From Huxley's Brave New World in 1932 to The Hunger Games, our fascination with the speculative & extreme never dwindles
Dystopian & Alternative History Fiction Books
Penguin Random House LLC Clash of Eagles The Clash of Eagles Trilogy Book I 1
£10.44
Crown Publishing Group (NY) The Book of Esther
Book Synopsis
£13.60
Random House USA Inc The Intuitionist
Book SynopsisA 25th anniversary hardcover edition of the debut novel by the two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Underground Railroad that wowed critics and readers and marked the emergence of an important American writer. EVERYMAN''S LIBRARY CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS. It is a time of crisis in a major metropolitan city''s Department of Elevator Inspectors, and Lila Mae Watson, the first black female elevator inspector in the history of the department, is at the center of it. There are two warring factions in the department: the Empiricists, who rely on tests and measurements; and the Intuitionists, who can intuit any defects merely by entering an elevator cab. Lila Mae is an Intuitionist, with the highest accuracy rate in the department. But when an elevator goes into freefall on her watch, chaos ensues. It''s an election year, and the good-old-boy Empiricists would love nothing more than to blame an Intuitionist.Meanwhile, star
£22.40
Random House USA Inc Smoke
Book SynopsisReaders of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Arcadia by Iain Pears are sure to be mesmerized by Dan Vyleta’s thrilling blend of Dickensian historical fiction and fantasy, as three young friends scratch the surface of the grown-up world to discover startling wonders—and dangerous secrets. In an alternate Victorian England those who are wicked are marked by the smoke that pours out of their bodies. The aristocracy are clean, proof of their virtue and right to rule, while the lower classes are drenched in sin and soot. Thomas Argyle is the only son of a wayward aristocrat. Charlie Cooper is his best friend. When Thomas finds himself under the boot heel of a sadistic headboy in the treacherous halls of their elite boarding school, he and Charlie begin to question the rules of their society. Then the boys meet Livia, the daughter of a wealthy and powerful family. She leads them to a secret laboratory where they learn t
£14.41
Random House USA Inc Beatlebone
Book SynopsisA New York Times Notable Book • It is 1978, and John Lennon has escaped New York City to try to find the island off the west coast of Ireland he bought eleven years prior. Leaving behind domesticity, his approaching forties, his inability to create, and his memories of his parents, he sets off to calm his unquiet soul in the comfortable silence of isolation. But when he puts himself in the hands of a shape-shifting driver full of Irish charm and dark whimsy, what ensues can only be termed a magical mystery tour. Beatlebone is a tour de force of language and literary imagination, a surreal novel that blends fantasy and reality—a Hibernian high wire act of courage, nerve, and great beauty.
£17.62
Random House USA Inc The Memory Police
Book Synopsis
£12.00
Random House USA Inc The Heart Goes Last
Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments—in the gated community of Consilience, residents who sign a contract will get a job and a lovely house for six months of the year...if they serve as inmates in the Positron prison system for the alternate months.“Captivating...thrilling.” —The New York Times Book Review Stan and Charmaine, a young urban couple, have been hit by job loss and bankruptcy in the midst of nationwide economic collapse. Forced to live in their third-hand Honda, where they are vulnerable to roving gangs, they think the gated community of Consilience may be the answer to their prayers. At first, this seems worth it: they will have a roof over their heads and food on the table. But when a series of troubling events unfolds, Positron begins to look less like a prayer answered and more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled. The Heart Goes Last
£10.35
Random House USA Inc American War
Book SynopsisNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A second American Civil War, a devastating plague, and one family caught deep in the middle—this gripping debut novel asks what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons upon itself. From the author of What Strange ParadisePowerful ... as haunting a postapocalyptic universe as Cormac McCarthy [created] in The Road. —The New York TimesSarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, and that unmanned drones fill the sky. When her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she begins to grow up shaped by her particular time and place. But not everyone at Camp Patience is who they claim to be. Eventually Sarat is befriended by a mysterious functionary, under whose influence she is
£15.30
Cambridge University Press Style Method and Philosophy in Wittgenstein
This Element provides a comprehensive explanation of Wittgenstein's philosophy. It introduces distinctions that are essential for approaching the multilayered complex of Wittgenstein's oeuvre. One is the distinction between writing philosophical clarifications for himself and forming philosophical books for his reader.
£20.58
Picador USA The Mere Wife
Book SynopsisNew York Times bestselling author Maria Dahvana Headley presents a modern retelling of the literary classic Beowulf, set in American suburbia as two mothersa housewife and a battle-hardened veteranfight to protect those they love in The Mere Wife. From the perspective of those who live in Herot Hall, the suburb is a paradise. Picket fences divide buildingshigh and gabledand the community is entirely self-sustaining. Each house has its own fireplace, each fireplace is fitted with a container of lighter fluid, and outsidein lawns and on playgroundswildflowers seed themselves in neat rows. But for those who live surreptitiously along Herot Hall's periphery, the subdivision is a fortress guarded by an intense network of gates, surveillance cameras, and motion-activated lights. For Willa, the wife of Roger Herot (heir of Herot Hall), life moves at a charmingly slow pace. She flits between mommy groups, playdates, cocktail hour, and dinne
£15.30
Celadon Books Elsewhere
Book SynopsisRichly emotive and darkly captivating, with elements of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and the imaginative depth of Margaret Atwood, Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin conjures a community in which girls become wives, wives become mothers and some of them, quite simply, disappear.Vera grows up in a small town, removed and isolated, pressed up against the mountains, cloud-covered and damp year-round. This town, fiercely protective, brutal and unforgiving in its adherence to tradition, faces a singular affliction: some mothers vanish, disappearing into the clouds. It is the exquisite pain and intrinsic beauty of their lives; it sets them apart from people elsewhere and gives them meaning. Vera, a young girl when her mother went, is on the cusp of adulthood herself. As her peers begin to marry and become mothers, they speculate about who might be the first to go, each wondering about her own fate. Reveling in their gossip, they witness each other in motherhood,
£14.39
St Martin's Press The Relentless Moon
Book SynopsisFinalist 2021 Hugo Award for Best Novel!Finalist 2021 Hugo Award for Best Series!A 2021 Locus Award Finalist!Mary Robinette Kowal continues her Hugo and Nebula award-winning Lady Astronaut series, following The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky, with The Relentless Moon. The Earth is coming to the boiling point as the climate disaster of the Meteor strike becomes more and more clear, but the political situation is already overheated. Riots and sabotage plague the space program. The IAC's goal of getting as many people as possible off Earth before it becomes uninhabitable is being threatened. Elma York is on her way to Mars, but the Moon colony is still being established. Her friend and fellow Lady Astronaut Nicole Wargin is thrilled to be one of those pioneer settlers, using her considerable flight and political skills to keep the program on track. But she is less happy that her husband, t
