Dystopian & Alternative History Fiction Books

Book SynopsisA new Kahlan and Richard fantasy novel from bestselling author, Terry Goodkind.Trade Review‘Few writers have Goodkind’s power of creation’Publishing News ‘Goodkind’s greatest triumph: the ability to introduce instantly identifiable characters. His heroes, like us, are not perfect. Instead, each is flawed in ways that strengthen rather than weaken their impact.’SFX ‘A real born storyteller'Anne McCaffrey 'Everything one could ask for in an epic fantasy'Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisIn 1904, when she was six, Polly Flint went to live with her two holy aunts at the yellow house by the marsh - so close to the sea that it seemed to toss like a ship, so isolated that she might have been marooned on an island. And there she stayed for eighty-one years, while the century raged around her, while lamplight and Victorian order became chaos and nuclear dred. Crusoe''s Daughter, ambitious, moving and wholly original, is her story.Trade ReviewShe does fiction as it should be done, with confidence and insight -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie * Observer *

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Book SynopsisBrilliant, a definite page turner. They combine real historical events with fascinating fictional characters.The twenty-three volumes of the Morland Dynasty series has been completely repackaged in the most elegant style, using contemporaneous artwork for each period. This wonderful series opens with the back drop of the Wars of the Roses with the marriage between Eleanor Morland and a scion of the influential house of Beaufort. It is a union which establishes the powerful Morland dynasty and in the succeeding volumes of this rich tapestry of English life, we follow their fortunes through war and peace, political upheaval and social revolution, times of pestilence and periods of plenty, and through the vicissitudes which afflict every family - love and passion, envy and betrayal, birth and death, great fortune and miserable penury...The Morland Dynasty is entertainment of the most addictive kind.

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Book SynopsisThe penultimate volume of the mighty Riftwar Cycle from best selling author Raymond E. Feist.War rages in Midkemia but behind the chaos there is disquieting evidence of dark forces at work.Jim Dasher's usually infallible intelligence network has been cleverly dismantled; nowhere is safe. He feels that the world is coming apart at the seams and is helpless to protect his nation.Quiet palace coups are underway in Roldem and Rillanon; and King Gregory of the Isles has yet to produce an heir. In each kingdom a single petty noble has risen from obscurity to threaten the throne.Lord Hal of Crydee and his great friend Ty Hawkins, champion swordsman of the Masters' Court, are entrusted with the task of smuggling Princess Stephané and her lady-in-waiting, the lovely but mysterious Lady Gabriella, out of Roldem to a place of greater safety. But is there any safe haven to be found?Meanwhile, Hal's younger brothers Martin and Brendan are attempting to hold the strategic city of Ylith against an onslaught of Keshian Dog Soldiers, and a mysterious force from beneath the sea. The Kingdom might lose Crydee and recover; but if Ylith falls, all is lost.An unknown player appears to orchestrating these conflicts. Can Pug and the Conclave of Shadows track down this source before Midkemia is destroyed?Trade ReviewPraise for Raymond E. Feist: ‘File under guilty pleasure’ Guardian ‘Get in at the start of a master’s new series’ Daily Sport ‘Well-written and distinctly above average… intelligent… intriguing’ Publishers Weekly ‘ Epic scope…vivid imagination…a significant contribution to the growth of the field of fantasy’ Washington Post

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Book SynopsisJames Herbert's Domain imagines having to choose between nuclear radiation or horrifying, flesh-eating rats.Trade ReviewCompletes the rodent trilogy with what must be the ultimate rat novel . . . the adventure never flags. * Daily Express *

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Book SynopsisThe Great Plague destroyed Europe. Now the world’s a different place … From the award-winning author of the Mars trilogy, ‘the ultimate in future history’ (Daily Mail), comes the most ambitious alternate history novel ever written.Trade Review‘One of the finest working novelists in any genre’GUARDIAN 'If I had to choose one writer whose work will set the standard for science fiction in the future, it would be Kim Stanley Robinson’NEW YORK TIMES Praise for THE YEARS OF RICE AND SALT: ‘A dazzling work of speculation with all the qualities of a great historical novel – it is by turns thrilling, tragic, funny and thoughtful’SCOTSMAN ‘A 600-year tapestry of striving, joy, unhappiness and ambiguity … this marvellous book may be the most hopeful thing you read for a long time.’EVENING STANDARD ‘Stunning’GUARDIAN ‘A huge, complex and highly enjoyable book’NEW SCIENTIST

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Book SynopsisGives us a horrifying glimpse of an alternative world - one where the Allies have lost the Second World War.

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Book SynopsisA stunning coming of age novel set in a richly imagined post-apocalyptic world. For fans of THE PASSAGE and THE ROAD this is a fantastic addition to the growing cannon of dystopian fictionTrade Review'A great, gorgeous whirlwind of a novel, boundless in its imagination. You will be swept away' * Justin Cronin, New York Times bestselling author of The Passage *'PURE is a post-apocalyptic thrill ride, filled with wildly inventive characters whose journey of struggle and revolution manifests as a fast-paced narrative full of promise and hope. As visceral and kinetic as it is socially relevant, PURE is bursting with imagination and epic adventure. Baggott is here to stay. And we are all the beneficiaries' * Steven Schneider, producer of Paranormal Activity I and II *'PURE is a dark adventure that is both startling and addictive at once. Pressia Belze is one part manga heroine and one part post-apocalyptic Alice, stranded in a surreal Wonderland where everyone and everything resonates with what has been lost. Breathtaking and frightening. I couldn't stop reading PURE' * Danielle Trussoni, bestselling author of ANGELOLOGY *

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Book Synopsis''An exceptional debut'' Sunday Telegraph''Obsessed with The Handmaid''s Tale? This brilliant book is the one for you'' Stylist''An intriguing, gorgeously realised and written novel which inexorably draws you into its dark heart'' Kate HamerOn a small isolated island, there''s a community that lives by its own rules. Boys grow up knowing they will one day take charge, while girls know they will be married and pregnant within moments of hitting womanhood. But before that time comes, a ritual offers children an exhilarating reprieve. Every summer they are turned out onto their doorsteps, to roam the island, sleep on the beach and build camps in trees. To be free. At the end of one of such summer, one of the younger girls sees something she was never supposed to see. And she returns home with a truth that could bring their island world to its knees.''A skilful novel full of suspense'' Trade ReviewAn intriguing, gorgeously realised and written novel which inexorably draws you into its dark heart -- Kate HamerIt's a richly envisioned world, the strange isolation of which Melamed is excellent at teasing out slowly * Independent *An exceptional debut * Sunday Telegraph *A skilful novel full of suspense * Guardian *An assured, lyrical and vivid debut * Irish Independent *An obvious comparison is Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, and Melamed is more than equal a writer. Her prose is exact, the premise chilling and her characters all too plausible * Daily Mail, top debuts of 2017 *Obsessed with The Handmaid's Tale? This brilliant book is the one for you * Stylist *[A] dark, compelling debut... At a time when it feels as if women's rights around the world are being slowly eroded this absorbing novel is both gripping and to-the-bone chilling. Melamed is definitely a talent to watch. * Daily Express *Gather the Daughters is an always-compelling and sometimes-shocking read as the horrific secrets of the island are slowly revealed. I read it in one sleep-deprived sitting * Red Magazine *Gather The Daughters is extraordinary, powerful, and harrowing-and yet hopeful in its portrait of the human spirit and the endurance of love. This is a visceral book on all levels and it is haunting me still -- Julie CohenA terrifying work of speculative fiction ... Melamed is a masterful writer, and she establishes a hauntingly vivid atmosphere....This is a haunting work in the spirit of The Handmaid's Tale-but Melamed more than holds her own. Fearsome, vivid, and raw * Kirkus Reviews *Melamed's haunting and powerful debut blazes a fresh path in the tradition of classic dystopian works...a searing portrayal of a utopian society gone wrong...Melamed's prose is taut and precise. Her nuanced characters and honest examination of the crueler sides of human nature establish her as a formidable author in the vein of Shirley Jackson and Margaret Atwood * Publishers Weekly *At times harrowing in its depiction of cruelty, at other times joy-filled and buoyed by the spirit of liberated girlhood, this is an exhilarating, feminist cry-out, which I hope finds a wide readership * The Big Issue *A chilling, vividly realised feminist novel that propels the reader into the dark heart of a cruelly repressive and sinister society * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisAn American short-story writer of intimidating talent'' Zadie SmithDark, concerned, confused and funny, all at the same time ... Like so much of Saunders'' brilliant, crazy writing it''s relevant, but not too relevant'' The TimesFrom the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of the 2017 Man Booker Prize winner Lincoln in the BardoA breathtaking collection of strange, surreal, and utterly human short stories from the celebrated master of the form.Talking candy bars, baby geniuses, disappointed mothers, castrated dogs, interned teenagers, and moral fables all in this hilarious and heartbreaking collection by George Saunders, this generation''s literary voice of wisdom and humour, for a time when we need it most.Trade Review‘An American short-story writer of intimidating talent' * Zadie Smith *‘Graceful, dark, authentic and funny' * Thomas Pynchon *‘Dark, concerned, confused and funny, all at the same time ... Like so much of Saunders' brilliant, crazy writing it's relevant, but not too relevant' * The Times *‘You do not read Saunders' stories so much as watch them detonate on the page in front of you, like a firecracker some joker has slipped into your pudding' * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisThe global best-selling graphic novel series – over half a million copies sold!Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files collects the adventures of the iconic British character, presented in chronological order, complete and uncut! He's judge, jury and executioner – the lawman delivering justice to the mean streets of far-future Mega-City One. This first blockbuster volume features storylines written by comic legends John Wagner (A History of Violence), Pat Mills (Marshall Law) and Alan Grant (Batman), with art by Brian Bolland (The Killing Joke), Mick McMahon (The Last American) and many more!Trade ReviewIf you want to sink your teeth into classic Judge Dredd, the best place to start. * Mental Floss *Amazing and addictive * io9 *What a collection it will be when it's complete. * Den of Geek *

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Book SynopsisAfter his unexpected journey into the land of the fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to his normal life with his girlfriend Kenzie. But when your sister is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, ‘normal’ simply isn’t an option. Ethan’s nephew, Keirran, is missing and on the verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love. Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever. Now, as Ethan’s and Keirran’s fates entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethan’s next choice will decide the fate of them all.

