, where decadence and hedonism are of utmost importance. The translator’s task could not have been easy – particularly in terms of language and gender surrounding the mysterious character of Andrea Víctrix – however, Johnson’s translation perfectly captures Villalonga’s often dark humour and immerses us deep into the world of Turclub, a city of excess and extravagance. This flamboyant and brilliant prose, however, never distracts from the important discussions that the novel can fuel today. ELEANOR UPDEGRAFF - Full review here Relayed in pacey, atmospheric prose peppered with sharp wit, Andrea Víctrix is a vision of a future none of us is likely to want to experience. Part incisive social criticism, part wild flight of the imagination, Villalonga’s masterpiece is a complex and entertaining work of fiction that deserves both to inspire and terrify readers for many years to come. BUZZ MAGAZINE. Full review here Compulsive reading, ending on an ambiguous note, leaving us to ponder its questions long after the last page is turned. THE MODERN NOVEL. Full review here This is another excellent novel from still relatively new publisher Fum d’Estampa. I had read quite a few Catalan novels before they were formed but I am clearly going to discover quite a few more interesting ones... (This is) a superb story with a host of fascinating ideas – my idea of a good novel. JACKIE LAW. Full review here A fascinating work of fiction that is both thought-provoking and disquieting. A reminder of the importance of critical thinking when considering widely promoted changes in attitude that are supposedly for the common good. The Monthly Booking Literary Blog. Full review here Relayed in pacey, atmospheric prose peppered with sharp wit, Andrea Víctrix is a vision of a future none of us is likely to want to experience. Part incisive social criticism, part wild flight of the imagination, Villalonga’s masterpiece is a complex and entertaining work of fiction that deserves both to inspire and terrify readers for many years to come. Ramon Mas, Les Males Herbes “This is, until someone proves otherwise, the best dystopian literature ever written in Catalan. And I say this not because of Llorenç Villalonga’s singular narrative talent, but rather because of his exceptional development of a series of ideas that provide Andrea Víctrix with a speculative solidity that is difficult to find anywhere else.” Andrea Navarra, The Barcelona Review “With the novel Andrea Víctrix, Llorenç Villalonga’s amalgamation is a spasmotic, incredible story, accumulative and grotesque, truly original, unique and highly relevant in its own literary context.” Jordi Llavina, El 3 de Vuit “A truly great novel, beautiful and terrfying in equal parts, tender and groundbreaking, and one that should be read for many years to come. A warning from history.”

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Book Synopsis“These creatures know human nature better than anyone. They’ve studied it for thousands of years. They know what methods to use to deceive, divide and cajole. They know what percentage of the population will believe anything they’re told, and what percentage will resist. They know who is susceptible to manipulation. Most importantly, they know the power of fear.” In this highly anticipated sequel to Fangs of Deception, T.K. Orbelyan provides a shocking exposé of the world the globalist elites are seeking to bring about. From a cashless economy to digital IDs and programmable money, Masks of Illusion explores a dystopian world in which mass surveillance, 15-minute communities and artificial food are the norm. By offering a glimpse into the evil strategy of enslavement that’s currently being implemented across the globe, Orbelyan shows that through a mass awakening of the public, the dark future that’s being designed for us can be stopped.

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Book SynopsisThree years ago, the sun began to die. In a desperate attempt to reignite the failing star, the United States had joined the rest of the planet in unloading its nuclear arsenal at the flickering ember. The missiles burst from silos in Wyoming and Bangladesh, cocooning the earth in tendrils of smoke as they began their two-and-a-half year journey into space. When they finally reach their target, it’s thirty degrees in July and getting colder. Lisa and her husband, Guy, sit shivering on a Southern hilltop, watching as humanity’s last hope at survival shimmers faintly...and then disappears below the horizon. A group of militant rebels called the Minutemen take advantage of the ensuing chaos to knock out power grids, cloaking the freezing earth in near darkness. Seizing control. To escape this ruthless new world order, Lisa and Guy join a reluctant band of refugees crossing the snow-covered South in search of shelter and answers. From an icy parking lot in Atlanta to the Minutemen’s makeshift headquarters at Asheville’s Biltmore Estate, only one thing is certain: in a world with little light, nothing is guaranteed—least of all survival.Ember is the 2016 winner of the South Carolina First Novel Prize as judged by novelist Bridgett M. Davis.Trade Review"With fascinating concept and a shocking twist, Ember is an eerie apocalypse that will keep you guessing until the end." -- Katherine Arden"Against a haunting, apocalyptic southern landscape, and with a panoply of rich characterizations, this beautiful novel is a cautionary tale about the power-hungry who rise from the ashes of a lost and dying world. With page-turning twists, the writer makes us care deeply about the small band of survivors making their way against violence and fear and the unknown – toward a brave new world. Emberbegins with a small, glowing flame of intrigue and originality, then grows into a fireball of dazzling plot and prose, bursting into a literary tour de force." -- Bridgett M. Davis"Ember burns with imagination and wrestles with chaos, and combines these two to create a visionary novel of a world gone mad, where the line between good and bad is smeared with gray, and hopeful points of light rage against the darkness." -- Michael Farris Smith