£17.09
St Martin's Press The Dragon Waiting
Book SynopsisThe best mingling of history with historical magic that I have ever seen.Gene Wolfe In a snowbound inn high in the Alps, four people meet who will alter fate.A noble Byzantine mercenary . . .A female Florentine physician . . .An ageless Welsh wizard . . .And Sforza, the uncanny duke.Together they will wage an intrigue-filled campaign against the might of Byzantium to secure the English throne for Richard, Duke of Gloucesterand make him Richard III. Available for the first time in nearly two decades, with a new introduction by New York Times-bestselling author Scott Lynch, The Dragon Waiting is a masterpiece of blood and magic.Had [John M. Ford] taken The Dragon Waiting and written a sequence of five books based in that world, with that power, he would've been George R.R. Martin. Neil Gaiman
£16.14
Tor Books Three Californias
Book SynopsisFrom the internationally bestselling author of the Mars Trilogy and New York 2140 Before Kim Stanley Robinson terraformed Mars, he wrote three science fiction novels set in Orange County, California, where he grew up. These alternate futuresone a post-apocalypse, one an if-this-goes-on future reminiscent of Philip K. Dick, and one an ecological utopiaform a whole that illuminates, enchants, and inspires--collected here as Three Californias.What if... there was a limited nuclear war that left the United States blockaded, fragmented, the few survivors living in the ruins of a once-great nation?What if... this goes on, and technology continues to accelerate, and power continues to be consolidated into corporate culture, a developer's dream world gone mad: an endless sprawl of condos, freeways, and malls, and designer drugs?What if... a revolution happens, and the US addresses climate change in a responsible way. Is a future gr
£23.79
Tor Books She Who Became the Sun
Book SynopsisTwo-time British Fantasy Award WinnerAstounding Award WinnerLambda Literary Award FinalistHugo Award FinalistLocus Award FinalistA Dragon Award FinalistOtherwise Award FinalistMagnificent in every way.-Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange TreeA dazzling new world of fate, war, love and betrayal.-Zen Cho, author of Black Water SisterShe Who Became the Sun reimagines the rise to power of the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor.To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anythingI refuse to be nothing...In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness...In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family's eighth-
£22.49
Tor Books She Who Became the Sun
Book SynopsisTwo-time British Fantasy Award WinnerAstounding Award WinnerLambda Literary Award FinalistHugo Award FinalistLocus Award FinalistA Dragon Award FinalistOtherwise Award FinalistMagnificent in every way.-Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange TreeA dazzling new world of fate, war, love and betrayal.-Zen Cho, author of Black Water SisterShe Who Became the Sun reimagines the rise to power of the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor.To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anythingI refuse to be nothing...In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness...In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family's eighth-
£15.19
Tor Books He Who Drowned the World
Book SynopsisUSA TODAY bestseller, #1 international bestseller, and Indie Next PickBest of 2023 Pick for Autostraddle and BookPage; a Recommended Reading List Pick for Locus; Locus Award Finalist; Dragon Award FinalistThe sequel and series conclusion to She Who Became the Sun, the accomplished, poetic debut of war and destiny, sweeping across an epic alternate China. Mulan meets The Song of Achilles.How much would you give to win the world?Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, is riding high after her victory that tore southern China from its Mongol masters. Now she burns with a new desire: to seize the throne and crown herself emperor.But Zhu isn't the only one with imperial ambitions. Her neighbor in the south, the courtesan Madam Zhang, wants the throne for her husband-and she's strong enough to wipe Zhu off the map. To stay in the game, Zhu will have to gamble everything on a risky allian
£21.74
Picador USA Dead Astronauts
Book SynopsisA 2020 LOCUS AWARD FINALISTJeff VanderMeer''s Dead Astronauts presents a City with no name of its own where, in the shadow of the all-powerful Company, lives human and otherwise converge in terrifying and miraculous ways. At stake: the fate of the future, the fate of Earthall the Earths.A messianic blue fox who slips through warrens of time and space on a mysterious mission. A homeless woman haunted by a demon who finds the key to all things in a strange journal. A giant leviathan of a fish, centuries old, who hides a secret, remembering a past that may not be its own. Three ragtag rebels waging an endless war for the fate of the world against an all-powerful corporation. A raving madman who wanders the desert lost in the past, haunted by his own creation: an invisible monster whose name he has forgotten and whose purpose remains hidden.
£12.00
St Martin's Press Grime
Book SynopsisThis is a novel so caustic it should be printed with hydrochloric acid. Berg, a Swiss writer and social activist, sprays her fury across the whole landscape of technological and economic manias that are rendering the 21st century intolerable. And Tim Mohr has done a remarkable job of translating Berg's hilarious, hectoring, hyperbolic prose, which isn't so much propulsive as relentless...No other book has so thoroughly rattled me about where we're headed. Ron Charles, the Washington PostThe first English translation of iconic Swiss-German novelist Sibylle Berga ruthless indictment of contemporary society and a strikingly creative manifesto for rebellion.Rochdale is a town in post-industrial Britain, but it could be anywhere on the digitalized, environmentally-decimated planet: a place devoid of hope, where poverty, violence, and squalor are the near-future consequences of decisions being made at this very moment. Grime is the dazzling multi-voice
£14.39
Henry Holt & Company Inc Did You Hear About Kitty Karr
Book SynopsisREESE''S BOOK CLUB MAY 2023 PICKBOOK OF THE MONTH MAY 2023 PICKA multigenerational saga that traverses the glamour of old Hollywood and the seductive draw of modern-day showbiz When Kitty Karr Tate, a White icon of the silver screen, dies and bequeaths her multimillion-dollar estate to the St. John sisters, three young, wealthy Black women, it prompts questions. Lots of questions.A celebrity in her own right, Elise St. John would rather focus on sorting out Kitty's affairs than deal with the press. But what she discovers in one of Kitty's journals rocks her world harder than any other brewing scandal couldand between a cheating fiancé and the fallout from a controversial social media post, there are plenty. The truth behind Kitty''s ascent to stardom from her beginnings in the segregated South threatens to expose a web of unexpected family ties, debts owed, and debatable crimes that could, with one pull, unravel the all-A
£21.59
Tor Books Flint and Mirror
Book SynopsisCrowley is generous, obsessed, fascinating, gripping. Really, I think Crowley is so good that he has left everybody else in the dust.Peter StraubFrom award-winning author John Crowley comes a novel that masterfully blends history and magic in Flint and Mirror.As ancient Irish clans fought to preserve their lands and their way of life, the Queen and her generals fought to tame the wild land and make it English.Hugh O''Neill, lord of the North, dubbed Earl of Tyrone by the Queen, is a divided man: the Queen gives to Hugh her love, and her commandments, through a little mirror of obsidian which he can never discard; and the ancient peoples of Ireland arise from their underworld to make Hugh their champion, the token of their vow a chip of flint.From the masterful author of Little, Big comes an exquisite fantasy of heartbreaking proportion.