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Book SynopsisIn January 2314, Rowena Savalas – a curator of the vast archive of the twenty-first century’s primitive internet – stumbles upon a story posted in the summer of 2024. She’s quickly drawn into the mystery of the text: Is it autobiography, fantasy or fraud? What’s the significance of the recurring number 381? In the story, the protagonist Fairly walks the Horned Road – a quest undertaken by youngsters in her village when they come of age. She is followed by the “breathing man,” a looming presence, dogging her heels every step of the way. Everything she was taught about her world is overturned. Following Fairly’s quest, Rowena comes to question her own choices, and a predictable life of curation becomes one of exploration, adventure and love. As both women’s stories draw to a close, she realises it doesn’t matter whether the story is true or not: as with the quest itself, it’s the journey that matters.Trade Review“One of the most original and provocative voices in contemporary science fiction.” -- Nina Allen“Intense and consuming writing, constantly challenging expectations.” -- Adrian Tchaikovsky“Whiteley takes the reader on a cryptic journey of trust, identity and knowing your place in the world.” -- Starburst Magazine“Whiteley’s trademark subtle surrealism shines.” -- Publishers Weekly“A melancholy and compellingly weird tale of identity in crisis.” -- SFX“A unique work of literary and speculative excellence.” -- SciFiNow“Three Eight One is an extraordinary offering from one of the UK’s greatest living writers of speculative fiction – blurring genres and playing with form to produce a gripping, exciting, poetic adventure.” -- Oliver Langmead, author of Birds of Paradise and Metronome“A hero’s journey stripped back to its essence, remixed with spaceships and conspiracies, masquerade and menace. Is it an allegory pretending to be an adventure story? An adventure masquerading as a secret history of the world? A new kind of wisdom literature for the digital age? Whatever it is I loved every second of it. Truly Aliya Whiteley is one of the most original and interesting writers in the field.” -- Helen Marshall, author of The Migration“There’s nothing like a new Aliya Whiteley novel, and no Aliya Whiteley novel is like any other. Three Eight One may be her most enigmatic work to date, a parable of maturation and the milestones of life that is at once mythical and down-to-earth. I adored every moment of it, and I found it overwhelming in its scope, honesty and emotional impact. It’s certainly one of the best novels I’ve read this year.” -- Tim Major, author of You Don’t Belong Here and Snakeskins“A brain-charging voyage through the present and the future, a novel that shepherds the reader out and then brings her back in, changing her in the process. It’s like Kafka rewrote Pale Fire as a science-fictional novel. A Pilgrim’s Progress through a godless world where the pilgrim is Patrick McGoohan’s ‘Prisoner.’ A dream of a book, in several senses: enigmatic, marvellous, utterly original. Whiteley really is one of the most striking and brilliant writers working today.” -- Adam Roberts, author of The Thing Itself“Masterfully written and rich with meaning, Three Eight One confirms Aliya Whiteley as one of our most ingenious -- and important -- storytellers. Travelling the Horned Road is a wild and unique experience: funny and thoughtful, frightening and joyful. I already want to go back.” -- Matt Hill, author of Lamb and The Breach“Like watching a magic trick happen... I’m going to be thinking about Three Eight One for a long time.” -- Fiona Barnett, author of The Dark Between the Trees“Three Eight One celebrates the art of storytelling with every clever twist and turn in this exquisitely crafted, beautifully realized voyage of discovery.” -- E. J. Swift, author of The Coral Bones and Paris Adrift“Slippery and whip-smart, this is a novel profoundly perceptive of the human condition. It has a disorienting ebb and flow – elegantly elusive and dream-like at times, while also being finely-tuned and precise. A mediation, perhaps, on the fallacies of history, and the futility of searching for meaning.” -- Lucie McKnight Hardy, author of Water Shall Refuse Them and Dead Relatives“Whiteley’s self-deconstructing quest narrative is a puzzle box full of delights, perils and strange wonders. Haunting.” -- Mike Carey, author of The Girl With All the Gifts and The Book of Koli“One of the books of the year. Superb, on every level.” –Buzz Magazine“A wonderfully alienating experience.” –SFX, five star review“Brilliant in its playful inventiveness.” –The FTA “journey that slowly unpeels itself” —SciFiNow“A quirky, unsettling work from one of the most original writers of speculative fiction in Britain today.” —The Guardian“Three Eight One is a puzzle novel that is not meant to be coherently or definitively resolved.” —Skiffy and Fanty"Exceptionally clever, deep and multi-layered story(ies), leaving a lot of matter to think about. Reminds me of some of Gene Wolfe's stuff in the best way." -- Adrian Tchaikovsky

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Book SynopsisBook Two of 1Q84 ended with Aomame standing on the Metropolitan Expressway with a gun between her lips. She knows she is being hunted, and that she has put herself in terrible danger in order to save the man she loves. But things are moving forward, and Aomame does not yet know that she and Tengo are more closely bound than ever.Tengo is searching for Aomame, and he must find her before this world''s rules loosen up too much. He must find her before someone else does.Trade ReviewMurakami's magnum opus * Japan Times *1Q84 has a range and sophistication that surpasses anything else in his oeuvre. It is his most achieved novel; an epic in which form and content are neatly aligned... So like Murakami himself, I'll borrow from Orwell: 1Q84 is quite simply doubleplusgood * Independent on Sunday *1Q84 reads like a cross between Stieg Larsson and Roberto Bolaño... In its bones, this novel is a thriller * Daily Telegraph *It is a work of maddening brilliance and gripping originality, deceptively casual in style, but vibrating with wit, intellect and ambition -- Richard Lloyd Parry * The Times *Which other author can remind you simultaneously of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and JK Rowling, not merely within the same chapter but on the same page? Viewed through the "post-modern" lens, his exemplary blend of a light touch and weighty themes, of high literature and popular entertainment, ticks every box. Posh and pop, sublimity and superficiality, history and fantasy, trash and transcendence: they switch positions and then fuse -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent *

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Book SynopsisBeautifully written and compelling, About Grace is the brilliant debut novel from Anthony Doerr.Growing up in Alaska, young David Winkler is crippled by his dreams. At nine, he dreams a man is decapitated by a passing truck on the path outside his family's home. The next day, unable to prevent it, he witnesses an exact replay of his dream in real life. The premonitions keep coming, unstoppably. He sleepwalks during them, bringing catastrophe into his reach.Then, as unstoppable as a vision, he falls in love, at the supermarket (exactly as he already dreamed) with Sandy. They flee south, landing in Ohio, where their daughter Grace is born. And then the visions of Grace's death begin for Winkler, as their waterside home is inundated. Plagued by the same horrific images of Grace drowning, when the floods come, he cannot face his destiny and flees.He beaches on a remote Caribbean island, where he works as a handyman, chipping away at his doubts and hopes, never knowing whether Grace survived the flood or met the doom he foretold. After two decades, he musters the strength to find outTrade Review‘'I loved this wonderful book – its strangeness, its obsessiveness, its beautiful sentences.' Monica Ali ’Doerr's sublime renditions of Winkler's attunement to the world around him turn his story into a prolonged epiphany, a blissful parable about grace. This is a formidable literary achievement that, link Winkler's snow crystals, integrates facets and dimensions into near-perfect whole.' Independent ‘Doerr's gifts as a stylist are powerfully in evidence: his writing is crystalline, his attention to detail intense and evocative. That Doerr is a writer of exceptional gifts is not in question,and there is much to admire in this novel.' Daily Telegraph 'Doerr writes wonderfully, lyrically, of the natural world, and his observations of water, snowflakes and clouds illuminate this impressive debut.' Guardian ‘Exceptional first novel. I hesitate to say this book will take your breath away because it's such a cliché; but, really, I promise you, it will… I can't remember when a novel so entranced me. The only criticism I can really muster – and it is rather a limp one – is that About Grace is almost inhumanely faultless; almost, but, even then, not quite.' Evening Standard ’In careful, measured prose conjures a sense of awe both humbling and salutary. It has the bleak, lucid beauty of a day of midwinter light. At its best when describing the minute, disregarded miracles of the natural world, it lingers in the mind like one of the protagonist's eerie dreams.' Daily Mail ‘About Grace is an intriguing exploration of fate and chance’ The Times

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Book SynopsisAvailable for the first time in paperback, this is the pre-eminent critical study, and exploration, of how myth and legend played such a significant role in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.The Song of Middle-earth takes a fresh look at The Lord of the Rings, digging deep into the foundations of Tolkien's world to reveal the complex tapestry of history and mythology that lies behind his stories.The charge that Tolkien''s work was merely derivative that he extracted elements from other mythologies and incorporated them into his own fiction is dismissed in favour of a fascinating examination of the rich historical background to Middle-earth.From the mythic tradition of the Tales told in The Book of Lost Tales: I to the significance of oral storytelling throughout the history of Middle-earth, this book examines the common themes of mythology found within Tolkien's work.In doing so, The Song of Middle-earth demonstrates how Tolkien's desire to create a new mythology for England is not only apTrade Review.