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Book SynopsisCenturies after the fall of the Anthropocene, the last vestiges of human civilization are housed in a massive domed city powered by renewable energy, known as The Green Zone. Inside lives teenager Tenn Gavrilo, a brilliant bio-engineer who could rebuild the planet. But there's one problem: her resentful brother Seren is eager to dismantle the precarious Utopia.From the minds of Zac Thompson (X-Men, Yondu) and debut writer Emily Horn with artist Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque (Letter 44, Avengers ) comes a gorgeous and green solar-punk world filled with strange biotechnology, harsh superstorms, and divisive ideologies--ideologies that will tear Tenn and Seren down to their roots as they fight for a better Earth.

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Book SynopsisDo you ever feel like you're living in a simulation? Like nothing is real and it doesn't matter? What if you found out you were right? Dog Villain, burdened by this ultimate knowledge, has built a machine. A machine with a single purpose: To destroy the simulation and free Dog Villain from where he feels trapped inside the never ending farce. But there's something Dog Villain doesn't know. At the end of the simulation there will be no freedom. Will Dog Villain be able to give up control long enough to find the truth and learn the things that really matter? Based on the mythology created by Dance Gavin Dance The Tale of The Robot is a mind bending story for both fans and new comers

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Book Synopsis***Editor's Choice, NEW YORK TIMES*** A literary coup d'etat, that ponders "What would the White House be like if U.S. Presidents of the past were not restricted by the time-honored hallmarks and traditional behavior of the office, leaving them free to do whatever they wanted, anytime and anywhere?" THE FAKING OF THE PRESIDENT: Nineteen Stories of White House Noir pulls back the curtain on the “new norm” for America’s highest office, with a collection of bizarre new stories by a diverse group of renowned authors that take readers across the chasm of reality into an alternate universe—where Nixon takes a wacky psychedelic trip with Elvis Presley; where a time-traveling renegade targets members of the George Bush administration with disastrous results; where a spy seizes a sudden opportunity for power after Woodrow Wilson’s stroke. The stories are outlandish but—when it comes to the White House of today—no longer implausible. The line-up of award-winning authors includes Eric Beetner, Peter Carlaftes, Sarah M. Chen, Angel Luis Colón, S. A. Cosby, Nikki Dolson, Mary Anna Evans, Adam Lance Garcia, Danny Gardner, Alison Gaylin, Christopher Chambers, Kate Flora, Greg Herren, Gary Phillips, Alex Segura, Travis Richardson, S. J. Rozan, Abby Vandiver, and Erica Wright. In an era where the bar for what is acceptable has shifted beyond what the founding fathers ever imagined, THE FAKING OF THE PRESIDENT is a highly recommended unique creative act of resistance, and a must-have for fans of politics, noir, and speculative fiction. Trade Review***Editor's Choice, NEW YORK TIMES*** “The stories put arrows in the red ... [with] “Manchurian Candidate”-style Cold War paranoia ... exploitation ... actual history [and] first ladies who are the power behind the throne. ... The actual present is left until last, when [editor] Carlaftes himself appears for an audacious final story.” —The New York Times "One of the strangest, most exhilarating rides you’ll take in noir this year...Editor Peter Carlaftes brings together a talented group of contemporary noir luminaries, each author offering a unique vision of executive excess and intrigue." —CrimeReads “The Faking of the President is equal parts historical and hysterical. The assemblage of authors is uniformly talented. They each start with as many real facts as are necessary and then, unconstrained by anything except their imaginations, produce delightful riffs on reality. They are fake news.” —NY Journal of Books "Many of the 19 speculative stories in this highly entertaining anthology show U.S. presidents behaving badly, some with the same impunity as the current occupant of the White House. ... Fans of alternate history