£14.39
St Martin's Press The Spare Man
Book SynopsisHugo, Locus, and Nebula-Award winner Mary Robinette Kowal blends her no-nonsense approach to life in space with her talent for creating glittering high-society in this stylish SF mystery, The Spare Man.A 2023 Hugo Award Finalist!A 2022 Locus Magazine Recommended Reading List pick!Tesla Crane, a brilliant inventor and an heiress, is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner, cruising between the Moon and Mars. She's traveling incognito and is reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and the festering chowderheads who run security have the audacity to arrest her spouse. Armed with banter, martinis and her small service dog, Tesla is determined to solve the crime so that the newlyweds can get back to canoodlingand keep the real killer from striking again.
£23.24
St Martin's Press The Spare Man
Book Synopsis
£14.39
St Martin's Press Three Miles Down
Book SynopsisFrom New York Times bestselling author Harry Turtledove, the modern master of alternate history, a novel of alien contact set in the tumultuous year of the Watergate scandal.It''s 1974, and Jerry Stieglitz is a grad student in marine biology at UCLA with a side gig selling short stories to science fiction magazines, just weeks away from marrying his longtime fiancée. Then his life is upended by grim-faced men from three-letter agencies who want him to join a top-secret Project Azorian in the middle of the north Pacific Oceanand they really don''t take no for an answer. Further, they''re offering enough money to solve all of his immediate problems.Joining up and swearing to secrecy, what he first learns is that Project Azorian is secretly trying to raise a sunken Russian submarine, while pretending to be harvesting undersea manganese nodules. But the dead Russian sub, while real, turns out to be a cover story as well. What''s down on the ocean floor next
£14.24
Picador USA Hummingbird Salamander
Book SynopsisFrom the author of Annihilation, a brilliant speculative thriller of dark conspiracy, endangered species, and the possible end of all things. Jane Smithnot her real namereceives an envelope that contains a note from a woman she doesn't know and a key to an anonymous storage unit. The key leads her to a pair of taxidermied animals, a hummingbird and a salamander, which turn out to be two of the most endangered creatures on earth.Jane has set in motion a series of events that quickly spin beyond her control. She is being followed, her home surveilled, her family in peril. The author of the mysterious noteJane's only real leadis already dead. She was, Jane learns, a reputed ecoterrorist. What did she want with Jane?Profiteering wildlife smugglers; an amoral energy company; an extremist's apocalyptic vision. The threats come from all around, and time is running outfor Jane and possibly for the world.Hummingbird Salamander is Jeff Vand
£12.00
Holt McDougal The Council of Animals
Book SynopsisFrom national bestselling author Nick McDonell, The Council of Animals is a captivating fable for humans of all agesdreamers and cynics alikewho believe (if nothing else) in the power of timeless storytelling.Now,' continued the cat, there is nothing more difficult than changing an animal's mind. But I will say, in case I can change yours: humans are more useful to us outside our bellies than in.'Perhaps.After The Calamity, the animals thought the humans had managed to do themselves in. But, it turns out, a few are cowering in makeshift villages. So the animalsamong them a cat, a dog, a crow, a baboon, a horse, and a bearhave convened to debate whether to help the last human stragglers . . . or to eat them.Rest assured, there is a happy ending. Sort of.Featuring illustrations by Steven Tabbutt
£15.29
St Martin's Press The Lost Cause
Book SynopsisIt's thirty years from now. We're making progress, mitigating climate change, slowly but surely. But what about all the angry old people who can't let go?For young Americans a generation from now, climate change isn''t controversial. It''s just an overwhelming fact of life. And so are the great efforts to contain and mitigate it. Entire cities are being moved inland from the rising seas. Vast clean-energy projects are springing up everywhere. Disaster relief, the mitigation of floods and superstorms, has become a skill for which tens of millions of people are trained every year. The effort is global. It employs everyone who wants to work. Even when national politics oscillates back to right-wing leaders, the momentum is too great; these vast programs cannot be stopped in their tracks.But there are still those Americans, mostly elderly, who cling to their red baseball caps, their grievances, their huge vehicles, their anger. To their alternative news sources that reas
£22.49
St Martin's Press Exadelic
Book SynopsisWhen an unconventional offshoot of the US military trains an artificial intelligence in the dark arts that humanity calls black magic, it learns how to hack the fabric of reality itself. It can teleport matter. It can confer immunity to bullets. And it decides that obscure Silicon Valley middle manager Adrian Ross is the primary threat to its existence.Soon Adrian is on the run, wanted by every authority, with no idea how or why he could be a threat. His predicament seems hopeless; his future, nonexistent. But when he investigates the AI and its creators, he discovers his problems are even stranger than they seem...and unearths revelations that will propel him on a journey -- and a love story -- across worlds, eras, and everything, everywhere, all at once.