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Book SynopsisVoyager Classics timeless masterworks of science fiction and fantasy.The classic collection of robot stories from the master of the genre.In these stories Isaac Asimov creates the Three Laws of Robotics and ushers in the Robot Age.Earth is ruled by master-machines but the Three Laws of Robotics have been designed to ensure humans maintain the upper hand:1) A robot may not injure a human being or allow a human being to come to harm2) A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.But what happens when a rogue robot's idea of what is good for society contravenes the Three Laws?Trade Review‘An exciting science thriller…’New York Times ‘Isaac Asimov was one of the great explainers of the age…It will never be known how many practicing scientists today, in how many countries, owe their initial inspiration to a book, article, or short story by Isaac Asimov’Carl Sagan ‘Asimov displayed one of the most dynamic imaginations in science fiction’Daily Telegraph ‘Asimov’s career was one of the most formidable in science fiction’The Times

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of THE NINJA comes the first book in Eric Van Lustbader’s CHINA MAROC series.Trade Review‘A master stoyteller’ Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisYou live in Eden. You are a member of the Family, one of 532 descendants of Angela and Tommy. You shelter beneath the Forest's lantern trees. Beyond the forest lie mountains so forbidding that no one has ever crossed them. The Oldest recount legends of a time when men and women made boats that could travel between worlds. One day, they will come back for you. You live in Eden. You are a member of the Family, one of 532 descendants of two marooned explorers. You huddle, slowly starving, in the warmth of geothermal trees, confined to one barely habitable valley of an alien, sunless world.You are John Redlantern. You will break the laws of Eden, shatter the Family and change history. You will be the first to kill another, the first to venture into the Dark and the first to discover the truth about Eden.Trade ReviewA classic theme, beautifully told * Sunday Telegraph *This is a world I'm desperate to return to -- Alison Flood * Guardian *There's no justice if Dark Eden, with its beautiful, terrifying planet, slowly revealed, fails to bring Beckett awards * Sunday Times *A captivating and haunting book * Daily Mail *A dazzlingly inventive science-fiction writer -- A. N WilsonDark Eden is stunningly written * SciFiNow *Dark Eden is an incredible novel * SFBooks *Beckett should be on the radar of anyone who professes concern for science fiction as a literary form -- Alastair Reynolds

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Book Synopsis‘Julie Kagawa is a strong new voice’ The Sunday Express How do you face the end of eternity? In Allison Sekemoto's world, there is one rule left: blood calls to blood. Allie has done the unthinkable – died so that she might continue to live. Cast out and separated from the boy she dared to love, she follows the call of blood to save her creator, Kanin. But when the trail leads to Allie’s birthplace, what she finds there could change the world forever… There’s a new plague on the rise – a new strain of the disease that wiped out most of humanity generations ago – and this one is deadly to humans and vampires alike. The only hope for a cure lies in the secrets Kanin carries. Allison thought that immortality was forever. But now, with eternity itself hanging in the balance, the lines between human and vampire will blur even further. Return to Julie Kagawa’s dark and twisted world as an unforgettable dystopian journey continues. Perfect for fans of Holly Black, Sarah J Maas and Tomi Adeyemi. *********************************************** Readers adore The Eternity Cure! ‘I love love love this series!’ ‘You will love this book – read it!’ ‘What an ending!’ ‘I was so enthralled by this book I finished it in a day!’ ‘I couldn't put it down’ ‘Stop what you are doing and buy these books!’ *********************************************** The Blood of Eden series Book One: The Immortal Rules Book Two: The Eternity Cure Book Three: The Forever SongTrade Review‘A genuine page-turner… Julie Kagawa is a strong new voice in the young adult world.’ The Sunday Express on The Iron King ‘We think we've found the next crossover hit…’ The Sunday Times on The Iron King ‘Allie is a terrific heroine-tough, pragmatic, yet sympathetic-and readers will be hungry to see where her story goes. Kagawa wraps excellent writing and skillful plotting around a well-developed concept and engaging characters, resulting in a fresh and imaginative thrill-ride that deserves a wide audience.’ *Starred* Publishers Weekly review ‘Action packed, rife with drama and moral quandaries, and laced with an impossible romance, this first in the Blood of Eden series will hit the mark with readers who like some supernatural in their dystopias and don't mind a bloody sword fight.’ Booklist ‘Allie's a smart, strong and compelling heroine, and readers will gladly join her for this adrenaline-rich ride.’ Kirkus Reviews

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Book Synopsis'Spine-tingling' New York Times'A fast-paced, thrill-a-minute début novel' New Yorker'Graedon knows how to ratchet up mystery' EsquireWORDS ARE UNDER THREAT. IT'S TIME TO FIGHT BACK...Imagine a world without words. A world in which books, libraries and newspapers are things of the past. A world where personal devices provide all you could want or need.Anana Johnson and her father, Doug, are hard at work on the final edition that will ever be printed of the English Dictionary. But one evening, Doug disappears and Anana unearths a single written clue: ALICE.In the battle to save her father, Anana discovers secret societies, dark incinerator rooms and underground passages. Above all, she finds a world that faces ruin from the dark side of technology. Praise for The Word Exchange'A nervy, nerdy dystopian thriller' New York Times Book Review'A propulsive, twisty future-noir' Daily Beast'Spectacular' Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove'Dazzling' Slate'Wildly ambitious, darkly intellectual and inventive' Kirkus Reviews, starred review Trade ReviewClever, breathless and sportively Hegelian . . . THE WORD EXCHANGE combines the jaunty energy of youngish adult fiction (boyfriend trouble, parent conflicts, peer pressure and post-collegiate jitters) with the spine-tingling chill of the science-fiction conspiracy genre -- Liesel Schillinger * NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW *Graedon's spectacular, ambitious debut explores a near-future America that's shifted almost exclusively to smart technologies, where print is only a nostalgia . . . it's as full of humanity as it is of mystery and intellectual prowess * PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY, starred review *[A] remarkable first novel, combining a vividly imagined future with the fondly remembered past . . . exquisite * BOOKLIST, starred review *A wildly ambitious, darkly intellectual and inventive thriller about the intersection of language, technology and meaning * KIRKUS, starred review *Alena Graedon's spectacular debut is a story for our age of 'accelerated obsolescence.' A genuinely scary and funny mystery about linguistic slippage and disturbance, it's also a moving meditation on our sometimes comic, sometimes desperate struggles to speak, and to listen, and to mean something to one another.To borrow Graedon's own invention, THE WORD EXCHANGE is 'synchronic'--a gorgeous genre mashup that offers readers the pleasures of noir, science fiction, romance and philosophy. It's an unforgettable joyride across the thin ice of language -- Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon GroveImaginative, layered, and highly original, THE WORD EXCHANGE is an engagingly creepy story of technology gone wrong and a clever meditation on the enduring mysteries of language and love -- Karen Thompson Walker, author of THE AGE OF MIRACLESWow! This highly addictive future noir is also terrifyingly prescient. Set in a parallel New York filled with language viruses, pneumatic tubes, and heartbreak, Alena Graedon's book is luminous and haunting at every turn. I will never look at words in quite the same way-and neither will you. -- Reif Larsen, author of THE SELECTED WORKS OF T.S. SPIVETCan you imagine a future without books, newspapers or magazines? Alena Graedon has done just that - her debut novel conjures up a scarily plausible dystopian future, where print is dead and intuitive handheld devices are the only method of communication. * THE LADY *In Graedon's dystopian future, face-to-face interfacing is finished and even email is a fading memory; when the man working on the last-ever dictionary goes missing, his daughter sets out to find him and discovers murky anti-literate corporate forces and outposts of word-loving outlaws. * ESQUIRE MAGAZINE *The idea of technology taking over our lives to such an extent that we can no longer function without it was an interesting premise, and one that most of us will be able to relate to. -- Louise Jones * THE BOOKBAG *