will have fun. This is the perfect diversion for those seeking a break from the more serious aspects of the election season." —Publishers Weekly “In many ways, the collection is a lot of fun. There’s a schadenfreude aspect to some of it . . . The Faking of the President offers a comical and twisted version of our history.” —Portland Book Review “The Faking of the President is a terrific burning barn of a book. Focused on the potential realities in past American presidencies (and a future glimpse) and written by 19 talented mystery writers who really know their American history, these great fictional takes on what could have happened, might have happened, and didn’t happen are really deep-dive marvels and often breathtaking wonders to take in. Then the real mind-bending occurs when you are inspired by the stories in The Faking of the President to imagine what directions we might have instead taken, and often tragically did not, particularly in the continuing saga of the most genetically twisted presidency we’ve yet experienced.” —Hot Indie News "The Faking of the President is a wild, rollicking ride through the corridors of power both past and present. These stories are dark, humorous and thoughtful; they take the presidency and its environs and turn it into a fun house of noirish story-telling. Get this book and read it during the presidential campaign to help keep your head on straight." —T.J. English, New York Times Best Selling author of Havana Nocturne and The Westies “Whether burrowing into archival gaps, forging extraordinary connections between pivotal milestones, or conjuring up wild (and wildly entertaining!) alternative histories, these slyly subversive what-ifs and cutting critiques hit their marks on presidencies past and present.” —Art Taylor, Edgar Award-winning author of The Boy Detective and the Summer of ’74Table of ContentsTable of Contents Foreword By Peter Carlaftes Burning Love By Alison Gaylin Is This Tomorrow? By Angel Luis Colón Y2 Effin’ K By Gary Phillips Article 77 By Eric Beetner All Big Men Are Dreamers By Mary Anna Evans Reckless Disregard By Abby L. Vandiver 999 Points Of Light By S. A. Cosby The Dreadful Scott Decision By Greg Herren The Great Compromise Of 1901 By Erica Wright The Madison Conspiracy: Dolley Madison’s Zinger By Christopher Chambers Long Live Long By Kate Flora Mother Of Exiles By S. J. Rozan Services Rendered By Nikki Dolson In Mother We Trust By Sarah M. Chen Andrew Jackson Beats Death By Adam Lance Garcia Old Pharaoh By Danny Gardner The Camelot Complex By Alex Segura The Event That Didn’t Happen By Travis Richardson But One Life To Give By Peter Carlaftes About The Contributors

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Book SynopsisThe Doolin brothers (ne “Dueling Brothers”) are notorious outlaws tracking down a stash of loot hidden from them by a double crossing partner. As infamous as they think they are, however, they’re pretty basic until they realize the powers each of them get from the crusty old skulls left to them by their genuinely infamous father. While older brothers Dan and Duke are focused on becoming outlaw legends like their Pa, younger brother Dave just wants to settle down and become a decent father to the kid he rescued from… a parallel dimension. Did we mention that this is a sci-fi western full of dinosaurs, robots, and magic? Narrowly surviving a shootout by the corrupt alien deputies, Dan and Dave discover their powers for the first time: Dan seems to be un-killable while Dave can somehow open up portals in space and time. Uncertain how exactly their new skills actually work, theirs is a schoolin’ on the run. And so is that of the poor little girl Dave rescue-adopted. But that little girl proves to be plenty capable of handling herself, being an expert shot with dual revolvers. Pretty soon, she’s as infamous as the Doolin brothers hoped to be themselves, drawing the attention of bounty hunters from around the world, including one who calls himself “The Cherub of Golgotha.” A bizarre sci-fi western where folks ride dinosaurs instead of horses, this gonzo action adventure flies in the spirit of Brandon Graham’s KING CITY and MULTIPLE WARHEADS mixed with Jamie Hewlett’s TANK GIRL set to a soundtrack by GORILLAZ.

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