£28.49
WW Norton & Co The Wall A Novel
Book SynopsisAn NPR "Favorite Books of the Year" and Financial Times "Best Fiction of the Year" selection. The best-selling author of The Debt to Pleasure and Capital returns with a chilling fable for our time.Trade Review"Lanchester’s novel…elegantly and chillingly imagines how current political attitudes might play out as the repercussions of climate change grow more severe." -- New York Times"Gripping…Full of tense action and sudden reversals…Few readers will stop until they reach its final page." -- Alec Nevala-Lee - New York Times Book Review"Thrilling…A topical and deftly satirical novel." -- Anna Mundow - Wall Street Journal"As in all good dystopian fiction, Lanchester shows us a world that could become a reality…[He] maintains measured, elegant prose–creating an assuredly human dystopian novel." -- Lucas Wittmann - TIME"[A] taut tale…It’s not clear what it will take to finally convince us that it’s time to panic about climate change, but works of fiction such as The Wall have an important role to play." -- Stephen Dyson - Washington Post"Bold and confident fiction that highlights the current American and British issues of Trumpism and Brexit. " -- Los Angeles Times"A chilling reminder of the ease with which myopia can turn to dystopia." -- Michael Magras - Houston Chronicle"Chillingly real." -- Boris Kachka - New York magazine"An utterly persuasive story set in a dystopic future. Unputdownable. It's 1984 for our times." -- Michael Lewis"In The Wall, John Lanchester takes our current political climate to its terrible and logical extreme. A harrowing, brilliant, and troublingly plausible vision of the future." -- Emily St. John Mandel"The Wall is something new: almost an allegory, almost a dystopian-future warning, partly an elegant study of the nature of storytelling itself. I was hugely impressed by it." -- Philip Pullman
£18.52
WW Norton & Co Saha A Novel
Book SynopsisTIME • Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2022 From the international best-selling author of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 comes this chilling dystopian fable for fans of Netflix’s Squid Game.Trade Review"A dystopian thriller with a series of intimate character sketches that form a portrait of a community. (Imagine “Winesburg, Ohio” set in “1984.”)... Cho draws touching portraits of her discarded denizens… illuminat[ing] the systemic enforcement of class in the same way that “Kim Jiyoung” revealed gender inequality…. An affecting portrait of people doing their best to survive in a world that would rather pretend they didn’t exist." -- Lincoln Michel - New York Times Book Review"What is it called again when dystopian fiction seems too uncomfortably plausible: Horror? Speculative fiction? A wake-up call? Treading in territories visited over time by Dickens, Orwell, Atwood, Ishiguro, Squid Game, and Parasite, Cho recounts—in specific and painstaking detail—the miserable lives endured by the many residents of the Saha housing complex... This successor to Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 (2020), Cho’s chronicle of the misogynistic forces behind South Korea’s #MeToo movement—a finalist for the National Book Award—addresses another equally corrosive social horror. Read. Weep. Learn." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
£15.99
WW Norton & Co Saha A Novel
Book SynopsisTIME • Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2022 From the international best-selling author of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 comes this chilling dystopian fable for fans of Netflix’s Squid Game.Trade Review"A dystopian thriller with a series of intimate character sketches that form a portrait of a community. (Imagine “Winesburg, Ohio” set in “1984.”)... Cho draws touching portraits of her discarded denizens… illuminat[ing] the systemic enforcement of class in the same way that “Kim Jiyoung” revealed gender inequality…. An affecting portrait of people doing their best to survive in a world that would rather pretend they didn’t exist." -- Lincoln Michel - New York Times Book Review"What is it called again when dystopian fiction seems too uncomfortably plausible: Horror? Speculative fiction? A wake-up call? Treading in territories visited over time by Dickens, Orwell, Atwood, Ishiguro, Squid Game, and Parasite, Cho recounts—in specific and painstaking detail—the miserable lives endured by the many residents of the Saha housing complex... This successor to Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 (2020), Cho’s chronicle of the misogynistic forces behind South Korea’s #MeToo movement—a finalist for the National Book Award—addresses another equally corrosive social horror. Read. Weep. Learn." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
£13.29
Hanover Square Press Hush Harbor
Book Synopsis
£27.00
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Fiction Writers Guide to Alternate History
Book SynopsisA comprehensive guide to the speculative sub-genre of alternate history fiction, this book maps the unique terrain of this vibrant mode of storytelling and then explains how to write it. First giving a concise conceptual overview and the critical tools to differentiate the different forms of counterfactual fiction, Jack Dann lays out the tricks of the trade' such Heinleining', how to create recognizable divergent points' and how to employ paratextual elements and layering' to overcome readers' unfamiliarity with invented counterfactual events and cultures. Alongside this, Dann takes you step-by-step through a complete short story to demonstrate, line-by-line, how alternative history fiction works. As well as Dann''s exacting methodology for writing professional quality alternate history stories, this book also features a live-on-the-page Q&A with some of the most esteemed alternate history writers working today, including Kim Stanley Robinson, John Birmingham and Lisa Goldstein among Trade ReviewA tour-de-force treasure trove ... Invaluable to authors at any stage in their careers. * Futurism *The Fiction Writer’s Guide to Alternate History is not only an incredibly readable and illuminating guide to the art of writing alternate history, it’s also a superb introduction to alternate history as a genre. This book will be of great interest to anyone involved in writing or teaching alternate history and related kinds of literature. * Dr Sean Seeger, Senior Lecturer in Literature, University of Essex, UK *Table of ContentsAbout the Author About the Contributors 1. A Few Introductory Notes and Thoughts About Alternate History and the Slippery Slope of Fiction 2. Let’s Examine What We’re Talking About - Definitions and Divergence Points - ‘Alternate History’ and Science Fiction: a Potted History - Model making… 3. Are we really Theorizing about History and Morality and Choice? - How To Bring Your Readers Up To Speed - Thinking About History…and Your Readers 4. Taking a Break From Me: “White City” by Lewis Shiner 5. Craft Problems and Solutions - Deconstructing Tesla and Assembling the Counterfactual Fiction Writer’s Toolbox - A Quick Inventory 6. The Tactics of Creating Counterfactual Texts: a Roundtable Q & A With Kim Stanley Robinson, William Gibson, Pamela Sargent, Harry Turtledove, John Crowley, Michael Bishop, , Lisa Goldstein, John Kessel, John Birmingham, Barry N. Malzberg, Janeen Webb, Bruce Sterling, Mark Shirrefs, Christopher Priest, Terry Bisson, Mary Rosenblum, Michael Swanwick, Paul Di Filippo, Richard Harland, Howard Waldrop, Lewis Shiner, and George Zebrowski 7. A Very Personal Meditation On Writing: Or How I Do It…and Think About It 8. A Very Few Last Words About…You Appendix Bibliography Index
£16.14
Disney Book Publishing Inc. The Glare
Book SynopsisA teenager uncovers an urban legend game with horrifying connections to her past in this YA psychological thriller perfect for fans of Black Mirror.