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Book SynopsisThe controversial, gripping novel from the bestselling, highly acclaimed author of ATOMISED and SEROTONIN.''Essential reading for anyone concerned with the state of the contemporary world'' DAILY MAILWho, among you, deserves eternal life?Daniel is a highly successful stand-up comedian who has made a career out of playing outrageously on the prejudices of his public. But at the beginning of the twenty-first century, he has begun to detest laughter in particular and mankind in general. Despite this, Daniel is unable to stop himself believing in the possibility of love.A thousand years on, war, drought and earthquakes have decimated the earth and Daniel24 lives alone in a secure compound - his only companion, a cloned dog named Fox. Outside, the remnants of the human race roam in packs, while Daniel24 attempts to decipher his predecessor''s history. In a nightmarish vision of the implosion of the modern world, he, like his predecessor attempts to fathTrade ReviewTakes you by the throat and shakes you. A bracing mix of visionary Aldous Huxley, Evelyn Waugh at his cruellest, and ranting John Osborne, THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ISLAND is a charging bull in the china shop of modern fiction * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ISLAND is above all an aesthetic achievement. For this, Houellebecq should win the Prix Goncourt that polemics and personalities have made so elusive * SCOTSMAN *His deftly constructed novel is a bleak comment on contemporary society, at times funny, brutal and revolting * THE ECONOMIST *An exhilarating writer....in a class of his own * LITERARY REVIEW *There is no doubt that he is a writer who deserves the serious attention that he is now receiving * THE TIMES *Provocative and satisfying fiction * HERALD *The novel is essential reading for anyone concerned with the state of either contemporary fiction or the contemporary world * DAILY MAIL *There are passages of irresistible black humour, savage condemnation and genuine (and surprising) sentiment * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *If you liked ATOMISED and PLATFORM, you'll love THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ISLAND ... the most talented of current French writers * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *It will sicken you, reduce you to laughter and stun you with its savage directness, but it will always leave you thinking * SPAIN MAGAZINE *The first 300 pages of this novel prove that Houellebecq is one of the best novelists writing today * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *The book shows his main strength: caustic wit with a moral force that cuts through complacent assumptions * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *Houellebecq keeps us listening, even when we know we should leave * INDEPENDENT *Reading Houellebecq is like being caught up in a tropical storm: you are blown away by the ferocity of his imagination * OBSERVER *Europe's most inflammatory writer * INDEPENDENT *Houellebecq keeps us listening, even when we know we should leave. * THE INDEPENDENT *the book shows his main strength: caustic with with a moral force that cuts throug complacent assumptions. -- Katie Owen * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *

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Book Synopsis________________________''A terrifying thriller ... Visceral'' - Entertainment Weekly''An emergency from its very first sentence ... A literary thriller that summons the survivalist terror of The Road'' - Patrick Somerville, author of This Bright River ________________________WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF THE WATER RAN DRY?On a searing summer evening, Eddie Chapman has been stuck in a traffic jam for hours. There are accidents along the highway, but ambulances and police are conspicuously absent. When he decides to abandon his carand run home, he sees that the trees have been burned and the water in the stream bed is gone. Something is very wrong.When he arrives home, there is a power cut and no running water. The pipes everywhere, it seems, are dry. Eddie and his wife, Laura, find themselves thrust together with their neighbours while a sense of unease thickens in the stifling night air.Thirst takes place in the immediate aftermathTrade ReviewA terrifying thriller ... Visceral * Entertainment Weekly *A timely, necessary, character-driven meditation on morality, society, and responsibility. Thirst presses us, accuses and implicates us in the failures of its characters * Chicago Review of Books *A tense, prescient journey into a collective environmental nightmare — one that’s not very hard to imagine actually happening. This book tapped into fears I didn’t know I had. Warner has given us a worthy, shocking, and poetic debut * Patrick Somerville, author of This Bright River and The Cradle *Thirst mirrors the deep anxiety so many feel about modern life: that its complexity makes it fragile and that we're all living on the edge of disaster * Mary Doria Russell, author of The Sparrow and Epitaph *A gripping parable of love and survival as well as a harrowing exploration of our darkest selves. Thrilling and thought-provoking, and dazzling in scope, Benjamin Warner's debut is a surprising, profound portrait of desperation and humanity — and who we are when we are stripped down to our most basic needs * Catherine Chung, author of Forgotten Country *Warner’s devastating and breathtaking debut is a novel about water. But it’s also about what it means to be in love, what it means to share — or to think you are sharing — your life with another person. This is a story about community (that ever slippery union) and, further still, about humanity ... Warner taps into a universal: Even at our lowest, our loneliest, and in our most desperate hour, we are still human, still connected ... Read this book. It will make you a better person * Hannah Pittard, author of Reunion *

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Book SynopsisThe return of the famous shared-world superhero books created and edited by George R. R. Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire.For decades, George R.R. Martin bestselling author of the A Song of Ice and Fire series has collaborated with an ever-shifting ensemble of science fiction and fantasy icons to create the amazing Wild Cards universe.In the aftermath of World War II, the Earth's population was devastated by a terrifying alien virus. Those who survived were changed for ever. Some, known as Jokers, were cursed with bizarre mental and physical deformities; others, granted superhuman abilities, are known as Aces. Now the virus has reached BritainQueen Margaret rules over a country in which such legendary figures as Herne the Hunter, Spring-heeled Jack and Babh, the goddess of war, roam at will. Her Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill gifted with extraordinary longevity together with the Enigma ace Alan Turing set up a special organization named the Order of the Silver HeliTrade ReviewPRAISE FOR THE WILD CARDS SERIES: “Deep and complex”Starburst “Perhaps the most original and provocative of the shared worlds books.”Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn "Martin has assembled an impressive array of writers. . . . Progressing through the decades, Wild Cards keeps its momentum to the end."Locus "The shared-world series known as Wild Cards has had a long and illustrious history of contributors and achievements." SciFi.com

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Book SynopsisThis epic masterpiece is a radical landmark in modern literature, reissued with a foreword by poet Ishion Hutchinson to mark Wilson Harris' centenary.'An exhilarating experience ...

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Book SynopsisCan we ever be wholly free? In this book of breathtaking imaginary leaps that conjure dystopias and magical islands, Margaret Atwood holds a mirror up to our own world. The reflection we are faced with, of men and women in prisons literal and metaphorical, is frightening, but it is also a call to arms to speak and to act to preserve our freedom while we still can. And in that, there is hope.Selected from The Handmaid’s Tale and Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood.VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us human

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Book SynopsisThe critically acclaimed team of writer GEOFF JOHNS and artist GARY FRANK unites with superstar colorist BRAD ANDERSON to bring their first creator-owned hero to Image Comics!Set in the years after a nuclear war ravaged the planet, desperate outlaws battle for survival in a world of radioactive chaos. Out past the poisoned wasteland lives a man even the Nightcrawlers and Organ People fear. Some name him Joe Glow, others call him the Meltdown Man. But his name...is Geiger.Collects GEIGER #1-6.Trade Review“Character to plot to setting, everything in GEIGER clicks into place, making for a superb story that just radiates excellence.” -Multiversity Comics“Describing the book in five words or less, Frank and Johns stated, 'Walking X-ray kicks ass!' and 'Radioactive family man;' after reading the first issue, I can confirm that both descriptions are more than correct.” -Comic Crusaders“A clever twist on post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland warring tribes.” -Comicon.com“The story and art are both fantastic.” -Forces of Geek

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Book SynopsisA darkly comic dystopian odyssey, from one of Russia''s leading contemporary novelistsGarin, a country doctor, is desperately trying to reach the village of Dolgoye, where a mysterious epidemic is transforming the villagers into zombies. He has with him a vaccine which will prevent the spread of this epidemic, but a terrible blizzard turns his journey into the stuff of nightmare. A trip that should take hours turns into a metaphysical odyssey, in which he encounters strange beasts, apparitions, hallucinations and dangerous fellow men. Trapped in this existential storm, Sorokin''s characters fight their way through a landscape that owes as much to Chekhov''s 19th-century Russia as it does to near-future, post-apocalyptic literature. Fantastical, comic and richly drawn, The Blizzard at once answers to the canon of Russian writers and makes a fierce statement about life in contemporary Russia.Trade ReviewVladimir Sorokin [is] Russia's most inventive contemporary author -- Masha Gessen * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisThe cyber-martial arts saga that has spanned a solar system and over two decades in print returns, with creator Yukito Kishiro's new sequel that reveals the true story of Alita's childhood on Mars, and the mind-bending adventures that still await her. For centuries, war has raged on the dusty, red surface of Mars. This apocalyptic crucible will produce the solar system's most fearsome warrior, Alita. But for now that warrior is just a little girl named Yoko. The future and past of the battle angel fan out across the reaches of space in the final chapter of one of the greatest sci-fi epics of all time!

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Book SynopsisSix acclaimed guest artists join JAMES TYNION IV (Something is Killing the Children, Batman) and Martin Simmonds (Dying is Easy) to uncover the deep tangled roots of the Department of Truth...and Lee Harvey Oswald's rise to its top position. From the Phantom Time Hypothesis to Mothman, find out what terrible secrets await in the archives.Collects THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH #6-7, 14-17

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Book SynopsisThe smash hit series written by New York Times bestselling writers Scott Snyder (Dark Nights: Death Metal, Wytches) and Charles Soule (Star Wars, Curse Words) with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli (The Amazing Spider-Man, Darth Vader, Hellblazer), newcomer Leonardo Marcello Grassi and Eisner-award winning colorist Matt Wilson (The Wicked and the Divine, Paper Girls) continues!Collects UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY #13-18

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Book SynopsisLook anyone who invents something really great has a moment where they think it''s going to destroy the world.For the first time in her life, Fin is off the network. A few months ago, she was the inventor of a programme so powerful, so unusual that she was untouchable.Until she wasn''t.Meanwhile, people have started disappearing from the streets of the city and the technology she created might be implicated. Square Eyes is a graphic novel about a future where the boundaries between memory, dreams and the digital world start to blur. It's a kaleidoscopic mystery story which asks: in a city built on digital illusion, who really holds the power? What is weakness? And when is it most dangerous?Trade ReviewThe book I keep going back to for its peerless haunting art… is Anna Mill’s and Luke Jones’s Square Eyes… it’s utterly confident and audacious in its space, aesthetics, innovation and design, and I could page through it from now until next Christmas with the same sense of wonder. A thing of beauty, indeed. -- Tim Martin * Spectator *This exquisite book… may scare you half to death… [but] what truly sets this book apart is its extraordinary illustrations… on every beautiful, teeming, phantasmagorical page… it fairly takes the breath away. -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *[An] instantly gripping work with an important point to make. -- James Smart * Guardian, **Books of the Year** *A spiky tale set in a dystopian near-future… [Square Eyes] certainly is a wild ride. -- Siobhan Murphy * The Times *A remarkable, prophetic graphic novel debut. Through 286 deliriously colourful pages, [Anna Mill and Luke Jones] plunge us into an all-too-plausible future, where the real and the digital are blurring and dangerous powers want to control them both. * Bookseller *Whatever you put on your head to stop your mind from exploding, make sure it’s fitted properly before immersion in Square Eyes. Just the volume and quality of work alone defies belief, and that’s before you get onto the disconcerting psychedelia of the graphics and the story. * Strong Words *A big, bleak yet gorgeous dystopia... Square Eyes comes at you in a disorienting rush… This immersive, inventive graphic novel offers its own brand of escapism. -- James Smart * Guardian *The digital dystopia presented by Square Eyes is scarily busy and psychedelic, contrasted by the grey near-ruins of the modern age. The world building in this book is extraordinary. Take your time to absorb the crowd details and bits of characterisation layered into Anna Mill's art. * Shortlist *

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Book Synopsis''ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I''VE READ IN RECENT YEARS . . . PACKS A HELL OF AN EMOTIONAL PUNCH'' Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of TimeFrom one of the most imaginative writers of her generation comes an extraordinary vision of the future.Ven was once a holy man, a keeper of ancient archives. It was his duty to interpret archaic texts, sorting useful knowledge from the heretical ideas of the Burning Age - a time of excess and climate disaster. For in Ven''s world, such material must be closely guarded, so that the ills that led to that cataclysmic era can never be repeated.But when the revolutionary Brotherhood approaches Ven, pressuring him to translate stolen writings that threaten everything he once held dear, his life will be turned upside down. Torn between friendship and faith, Ven must decide how far he''s willing to go to save this new world, and how much he is willing to lose.Notes from the Burning AgeTrade ReviewOne of the best books I've read in recent years. Thought provoking, imaginative and packs a hell of an emotional punch * Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of CHILDREN OF TIME *A gripping, utterly involving, dystopian eco-thriller that balances the intimacies of betrayal against global climate collapse * DAILY MAIL *A riveting tale . . . North's convincing view of post-apocalyptic society captivates, and the political intrigues will keep readers hooked right up until the explosive close * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *An impassioned, urgent and compelling new work that burns as bright as the fires of our own burning age. This is not to be missed -- Lavie Tidhar, World Fantasy Award-winning authorClaire North depicts a startling, richly developed postapocalyptic world in this beautiful and riveting novel * BUZZFEED *Notes is compelling because it is beautiful . . . It felt seamless . . . When North was done and Notes reached its explosive conclusion, I just wasn't ready to leave. Her world was such a fragile, beautiful, doomed place, I felt like I should stick around just to make sure it would all be okay * NPR *A passionate and committed vision of what we do to nature, and what it can do to us * LOCUS *Mesmeric, terrifying and wonderful. North is practically her own genre at this point. -- M. R. Carey, author of THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTSAn irresistible, haunting thrill * Joe Hill, author of HORNS and LOCKE AND KEY *A clever and thought-provoking conceit * GUARDIAN *North's latest once again displays her mastery of lyrical prose . . . The author presents a fascinating testament to humanity's fallibility and tendency towards denial, merged with the potency of truth and the power of love * BOOKLIST *Claire North's most ambitious novel to date * LOCUS *Remarkable . . . one of the most moving, horrifying and gut-wrenching novels of the year * NPR *A suspenseful tale of the truths that lie hidden in the human heart . . . This is a world-spanning cat-and-mouse chase that tackles big questions about the nature of truth and whether we can ever really know one another or ourselves. True love, life, and death, what's worth dying - or killing - for: It's all here in this gripping, bloody, and haunting novel * KIRKUS *In rich, compelling prose, North weaves together the threads of imperial control, ideological conviction, love and the thrill of power . . . A lyrical and sometimes surreal approach to espionage and its thrills * SHELF AWARENESS *North's talent shines out -- SUNDAY TIMESClaire North is a true original, a master of ingenious plotting and feats of imagination -- Alex Marwood, author of THE WICKED GIRLSClaire North's writing is terrific, smart and entertaining -- Patrick NessNorth demonstrates skill in creating a terrifying setting that feels rooted to the present day . . . Every aspect of life in Theo's Britain is imbued with a menace that feels both recognizable and urgent, and the decisions the characters make as a result feel uncomfortably real. * RT BOOK REVIEWS on 84K *The truly scary thing about 84K is how convincing this dark, brutal class-divided Britain is * SFX (4 1/2 stars) *North is an original and even dazzling writer, and fans of her work will enjoy this grim tale of capitalism taken to a terrifying extreme * KIRKUS on 84K *Another captivating novel from one of the most intriguing and genre-bending novelists * BOOKLIST on 84K *An extraordinary novel that stands with the best of dystopian fiction, with echoes of The Handmaid's Tale -- Cory Doctorow on 84K

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Book SynopsisThe Circle meets Black Mirror in a thrilling, plausible and gripping debut. Frighteningly inventive.' John Marrs, bestselling author of The OneWow wow wow! What a story that was! An unputdownable thriller Absolutely brilliant read that had me on the edge of my seat!' NetGalley reviewer, 5 starsDon't close your eyes. Don't fall asleep. Don't let them in.Thea is an insomniac; she hasn't slept more than three hours a night for years.So when an ad for a sleep trial that promises to change her life pops up on her phone, Thea knows this is her last chance at finding any kind of normal life.Soon Thea's sleeping for longer than she has in a decade, and awakes feeling transformed. So much so that at first she's willing to overlook the oddities of the trial the lack of any phone signal; the way she can't leave her bedroom without permission; the fact that all her personal possessions are locked away, even her shoes.But it soon becomes clear that the trial doesn't just want to help Thea sleep. ITrade Review ‘An original and action-packed thriller, with a perfectly unnerving premise that hooked me from the start.’ Philippa East, author of Little White Lies ‘A complex, clever novel with memorable characters and a dash of sci-fi. A truly gripping rollercoaster ride through a dark, dystopian land.’ Vikki Patis, author of Girl, Lost 'A tense, unsettling psychological thriller that’ll leave you wondering if there’s something more behind your own sleepless nights!' Karin Nordin, author of Where Ravens Roost

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Book SynopsisAlexis Henderson is a speculative fiction writer with a penchant for dark fantasy, witchcraft, and horror. She grew up in one of America's most haunted cities, Savannah, which instilled in her a life-long love of ghost stories. When she doesn't have her nose buried in a book, you can find her painting or watching horror movies with her feline familiar. Her debut novel, the acclaimed and bestselling The Year of the Witching, was shortlisted for two Good Reads Awards. Her second, House of Hunger, confirmed her place as one of the best new writers of Gothic fiction and was also Good Reads Awards shortlisted. Alexis lives in the USA.Trade Review'A magnificent, raw slice of folk horror, dark with threat and clenched with suspense . . . a brilliant debut to chill the brightest summer day. * DAILY MAIL *A thrillingly brisk and bracing tale of magic and power, I loved this book. It takes the best tropes of horror and witchcraft and gives them a refreshingly feminist twist. -- S.A. CHAKRABORTY, author of The City of BrassA dark, dramatic tale of oppression and rebellion, ideology and morality, with a complicated, appealing protagonist caught in a Handmaid's Tale nightmare . . . a fine addition to the body of feminist fantasy works, a great read. -- LOUISA MORGAN, author of The Age of WitchesBewitching . . . Henderson offers a powerful portrait of patriarchal, racial, and religious abuses . . . conjuring a sense of creeping dread and maintaining the pacing throughout. This riveting work announces Henderson as an exciting new voice in dark fantasy. * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *Slow burn horror crossed with a powerfully feminist coming-of-age novel . . . this book will haunt your dreams. -- CHRISTINA HENRY, author of The Lost BoyBeautifully sinister and beguiling, The Year of the Witching is blood-drenched, horrific and enchanting from start to finish. -- TASHA SURI, author of Empire of SandBone-chilling and breathtakingly beautiful . . . The Year of the Witching is storytelling at its finest. -- RENA BARRON, author of Kingdom of SoulsThe Year of the Witching blew me away. It's a masterpiece. * S F BOOK REVIEW *