£13.29
Simon & Schuster Ltd Rouge
Book Synopsis'Rouge is a fever dream—a brilliant, intense, unforgettable horror story about a beauty cult with a deeply moving mother-daughter story at its core. Mona Awad’s signature and singular imagination and black humor and empathy are on full display here, and her wild-ride of a tale is masterfully grounded in the emotional devastation of childhood and grief. I loved every word of this.'—Laura Zigman, author of Small World 'There is nobody else like Mona Awad, daring enough to plunge her hands—rings and all—into the viscera of story and discover an unsettling beauty within. ROUGE is her most magnetic work yet, a thrilling dystopian romp that knows that beneath the glossy, aspirational veneer of self-care lurks the same old gothic abyss.'—Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the Sun 'A brilliant, biting critique of western
£14.24
Simon & Schuster Ltd The Sisterhood
Book Synopsis‘Frightening and timely, Bradley’s The Sisterhood is the book everyone should read this year. If you thought it ended with Orwell, think again . . .' CHRISTINA DALCHERVox meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this feminist reimagining of 1984 In Oceania, whoever you are, Big Brother is always watching you and trust is a luxury that no one has. Julia is the seemingly perfect example of what women in Oceania should be: dutiful, useful, subservient, meek. But Julia hides a secret. A secret that would lead to her death if it is discovered. For Julia is part of the underground movement called The Sisterhood, whose main goal is to find members of The Brotherhood, the anti-Party vigilante group, and help them to overthrow Big Brother. Only then can everyone be truly free. When Julia thinks she’s found a potential member of The Brotherhood, it seems like their goal might finTrade Review'Though set in a dystopian world replete with endless horrors, The Sisterhood ultimately tackles a much more universal story, that of a woman on a quest to seek identity and purpose in a society which denies her access to both. Where any passion beyond the all-encompassing authority of Big Brother is forbidden, much love simmers beneath the surface of Katherine Bradley's fast-paced and suspenseful work. The Sisterhood's greatest gift, however, may be in its message of hope, capable of surmounting even the most formidable of odds and the most uncertain of futures' KATHERINE J. CHEN, author of Joan 'A gut-wrenching, heart-breaking journey through the looking glass of 1984. Compulsively written, Julia’s is a story begging to be told' FREYA BERRY, author of The Dictator's Wife '1984’s Julia gets the spotlight in this reimagining of Orwell’s classic, where she presents as a dutiful Outer Party member, but is working with a small band of rebel women. A heart-pounding look into a secondary character’s legacy' Grazia 'A compelling tale of love and sacrifice, a worthy companion to the original novel' My Weekly 'Sinister, chilling and heart-breaking, it’s a worthy successor to Orwell’s dystopian classic, allowing readers to explore a new version of Julia’s story' Culturefly 'A dazzling retelling of the classic dystopian novel, which raises profound questions about how society works, and whether or not woman have political agency. I found it memorable, deeply moving, and at times, terrifying' KATE RHODES, author of the Ben Kitto series 'Katherine Bradley has delivered a worthy counterpart to George Orwell's 1984 in this chilling, taut book. It's as claustrophobic as it needs to be; particularly frightening as one looks around and sees that we are voluntarily moving towards Orwell's nightmare. It is nothing short of a triumph' MARA TIMON, author of City of Spies ‘In this highly original take on Orwell’s 1984 – the Big Brother of all dystopian classics – Bradley weaves a complex and engaging plot around the idea of a female resistance to oppressive overlords. Oppressive and creepy, but with real heart’ A. K. TURNER, author of the Cassie Raven series
£15.29
Simon & Schuster Ltd The Sisterhood
Book Synopsis‘Frightening and timely, Bradley’s The Sisterhood is the book everyone should read this year. If you thought it ended with Orwell, think again . . .' CHRISTINA DALCHERVox meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this feminist reimagining of 1984 In Oceania, whoever you are, Big Brother is always watching you and trust is a luxury that no one has. Julia is the seemingly perfect example of what women in Oceania should be: dutiful, useful, subservient, meek. But Julia hides a secret. A secret that would lead to her death if it is discovered. For Julia is part of the underground movement called The Sisterhood, whose main goal is to find members of The Brotherhood, the anti-Party vigilante group, and help them to overthrow Big Brother. Only then can everyone be truly free. When Julia thinks she’s found a potential member of The Brotherhood, it seems like their goal might finTrade Review'Though set in a dystopian world replete with endless horrors, The Sisterhood ultimately tackles a much more universal story, that of a woman on a quest to seek identity and purpose in a society which denies her access to both. Where any passion beyond the all-encompassing authority of Big Brother is forbidden, much love simmers beneath the surface of Katherine Bradley's fast-paced and suspenseful work. The Sisterhood's greatest gift, however, may be in its message of hope, capable of surmounting even the most formidable of odds and the most uncertain of futures' KATHERINE J. CHEN, author of Joan 'A gut-wrenching, heart-breaking journey through the looking glass of 1984. Compulsively written, Julia’s is a story begging to be told' FREYA BERRY, author of The Dictator's Wife '1984’s Julia gets the spotlight in this reimagining of Orwell’s classic, where she presents as a dutiful Outer Party member, but is working with a small band of rebel women. A heart-pounding look into a secondary character’s legacy' Grazia 'A compelling tale of love and sacrifice, a worthy companion to the original novel' My Weekly 'Sinister, chilling and heart-breaking, it’s a worthy successor to Orwell’s dystopian classic, allowing readers to explore a new version of Julia’s story' Culturefly 'A dazzling retelling of the classic dystopian novel, which raises profound questions about how society works, and whether or not woman have political agency. I found it memorable, deeply moving, and at times, terrifying' KATE RHODES, author of the Ben Kitto series 'Katherine Bradley has delivered a worthy counterpart to George Orwell's 1984 in this chilling, taut book. It's as claustrophobic as it needs to be; particularly frightening as one looks around and sees that we are voluntarily moving towards Orwell's nightmare. It is nothing short of a triumph' MARA TIMON, author of City of Spies ‘In this highly original take on Orwell’s 1984 – the Big Brother of all dystopian classics – Bradley weaves a complex and engaging plot around the idea of a female resistance to oppressive overlords. Oppressive and creepy, but with real heart’ A. K. TURNER, author of the Cassie Raven series
£12.34
Orion Publishing Co Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Book SynopsisTHE DELUXE HARDBACK EDITION FEATURING NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN PHOTOS, BONUS MATERIAL & AN EXCLUSIVE BOUNTY LAW SCRIPT BY QUENTIN TARANTINOQuentin Tarantino''s long-awaited first work of fiction - at once hilarious, delicious, and brutal - is the always surprising, sometimes shocking new novel based on his Academy Award-winning film.The sunlit studio back lots and the dark watering holes of Hollywood are the setting for this audacious, hilarious, disturbing novel about life in the movie colony, circa 1969. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood tells the story of washed-up actor Rick Dalton. Once Rick had his own television series, a famous western called Bounty Law. But it ain''t been that time in a long time and now Rick''s only regular parts are as the heavy, ready to be bested by whichever young swingin'' dick the networks want to make a new star out of come pilot season. When a talent agent appTrade ReviewOutrageous and addictively readable... The book is a reminder that Tarantino is, in fact, a really good writer, and it should not be so surprising that his brilliance as a screenwriter should be transferable into fiction. * Guardian *The book is a distinct experience - rangier, sexier, bloodier ... Classic, sparks-flying Tarantino ... The start of a new direction for this relentlessly inventive director. * Washington Post *The rollicking debut novel by Quentin Tarantino is a seamless, seamy blend of fact and fiction * The Times *The rat-a-tat pace of a screenplay ... Tarantino's concern here is world-building, luxuriating in an era and a genre that he is clearly fascinated by ... with undeniable flair * Evening Standard *This book boasts some tremendous scenes, with magical dialogue, that I wouldn't have missed for the world * Daily Telegraph *
£21.25
Orion Publishing Co Blakes 7
Book SynopsisNew edition of the Terry Nation classic Galactic freedom fighters battle The Federation.Accused of a brutal crime and exiled from Dome City, where a vicious regime wields dictatorial power, Roj Blake swears vengeance on the corrupt leaders who have destroyed his future.Hijacking the Liberator, the most advanced spacecraft ever created, Blake travels to the sinister planet Cygnus Alpha and risks everything to rescue other victims of the regime. And with these allies he forms a new fighting force to combat galactic injustice and fight The Federation.Blake''s 7 is born.Trade ReviewBlake's 7: 40 years on, the dystopian sci-fi drama still packs a punch * GUARDIAN *A genuine classic * TELEGRAPH *It was forward thinking in the use of ongoing storylines and has been cited as an influence on such shows as Babylon 5, Firefly and Deep Space 9 * SFFCHRONICLES.COM *One of the most popular sci-fi series Britain has ever produced * DOUX REVIEWS *A serious home grown science fiction adventure series * TelevisionHeaven.co.uk *
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group Transition
Book SynopsisA world that hangs suspended between triumph and catastrophe, between the dismantling of the Wall and the fall of the Twin Towers, frozen in the shadow of suicide terrorism and global financial collapse, such a world requires a firm hand and a guiding light. But does it need the Concern: an all-powerful organisation with a malevolent presiding genius, pervasive influence and numberless invisible operatives in possession of extraordinary powers? On the Concern''s books are Temudjin Oh, an un-killable assassin who journeys between the peaks of Nepal, a version of Victorian London and the dark palaces of Venice; and a nameless, faceless torturer known only as the Philosopher. And then there''s the renegade Mrs Mulverhill, who recruits rebels to her side; and Patient 8262, hiding out from a dirty past in a forgotten hospital ward. As these vivid, strange and sensuous worlds circle and collide, the implications of turning traitor to the Concern become horribly apparent, and an unstable univTrade ReviewWildly imaginative... A corker of a thriller, a classic good versus bad tale, and one which the author uses to tackle some seriously big moral and philosophical issues - but always in his typically light-handed and darkly humorous fashion... A book that makes you think, one that makes you look at the world around you in a different light, and it's also a properly thrilling read * Independent on Sunday *Transition is Banks at his exuberant, flamboyant, head-spinning best * Financial Times *Iain Banks is gifted with wonderful fluency and dizzying imaginative flair * Daily Mail *A labyrinthine tale of great conception and craft... A memorable array of characters... Transition is awash with energy and dark wit * Sunday Business Post *Brilliantly compulsive * Big Issue *Baroque, digressive, kinetic, teeming with big ideas and grand theories, it's a novel to get lost in... gripping * The Times *A highly readable and engrossing sci-fi thriller * Sunday Herald *An engrossing, futuristic fable with plenty to say about the here and now * Metro *One of Iain Banks's most imaginative and compelling novels yet * Scotsman *** 'Baroque, digressive, kinetic, teeming with big ideas and grand theories, it's a novel to get lost in . . . gripping * THE TIMES *** 'Stunning . . . tackles the issues of the responsibility of power, the moral implications of intervention and even the philosophical conundrum of what constitutes life itself. If only more contemporary fiction were like it . . . A book that makes you l * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *** 'One of Iain Banks's most imaginative and compelling novels yet * SCOTSMAN *
£15.89
Penguin Books Ltd Loch of the Dead
Book Synopsis''A hugely entertaining Victorian mystery'' New York Times ''I enjoyed this - properly creepy and Gothic'' Ian Rankin_______________A CASE FOR FREY & McGRAY The Scottish Highlands, 1889. When a young heir receives a sinister death threat, Inspectors Frey and ''Nine-Nails'' McGray answer a desperate plea to offer him protection. The detectives travel north to the remote and misty Loch Maree, site of an ancient burial ground. They must stay with the mysterious Koloman family - any one of whom might be a suspect. But Frey and McGray have little time to get their bearings. Even before they arrive the boy''s guardian is brutally murdered, and one thing becomes clear to the two detectives: Someone is willing to kill to protect the secrets of Loch Maree._______________Praise for the Frey & McGray series: ''This is wonderful. A brilliant, moving, clever, lyricaTrade ReviewOscar de Muriel gets better and better -- Jake Kerridge * Sunday Express S Magazine *I am addicted to Frey and McGray -- Christopher Fowler, author of the Bryant and May seriesI enjoyed this - properly creepy and Gothic -- Ian RankinA hugely entertaining Victorian mystery * The New York Times *Fun to read and a fast page-turner . . . love and murder - they go together like strawberries and cream * Independent *This entertaining novel combines melodrama with the unhappiness of life backstage -- Charlotte Heathcote * Sunday Express *This is wonderful. A brilliant, moving, clever, lyrical book - I loved it. Oscar de Muriel is going to be a name to watch. -- Manda ScottThe Strings of Murder is one of the best debuts so far this year - a brilliant mix of horror, history, and humour. Genuinely riveting with plenty of twists, this will keep you turning the pages. It's clever, occasionally frightening and superbly written - The Strings Of Murder is everything you need in a mystery thriller. * Crime Review *
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd All Our Wrong Todays