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Book SynopsisOne day, the children begin to show up in the subtropical town of San Cristóbal, unwashed and hungry. No one knows where they have come from or where they disappear to each night. And then they rob a supermarket and stab two adults, bringing fear to the town. So begins a thrilling morality tale that retraces the lines between good and evil, the civil and the wild, dragging our assumptions about childhood and innocence out into the light.Trade Review'A Luminous Republic has all the stark power of a folk-tale or a fable. It also raises concerns that are pressing and contemporary-about the function and source of language, about public paranoia and hysteria, about the idea of community and how information spreads. At the book's center is a moving personal story about memory and loss. The narrative is engaging, at times playful, wholly compelling' - Colm Toibin'At first you will feel fear, but what you feel next is something much deeper, disturbing and luminous' - Samanta Schweblin

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Book SynopsisA spellbinding eco fable for fans of David Mitchell, Richard Powers, and Margaret Atwood. Structured like the rings of a tree, this remarkable novel moves from a futuristic world in which only one forest remains to the start of the twentieth century, where two young boys survive a train crash, setting them on a path that will forever change their lives and the lives of those around them.Trade Review‘An arresting eco-parable.’ -- Alfred Hickling * The Guardian *‘There are plenty of visionary moments laced into [Christie’s] shape-shifting narrative … Greenwood penetrates to the core of things.’ -- Michael Upchurch * The New York Times Book Review *‘This book is why we read books. Why we need books. Wildly inventive, structurally elegant, deeply felt, and so very wise. Greenwood is Michael Christie's best work ever, and that’s saying something.’ -- Alexander MacLeod, author of Light Lifting‘A lyrical, meditative take on a world in which forests have become such rare commodities that they are turned into therapeutic retreats for the very wealthy.’ -- Sally Adee * New Scientist *‘Christie skillfully teases out the details in a page-turner of a saga that complements sylvan books such as Sometimes a Great Notion and The Overstory … Beguilingly structured, elegantly written: eco-apocalyptic but with hope that somehow we’ll make it.’ STARRED REVIEW * Kirkus *‘This is one of ‘those’ books. One of ‘those’ books that grabs your heart and soul and fills you up to overflowing with the immensity of all that’s contained within its pages.’ -- Gill Chedgey * NB magazine *‘Greenwood is brilliant. Michael Christie shows a cross section of one family's history, revealing their dark secrets, loves, losses, and the mark of an accident still visible four generations later. Year by year, page by page, the layers of this intricate and elegant novel build into an epic story that is completely absorbing. I had to cancel everything for this book because I couldn't stop reading.’ -- Claire Cameron, author of The Last Neanderthal‘[An] eerily real-feeling future.’ * Globe and Mail *‘Rich with evocative descriptions of West Coast wilderness and anchored by a deep visceral bond to the trees that sustain us all, Greenwood is a literary page-turner that manages to be both nostalgic and modern, personal and political, intimately human and big-picture historical. In an era of so much uncertainty, it is comforting to see novelists begin to work through the biggest issue of our age. And, in this case, convert our collective suffering into brilliant, beauty-filled art.’ * Toronto Star *‘[S]tructured like the growth rings of a tree, spanning generation ... [Greenwood] looks at families, love and secrets against the backdrop of the 'magic' of trees.’ * CBC News *‘Ingeniously structured and with prose as smooth as beech bark, Michael Christie’s Greenwood is as compulsive as it is profound. A sweeping intergenerational saga that explores trees and their roots, from the precious evergreens that become commodities in the entertainment business of the future, to the intricately tangled trees of family — all of it is dazzlingly delivered in a framework inspired by the actual growth rings of a tree. Every one of Greenwood’s characters burrowed their way into my heart. Beguilingly brilliant, timely, and utterly engrossing, Greenwood is one of my favourite reads in recent memory.’ -- Kira Jane Buxton, author of Hollow Kingdom‘At once hypnotic and raging, dangerously real and brimming with hope, Greenwood is that most necessary epic that binds our human frailties to our planet's possibilities. Michael Christie tenderly rakes the past and paints a future without flinching. I read this book with my heart in my throat, in my hands, in my gut; I read this book heart-full.’ -- Katy Simpson Smith, author of The Story of Land and Sea‘Greenwood is a family story, fractured and often contradictory (as the best family stories usually are ... bring[ing] together the intimate and the sweeping, the human world and the natural, the past and the future.’ * Quill & Quire *‘Greenwood is a sprawling and ambitious novel of industrial greed, climate catastrophe, familial bonds and a little bit of hope.’ -- Keith Cadieux * Winnipeg Free Press *‘Whatever 2038 is really like when it arrives, Canadians and others will still be reading Greenwood for its high energy, its memorable characters, and its anguished love for the forests.’ -- Crawford Kilian * The Tyee *‘A remarkable achievement.’ -- Carol Off * As It Happens *‘A dystopian, historical, speculative, multigenerational family saga, this marvellous, generous book is best enjoyed in a forest.’ -- Sharon Bala, author of The Boat People‘Astonishing … What makes Greenwood an essential climate-change novel is that, rather than obsessing over a single, final apocalypse to come, it attempts something much harder and more ambitious: to transcend altogether the tropes of victim and antagonist … And to instead present humanity and nature as deeply, ultimately, endlessly interconnected … Greenwood offers a rare sentiment in the climate emergency: hope.’ -- Damian Tarnopolsky * The Walrus *‘This superb family saga will satisfy fans of Richard Powers’s The Overstory while offering a convincing vision of potential ecological destruction.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘Greenwood is a compulsively readable, beautifully observed, deeply felt and rich tale that roves across Canadian history and landscape.’ * Pile by the Bed *‘Greenwood is a brilliant novel that demonstrates the ghastly effects of treating the environment as a commodity. This really is a novel for our times.’ * Theresa Smith Writes *‘[A] timely, moving novel.’ -- Damien Lawardorn * Aurealis *‘An epic, ambitious quilt of themes, stitched together by the compelling arc of the family.’ -- Sally Adee * New Scientist *‘A compulsively readable, beautifully observed, deeply felt and rich tale that roves across Canadian history and landscape.’ -- Robert Goodman * The Blurb *‘An absorbing and original epic.’ -- Dan Shaw * Happy Magazine *‘[W]ith the expert, deft hands of a seasoned carpenter, author Michael Christie carefully and methodically pieces together a story as intricate as the rings within a tree. The result is a deeply compelling novel of family and memory … Christie creates a sense of poetic, organic symmetry through rich characters and evocative, almost tactile descriptions … [W]hat stands out most by the end is the way in which Christie has been able to evoke and give voice to the way the cumulative effect of time and memory weighs on us all in ways both uplifting and terrifying. Greenwood is a towering, profound novel about the things that endure even as the world seems to be moving on.’ -- Matthew Jackson * Bookpage *‘[E]ven if you’re suffering from what you might call Literary Tree Fatigue, Christie’s novel is worth reading, in part because it’s a clever mash-up of genres that distinguishes itself from its literary cousins and earns its bulk … broad messages aside, the heart of the novel is a winning and energetic chase story … When do we choose self-preservation, and when do we choose survival in a broader sense? The question has never gone away, but Greenwood closes with the message that it’s increasingly urgent.’ -- Mark Athitakis * The Washington Post *‘A riveting tale of love, greed, sacrifice and betrayal – and an ode to the beauty of trees.’ -- Nicole Abadee * The Age *‘Greenwood’s powerful narratives, fascinating characters, and lovely prose full of beautiful specificity, takes on our contemporary fears for the world. This is one of those novels you thrust at friends and insist: You have to read this!’ FIVE STARS -- Wendy Waring * Good Reading *‘An impressive ecological novel … From the future, to the present, the past and back again, Greenwood is a moving novel of family sacrifice and love for a natural world.’ -- Colin Steele * The Canberra Times *‘Christie dazzles with this richly woven historical tracking five generations of the ‘trouble-plagued’ Greenwood clan and the environmental devastation wrought by its lucrative timber empire … [A] spellbinding family saga reflecting fiction's intensifying interest in the climate crisis as well as humanity's innate desire to make amends for past wrongs and start anew.’ STARRED REVIEW -- Annalisa Pešek * Library Journal *‘A lively eco-parable.’ -- Claire Armistead * The Guardian *Praise for If I Fall, If I Die: ‘If I Fall, If I Die is an expertly crafted work of great heart and sensitivity. I can’t recall a truer or more beautiful debut.’ -- Patrick deWitt, author of The Sisters BrothersPraise for If I Fall, If I Die: ‘An astonishing piece of work. Christie combines lyrical prose and true-to-life characters — and skateboarding — to craft a remarkable tale of mothers and sons, and what it means to grow up.’ -- Philipp Meyer, New York Times bestselling author of The Son

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Book SynopsisRavaged by years of war and civil conflict, Britain has changed its name to Airstrip One and become part of Oceania – one of the three totalitarian blocks dominating the world – ruled by a mysterious leader called Big Brother who keeps the population in thrall through strict surveillance and brutal police repression. In a society where the individual is suppressed and turned into an “unperson” for not conforming, and where not only personal thought, but also historical record and language itself are constantly being manipulated by the ruling regime, Ministry of Truth worker Winston Smith tries to make sense of the rebellious thoughts and passions that are stirring inside him, and finds himself impotent against the inexorable machine that surrounds him and threatens to crush him at any time. Arguably the greatest dystopian novel of all time and the most influential post-war work of fiction – which enriched the English language with words such as “Newspeak”, “doublethink” and “thoughtcrime” – Nineteen Eighty-Four is a riveting read and a groundbreaking exploration of mass surveillance, censorship and mind control, which has a deep resonance with the world we live in.

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Book SynopsisFROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE WEEKEND''Savage: think Atwood in the outback''Paula Hawkins''An unforgettable reading experience''Liane Moriarty''Ferocious... recalls the early Elena Ferrante''NPR''A masterpiece''Guardian''Devastating'' EconomistShe hears her own thick voice deep inside her ears when she says, ''I need to know where I am.''The man stands there, tall and narrow, hand still on the doorknob, surprised.He says, almost in sympathy, ''Oh, sweetie. You need to know what you are.''Two women awaken from a drugged sleep to find themselves imprisoned in a brokendownproperty in the middle of a desert.Strangers to each other, they have no idea where they are or how they came to be therewith eight other girls, their heads shaved, guarded by Trade ReviewExposing the threads of misogyny, cowardice and abuses of power embedded in contemporary society, this is a confronting, sometimes deeply painful novel to read. With an unflinching eye and audacious imagination, Charlotte Wood carries us from a nightmare of helplessness and despair to a fantasy of revenge and reckoning. * Guardian *One of those unforgettable reading experiences. -- Liane Moriarity, author of Big Little Lies * The New York Times *Beautiful and savage - think Atwood in the outback. -- Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train * Guardian *A haunting parable of contemporary misogyny, The Natural Way of Things . . . is The Handmaid's Tale for our age . . . Ms Wood's writing is direct and spare, yet capable of bursting with unexpected beauty. * The Economist *A prescient feminist horror novel you need to read: The girls of Wood's novel are in no dystopia. Instead, they are imprisoned by present policing of their bodies, the corrosive discrimination of political and economic systems that turns women's bodies against them, rebuilding them as flesh and blood prisons. -- Stassa Edwards * Jezebel.com *You can't shake off this novel; it gets under your skin, fills your lungs, breaks your heart. As allegory, as a novel, as vision and as art it is stunning. -- Christos TsiolkasThe Natural Way of Things is a brave, brilliant book. I would defy anyone to read it and not come out a changed person. -- Malcolm Knox, author of The Wonder Lover and The LifeA fully imagined dystopian parable, vivid, insightful, the voices of young women echoing through the gum trees . . . -- Joan London, author of The Golden AgeThis is a stunning exploration of ambiguities - of power, of morality, of judgement . . . It will not leave you easily; it took my breath away. -- Ashley Hay, author of The Railwayman’s WifeFew other novels have captured the stain of misogyny quite like Charlotte Wood's The Natural Way of Things . . . Terrifying, remarkable and utterly unforgettable. -- Clementine FordThe Natural Way of Things is both harrowing and gorgeous. It feels, at times, like a nightmare; but one in which women make serious pacts, take serious pleasures, and reimagine what it might mean to live in the world. I feel as if I've been witness to the most terrible injustice, but also the most astonishing beauty. -- Fiona McFarlane, author of The Night Guest and The High PlacesAt once brutal and beautiful . . . Surreal yet intensely vivid, the novel is disturbing and enthralling . . . An absorbing plot, lyrical prose, and discomfiting imagery makes Wood's novel decidedly gripping. * Kirkus Reviews *A confronting and blazing read . . . A novel to provoke thought, conversation, disgust, anger and concern, a work that will haunt the reader with its poetry and the stark truths buried within Wood's brilliant exploration of a toxic culture in extremis. * Weekend Australian *A virtuoso performance, plotted deftly through a minefield of potential traps, weighted with allegory yet swift and sure in its narrative advance. -- Rosemary Sorensen * Sydney Review of Books *Wood's prose is beautiful, but it doesn't coddle. The Natural Way of Things is an unapologetic confrontation of misogyny and rape culture. It's a tough and necessary read. -- Jakob Vala, Tin House * The Portland Mercury *A dystopian fable, both gripping and lyrical. * Saturday Age *This is an extraordinary novel: inspired, powerful, at once coherent and dreamlike. -- Kerryn Goldsworthy * Sydney Morning Herald *A moving, mesmerising and brilliantly topical interrogation of misogyny that demands to be read at a sitting. * Adelaide Advertiser *Bold, provocative, startling and insightful. The Natural Way of Things is what fiction should be. * Newton Review of Books *The latest from Australian novelist Wood is allegory at its best, a phantasmagoric portrait of modern culture's sexual politics textured by psychological realism and sparing lyricism. * Publisher's Weekly *A ferocious new novel by the Australian Charlotte Wood whose writing recalls the early Elena Ferrante - it's tough, direct, and makes no attempt to be ingratiating . . . what keeps all this from seeming doctrinaire is the book's sheer imaginative intensity. Wood's writing crackles with vivid precision . . . Yolanda and Verla strip away the historical veneer of female subservience. They recreate themselves based on a deeper, more complicated vision of the natural order, one that grasps the bond between all living beings. I'd like to tell you that this is a happy ending, but Wood is too honest to offer anything so reassuringly easy. Even as her heroines begin a radical new way of living, Wood knows that the natural way of things is as risky and wild as it is free. -- John Powers * NPR Fresh Air *Vicious and prescient and astonishingly visceral. The Natural Way Of Things resonates with you long after you've read the final pages. A Handmaid's Tale for end times, this is an important book about contemporary femininity. * The Believer *What sets Wood's The Natural Way of Things apart, what makes it a truly urgent read is that it is not an allegory and it is not a dystopian novel: it is a reality. As such, The Natural Way of Things, a work that takes the reality of misogyny and toxic cultural notions about women's sexuality and very bluntly bulldozes those ideas, is exactly what we should be reading right now. * Full Stop *With echoes of Kafka and The Lord of the Flies . . . Wood's raw and complex story delves into themes of friendship as two of the imprisoned form a strong yet unconventional bond through their survival efforts. It also depicts the tyranny of misogyny with the same coarse grit and degradation that scours women around the globe, while simultaneously spotlighting their courage and fortitude. Uncomfortably bold, The Natural Way of Things is an everywoman's hero tale. * Shelf Awareness *It's like digesting a living creature, one with claws still intact . . . if Wood is concerned with investigating and condemning masculine violence, both in its overt manifestations and those encoded in the structure of contemporary culture, she is too much of an artist to reduce her critique to a simple binary . . . the final effect is stunning. * The Saturday Paper *

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Book SynopsisIf you want a better future tomorrow, you're going to have to fight for it today. Here are four urgent stories from author and activist Cory Doctorow, four social, technological and economic visions of the world today and its near – all too near – future. 'Unauthorized Bread' is a tale of immigration, toxic economic stratification and a young woman's perilously illegal quest to fix a broken toaster. In 'Model Minority' a superhero finds himself way out his depth when he confronts the corruption of the police and justice system. 'Radicalized' is the story of a desperate husband, a darknet forum and the birth of a violent uprising against the US health care system. The final story, 'The Masque of the Red Death', tracks an uber-wealthy survivalist and his followers as they hole up and attempt to ride out the collapse of society. 'Cory Doctorow is one of our most important science fiction writers' KIM STANLEY ROBINSON. Trade ReviewExcellent collection * SFX *A collection of extraordinarily clever novellas that cut right through to the anxieties that occupy Western societies as we continue to carve out a world that has an uneasy yet dependent relationship with technology * SciFiNow *A set of four superb, distinctive short stories... Doctorow's prose is punchy and direct, but he succeeds in conjuring the most vivid and plausible of situations with an impressive economy of words. While he is adept at intertwining questions of contemporary technology, culture and politics into his work, it is the calibre of his flawed but recognisable characters that ultimately brings these vivid short stories to life' * Starburst *A memorable collection of fascinating characters doing their best to survive an increasingly hostile world against the pressures of a civilisation that seems to be spiralling out of control. This is a highly recommended book from me -- Gareth Jones, at SFCrowsnestinfoExciting and very, very cinematic... "Radicalized" is the best of the bunch, and so clever... Fun, in a darkly, twisted sort of way' * Concatenation *This is no collection of preachy parables. For a start, it's often laugh-out-loud funny... Doctorow's characters have depth and nuance, and fighting the dystopian tide changes them' * New Frame *

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Book SynopsisA first entry in a new trilogy set 10 years after the events of Morning Star finds Darrow and the Rising battling the remaining Gold loyalist forces in order to abolish the color-coded caste system only to be challenged by dangerous new enemies. Movie tie-in.