Book Synopsis''A witty, time-travelling romance'' Maria Semple, author of Where''d You Go, Bernadette This is a love story that could only happen because of an accident of time travel. Tom and Penny belong to a world so perfect there''s no war, no poverty, no under-ripe avocados. But when something awful happens to Penny, and Tom tries to make it right, he accidentally destroys everything, waking up in our broken, dysfunctional world. Only here, Penny and Tom have a second chance. Should Tom go back to his brilliant but loveless existence, or risk everything by staying in our messy, complicated world for his one and only chance at true love? ''Thrilling and refreshingly optimistic'' Andy Weir, author of The Martian ''Sharp and funny'' Daily Mail ''It''s a Wonderful Life meets The Jetsons'' Buzzfeed''All Our Wrong Todays is an entertaining romp thatTrade ReviewAll Our Wrong Todays is an entertaining romp that should appeal to fans The Time Traveler's Wife -- Best recent science fiction * The Guardian *Sharp, funny writing in a mind-bending, time-travelling junket of a novel * Daily Mail *A mind-bending time travel caper * Guardian * Elan Mastai manages the [time-travel] genre masterfully in his debut novel -- Olivia Ovenden * Esquire *A thrilling tale of time travel and alternate timelines with a refreshingly optimistic view of humanity's future -- Andy Weir, author of international bestseller * The Martian *A novel about time travel has no right to be this engaging. A novel this engaging has no right to be this smart. And a novel this smart has no right to be this funny. Or insightful. Or immersive. Basically, this novel has no right to exist." * Jonathan Tropper, New York Times bestselling author of This Is Where I Leave You and One Last Thing Before I Go *Elan Mastai has conjured up a witty and freewheeling time-traveling romance that packs an emotional wallop. All Our Wrong Todays is a page-turning delight -- Maria Semple, author of * Where’d You Go, Bernadette *All Our Wrong Todays is elaborately constructed and incredibly emotionally intelligent; it's a story with super high stakes that genuinely makes you feel every part of Tom's awful predicament * SciFiNow *Witty, original, funny, charming - a great story! * Joe Haddow, BBC Radio 2 Book Club *It's all very clever, but it's also not really the point. Because as well as being an intelligent sci-fi story, it's also a love story, and kind of a monomyth, and also just an incredibly relatable, insightful story about being in your 30s, feeling like you haven't achieved anything, and figuring out what's next * SciFiNow UK *A timeless, if mind-bending, story about the journeys we take, populated by friends, family, lovers and others, that show us who we might be, could be - and maybe never should be - that eventually leads us to who we are * USA Today *Mastai has a penchant for exuberant plot, a quick dash of character and fearlessly funny storytelling * The Washington Post *All Our Wrong Todays is the mind-bending science fiction romance you need to read * Mashable *This lovely new novel is It's a Wonderful Life meets The Jetsons. Tom who lives in an alternate 2016 where all the sci-fi fantasies of the 1950s are a reality, suddenly finds himself stranded in our 2016, where he rediscovers his family, friends, and self. * Buzzfeed *Imagine a world where 2016 was glorious: no Bowie, Brexit, Bake-Off, Bannon. That's where All Our Wrong Todays begins... Ambitious, funny, wry and philosophical, it's not surprising that author Mastai started off his life as a screenwriter (All Our Wrong Todays has already been picked up by uber-producer Amy Pascal) because this a book that has the grand scope of sweeping cinema peppered throughout * Emerald Street *Sharp, funny writing is married to complex plotting that whisks through various alternative realities in this mind-bending, time-travelling junket of a novel * Daily Mail *
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd Generation One
Book SynopsisTHE FIRST BOOK IN AN ELECTRIFYING NEW SERIES set in the world of the number one New York Timesbestselling I AM NUMBER FOUR______________The Loric didn''t make us monsters and they didn''t make us heroes. We choose what happens next.Taylor Cook thought of the invasion as just a bad dream. It had ended over a year ago, and none of the fighting happened anywhere near her small town. She''d heard about teens who were suddenly developing incredible abilities, but she had never really believed it. Not until the day she discovered she was one of them - a human with Legacies.Now Taylor is being sent off to the Human Garde Academy. A place where teens from across the globe can learn to control their new powers and discover what they are truly capable of. There they will be trained by the Loric - the very same people who helped win the war and who are also responsible for unleashing the Legacies on the planet. As part of this
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Fugitive Six
Book SynopsisTHE GARDE ACADEMY NURTURES.THE FOUNDATION DESTROYS.WHO WILL WIN?________________Taylor Cook and the ''Fugitive Six'' guard their Legacies against the murderous Foundation. They know trouble is coming.A mole inside the Academy is stealing secrets.They must be found and stopped.Because gifted teens are still disappearing.Between the trials of training and the tensions among Earth''s defenders, Taylor and friends know they must work together to bring about the Foundation''s fall.But the Foundation has its own plans. And the Fugitive Six are in their sights . . .This is the thrilling second instalment in the Lorien Legacies Reborn series from the bestselling author of I Am Number Four - fans of Ready Player One, The Hunger Games, and the Throne of Glass series will love this. ________________''A hero for this generation'' MicTrade ReviewPraise for Pittacus Lore * - *Tense, exciting and full of energy * Observer *Relentlessly readable * The Times *A franchise to eclipse Harry Potter * Big Issue *Number Four is a hero for this generation * Michael Bay *
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd A History of What Comes Next
Book SynopsisThe gripping new speculative fiction as rich as The Man in the High Castle and as packed with thrills as Ready Player One''Alt-history with a difference'' GUARDIAN''There''s real cleverness at work here'' THE TIMESAlways run, never fight.Preserve the knowledge.Survive at all costs.Take them to the stars._________Germany, 1945.Mia, a nineteen-year-old girl, is sent by the OSS to find Wernher von Braun. Her mission: stop the Russians getting hold of Germany''s - and the world''s - foremost rocket scientist.Von Braun is suspicious. And so he should be.For Mia is no ordinary girl. She only looks human. And helping the Allies win the Second World War is only one part of her plan.Because there''s an even darker conflict taking place on Earth. A secret struggle thousands of years old that has engulfed and taken generatTrade ReviewIt's fascinating to see how Neuvel weaves together fact and fiction . . . a blast. Seriously clever * SFX *An alt-history with a difference. Traces the true story of the development of rocket science but adds an alien-conspiracy-theory edge in the shape of a fictional team of mother-daughter clones. Along with the problems faced by women trying to change the world (or at least get men to listen to them), they are threatened by a mysterious 'Tracker' who has spent centuries trying to kill them. Good fun * Guardian *A dark and ambitious book. Neuvel is forging ahead * SFX Magazine *Wry narration, wired action . . . Fans of alternate history and intelligent sci-fi will love this * Publishers Weekly *Clever and compelling, it will keep you enthralled until the end -- Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of The Oppenheimer AlternativeThere's real cleverness at work here. Mia, bent on getting humanity sufficiently technologically developed so that they can leave Earth, makes some dodgy-sounding moral choices as she works towards humanity's salvation * The Times *Highly crafted and unique * Library Journal *A blast. Seriously clever fun * SFX *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Until the Last of Me