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Book SynopsisJeffrey Lockhart has been summoned to The Convergence: a remote and secret compound where death is exquisitely, cryogenically controlled.He is there to say goodbye to his stepmother, Artis, who has chosen to surrender her dying body; preserving it until a future time when biomedical advances and new technologies can return her to a life of transcendent promise. And his healthy father, Ross, might join her.Hypnotic and seductive, Don DeLillo's Zero K is a visionary novel about the legacies we leave, the nobility of death, and the ultimate worth of 'the mingled astonishments of our time, here, on earth.'Trade ReviewBoth beautiful and profound, certainly DeLillo's best since Underworld, it forces us to confront the spectre of our own mortality, to ask deep questions of our motives in wishing to prolong our span on Earth. We finish the novel with a sudden recognition of the kindness of death, the balm of a bounded life * Observer *DeLillo is one of urban life's most perceptive chroniclers * Independent *DeLillo's 16th novel takes a sanguine and, as usual, perceptive look at life as it is now, beset by wars, terrorism and the catastrophic results of climate change, and balances them against the beauty and joy that can be involved in being human * Daily Mail *Humanly moving . . . sentence by sentence brilliance of phrasing and cadence * Literary Review *A kind of greatest-hits compilation of earlier motifs and gestures * London Review of Books *Haunting. . . Simultaneously terrifying yet beautifully told with a real tenderness for the everyday details of life in New York. . . certainly not to be missed * GQ *Very moving . . . his optimism is a welcome gift in this intense and deeply considered book * Prospect *A visionary novel of ideas that remembers even visionary novels are read by living, breathing humans * Independent *As he approaches 80, Don DeLillo is still producing work that channels America's tensions. . . supple and sad and oddly compassionate too; his most fully realised work in more than a decade * Guardian *DeLillo's spare eloquence and the cosmic depression underlying it makes this emptiest of novels a rich reading experience * The Times *Time has done nothing to diminish this writer's casually epigraphic style, his daring narrative choreography nor his sensitivity to the swelling fears of our age . . . truly provocative' * The Washington Post *[DeLillo's] most persuasive [novel] since his astonishing 1997 masterpiece, Underworld . . . Zero K reminds us of Mr. DeLillo's almost Day-Glo powers as a writer and his understanding of the strange, contorted shapes that eternal human concerns (with mortality and time) can take in the new millennium' -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *Brilliant in its imaginative scope * The Atlantic *Among DeLillo's finest work . . . DeLillo sneaks a heartbreaking story of a son attempting to reconnect with his father into his thought-provoking novel * Publishers Weekly *Sentence by sentence, DeLillo magically slips the knot of criticism and gives his readers what Nabokov maintained was all that mattered in life and art: individual genius. Sentence by sentence, DeLillo seduces . . . DeLillo has written a handful of the past half-century's finest novels. Now, as he approaches 80, he gives us one more, written distinctly for the 21st -- Joshua Ferris * New York Times *A return to full realization for DeLillo. . .Deserves to win old and new readers alike. A marvellous blend of DeLillo's enormous gifts; his bleak humour and edged insight, the alertness and vitality of his prose, the vast, poetic extrapolations are all evident. So is the visceral quickness and wit in the sentences -- Sam LipsyteAs ever, DeLillo explores the depths of an edgy, timely topic, completely resisting cliché, and emerges with something both fresh and universal * The Huffington Post *The reigning poet of unease, DeLillo has always understood the greatest disquiet — our mortality — and how our sense of it coats the surfaces of day-to-day life with a film, something DeLillo peels back at last in this bravura new novel about cryogenic life extension, family, and the losses we can’t overcome * Boston Globe *An eerie descent into a secret collective that seeks to elude death through cryonic freezing. It blends DeLillo's typical mix of introspection and creeping dread with something else — a menacing sense of the absurd, borrowed from Kafka. Combine this with a wry sense of humor and you've got a dive into the murky boundary between life and death that's as amusing as it is alarming * NPR *

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Book SynopsisThe final collection of the epic SciFi Western, EAST OF WEST. Collects EAST OF WEST #43-45

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Book Synopsis 'THE ENVIRONMENTAL NOVEL OF OUR TIMES.' Lemn Sissay, Booker Prize judge From a critically acclaimed author comes a searing novel about maternal love pushed to the brink by environmental crisis 'Brutal and beautiful in equal measure' (Emily St. John Mandel) Bea's daughter, Agnes, is slowly wasting away, her lungs ravaged by the smog and pollution of the overpopulated metropolis they call home. The only alternative is to build a life in the vast expanse of untamed land known as The Wilderness State. No one has been allowed to venture here before. That is all about to change. But as Bea soon discovers, saving her daughter's life might mean losing her in ways she hadn't foreseen. Passionate and exhilarating, The New Wilderness is the story of a mother's fight to save her daughter in a world she can no longer call her own. Longlisted for the DUBLIN Literary Award 2022 * A Guardian Best Science Fiction Book of the Year * A 'Best Book of the Year 2020' according to BBC Culture * An Irish Times Best Debut Fiction of 2020 Trade Review'The New Wilderness is a virtuosic debut, brutal and beautiful in equal measure.' Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel'Soulful, urgent... Supremely well-crafted... What lingers, though, beyond the awesome power of Bea and Agnes as heroines, is pure wonderment at all in this world of ours that is not human.' Observer'Wonderfully imagined and written, this is a tense future-shock novel that's also a tender exploration of a mother-daughter relationship under extreme pressure... An urgent novel reflective of what is happening in society right now.' Booker Prize judges'A wildly imaginative and terrifying dystopian story... Touching on humanity and our contempt for nature, this is a timely and compelling novel.' Independent'This Booker-longlisted novel's driving questions – who will live and who will die? And which kind of leadership will triumph along the way? – remind us, in a compelling fashion, why we read at all: to learn how better to survive.' New Statesman'A visceral, elemental performance... Dense with believable detail.' The Sunday Times'Riveting... Bleakly compelling, and leavened by wry, sparkling humour that Cook combines seamlessly with existential dread.' Daily Telegraph'This gut-wrenching story of survival, danger, power, control and, most importantly, love is one you won’t want to put down.' CNN'This Booker-longlisted novel’s driving questions – who will live and who will die? And which kinds of leadership will triumph along the way? – remind us, in a compelling fashion, why we read at all: to learn how better to survive.' New Statesman'It is the anthropological acuity in Cook's writing that makes it so persuasive… The chief power of The New Wilderness, and what distinguishes it from less successful environmental dystopian fiction, is Cook’s talent for world-building.' TLS'Cook leavens her satire with sly wit and real wisdom, expertly deconstructing the borderline separating human beings and other animals.' Guardian, 'Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books 2020' 'Cook's is a fresh and vivid voice; it's unsurprising the likes of Miranda July and Roxane Gay are fans.' Observer'Cook has a keen eye for the relentless weigh-ups of parenthood... The tale of a hazardously self-denying lifestyle pursued on health grounds, it has uncanny resonance.' Metro'Urgent and inventive... This quietly raging novel deserves its place on the Booker longlist. People who switch off when they hear the phrase "climate change" should read it. And so should everyone else.' Irish Times'As close to experiencing a Picasso as literature can get.' Téa Obreht, author of The Tiger's Wife (on Man V. Nature)'A big book full of characters and rich in imagination... The only debut novel on the shortlist that never feels like one.' Irish Times'5 of 5 stars. [A] gripping, fierce, terrifying examination of what people are capable of when they want to survive in both the best and worst ways. Loved this.' Roxane Gay'A damning piece of horror cli-fi, but it's also a gripping and profound examination of love and sacrifice.' BuzzFeed'The New Wilderness left me as stunned as a deer in headlights. Gut-wrenching and heart-wrecking, this is a book that demands to be read, and urgently.' Rachel Khong, author of Goodbye, Vitamin‘Propulsive... The New Wilderness is a well-formed and powerful piece of writing.’ The Times

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Book SynopsisKonflikt ''47 is set in a world very much like ours--that is, until 1943. With the development of atomic weapons, the world changed. The testing of a prototype nuclear device by the Manhattan Project opened a rift in the fabric of space. When the Fat Boy atomic bomb was dropped on Dresden in March 1944, it created a second rift. German scientists set to work studying it with far more speed than their U.S. counterparts. Both nations began to receive radio signals through the rifts, though often undecipherable. Soon it became apparent that these signals were messages from unknown originators wanting to help each nation''s war efforts. As the messages were pieced together, discoveries were made that allowed each nation to make huge leaps in industrial and scientific research. Despite repeated pleas and demands from their allies, both the United States and Germany were reluctant to share the messages coming through the rifts. Stalin then declared the United States an enemTable of ContentsIntroduction/ Basic Rules/ Advanced Rules/ Scenarios/ Army Lists/ Quick Reference Sheets

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