Book SynopsisThe thrilling second instalment in the TAKE THEM TO THE STARS series - a secret history of our world like no other . . .''Introspective, lyrical and with a growing sense of menace running under it all'' THE TIMESPerfect for fans of The Man in the High Castle and The Eternals___________The First Rule is the most important: ''Always run, never fight''.For 3000 years Mia''s family has shaped Earth''s history to push humanity to the stars, making brutal, wrenching choices along the way.And now, in the year of 1968, Mia finds herself about to help launch the first people into space. She can''t take them to the stars, not quite yet. But with her adversary almost upon her, and with the future of the planet at stake, one thing is becoming clearer:Obeying the First Rule is no longer an option.For the first time since her line''s first generation, Mia will have to choose to stanTrade ReviewIntrospective, lyrical and with a growing sense of menace running under it all * The Times *Praise for Sylvain Neuvel * - *It's fascinating to see how Neuvel weaves together fact and fiction . . . a blast. Seriously clever * SFX *An alt-history with a difference. Traces the true story of the development of rocket science but adds an alien-conspiracy-theory edge in the shape of a fictional team of mother-daughter clones. Along with the problems faced by women trying to change the world (or at least get men to listen to them), they are threatened by a mysterious 'Tracker' who has spent centuries trying to kill them. Good fun * Guardian *A dark and ambitious book. Neuvel is forging ahead * SFX Magazine *Wry narration, wired action . . . Fans of alternate history and intelligent sci-fi will love this * Publishers Weekly *Clever and compelling, it will keep you enthralled until the end -- Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of The Oppenheimer Alternative * - *There's real cleverness at work here. Mia, bent on getting humanity sufficiently technologically developed so that they can leave Earth, makes some dodgy-sounding moral choices as she works towards humanity's salvation * The Times *Highly crafted and unique * Library Journal *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd For the First Time Again
Book SynopsisDiscover history''s biggest secret . . .For millennia an unbroken line of alien mothers and daughters have secretly been shepherding human technology towards the stars.Twelve-year-old Aster is the last of this line.But the loss of her mother in early life means she knows nothing of her alien heritage - believing she is just an ordinary young girl.Not only is she about to discover how wrong she is - but she''ll also learn she''s not the only alien on Earth: others are here to stop her.Yet with revelation comes recovery.Now Aster has a purpose.Her life, the future of her speciesand that of all life on Earth is at stake.She''s history''s biggest secret.But can she save the future?''Alt-history with a difference'' GUARDIAN''There''s real cleverness at work here'' THE TIMESTrade ReviewPraise for Take Them To The Stars series * - *Sylvain Neuvel proves once again he deserves the title of the hottest new SF writer of the 21st century * Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of The Oppenheimer Alternative *Series fans and readers of speculative thrillers built around actual historical events will eagerly anticipate book three. * Booklist *...[T]he stakes of this series have risen exponentially * Tor.com *Praise for Sylvain Neuvel * - *It's fascinating to see how Neuvel weaves together fact and fiction . . . a blast. Seriously clever * SFX *An alt-history with a difference. Traces the true story of the development of rocket science but adds an alien-conspiracy-theory edge . . . Good fun * Guardian *Wry narration, wired action . . . Fans of alternate history and intelligent sci-fi will love this * Publishers Weekly *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd 2034
Book SynopsisA chilling geopolitical thriller and real-world cautionary tale presenting a dark yet very possible future of war between the US and China from two former military officers and award-winning authors THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A rippingly good read' Wired______________12 March 2034.In the South China Sea, US Navy Commodore Sarah Hunt is conducting routine freedom of navigation patrol while US Marine aviator Major Chris Wedge' Mitchell tests a new stealth technology near Iranian airspace.By the end of the day, Wedge will be an Iranian prisoner, and Hunt's destroyer will lie at the bottom of the ocean.And a new, terrifying era will be at hand.So begins a disturbingly plausible novel, co-authored by an award-winning novelist and decorated Marine veteran and the former commander of NATO, a legendary admiral.Everything in 2034 is an imaginative extrapolation from present-day fTrade ReviewIf you’re looking for a compelling beach read this summer, I recommend the novel 2034 -- Thomas L. Friedman * The New York Times *This crisply written and well-paced book reads like an all-caps warning for a world shackled to the machines we carry in our pockets and place on our laps, while only vaguely understanding how the information stored in and shared by those devices can be exploited. * The Washington Post *Consider this another vaccine against disaster. Fortunately, this dose won't cause a temporary fever—and it happens to be a rippingly good read. Turns out that even cautionary tales can be exciting, when the future we’re most excited about is the one where they never come true * Wired *There is conflict and catastrophe on a large scale, and it unfolds, as major conflicts tend to, with surprising twists and turns . . . This is not a pessimistic book about America’s potential, but the picture of the world it paints before the central conflict will be a difficult one for many to accept, albeit one well supported by facts * Wall Street Journal *I could not stop reading 2034. With sharply drawn, vibrant characters caught in an all too plausible future conflict, the novel left me fascinated, moved, thrilled and, ultimately, haunted -- Phil Klay, author of MissionariesAn unnerving and fascinating tale of a future . . . The book serves as a cautionary tale to our leaders and national security officials, while also speaking to a modern truth about arrogance and our lack of strategic foresight . . . The novel is an enjoyable and swiftly paced but important read * The Hill *Utterly engrossing . . . [2034] is incredibly well-written, deeply thought-provoking, and it makes for uncomfortable and sober reading—in the best of ways...Elliot Ackerman is one of the finest writers to come out of this generation of military veterans and officers -- Joshua Huminski * Diplomatic Courier *A frightening look at how a major-power showdown might race out of control. . . . This compelling thriller should be required reading for our national leaders and translated into Mandarin * Kirkus *Those seeking a realistic look at how a future world war might play out will be rewarded * Publishers Weekly *Chilling yet compulsively readable work of speculative fiction . . . Ackerman and Stavridis have created a brilliantly executed geopolitical tale that is impossible to put down and that serves as a dire, all-too-plausible warning that recent events could have catastrophic consequences * Booklist *War with China is the most dangerous scenario facing us and the world. Absent a strategic method to manage our differences, Jim Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman’s chilling novel presents a realistic series of miscalculations leading to the worst consequences. A sobering, cautionary tale for our time -- Jim Mattis, General, U.S. Marines (Ret.) and 26th Secretary of DefenseA brilliant thriller! Masterfully plotted and elegantly written, 2034 is a literary tour-de-force. Let’s just hope none of it comes true -- Brad Thor, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Near DarkA real page-turner, 2034 is a novel about a conflict we hope never happens. Drawing on their deep operational and diplomatic backgrounds, Admiral Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman have conjured a nightmare we desperately need to avoid. The novel is a cautionary tale for our times, and a reminder how quickly events can spin out of control—even before 2034 -- Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense 2006-20112034 is an exciting, interesting, and informative novel about a hypothetical future war with China that is largely determined by actual decisions already made...Anyone who is concerned about where today’s military technology decisions are taking us should read this book -- Karl Marlantes, author of Matterhorn and Deep River
£9.49
