Science fiction: apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic
Astra Publishing House Terminal Uprising
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPraise for The Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse"The book is damn hilarious. It's less Tanya Huff and more Phule's Company in the best possible way. It's witty and sharp, it sneaks in some social commentary, and it skates just on the right side of the line between clever absurdity and complete chaos." —Ilona Andrews, #1 New York Times bestselling author"A high-stakes romp full of interstellar hi-jinks and pulse-pounding action. Jim Hines's space janitors are the unlikeliest crew of heroes ever to save a galaxy." —Lisa Shearin, New York Times-bestselling author of the Raine Benares novels"It's like Guardians of the Galaxy meets MacGyver, with zombies." —Howard Tayler, Hugo-winning author of Schlock Mercenary“Jim Hines is one of the funniest, and most fun, writers in our genre! Terminal Alliance skewers science fiction tropes and takes on a wild romp through an original universe.” —Tobias S. Buckell, author of the Xenowealth series“Terminal Alliance was a really fun read. Mops is a great POV character, and I enjoyed the way that the maintenance crew got to be the heroes—but also they didn't just pick up the controls of the ship and fly around as though it were super easy.” —Ann Leckie, Nebula- and Hugo-winning author of Ancillary Justice“I enjoyed Terminal Alliance very much. It’s a spunky, irreverent interstellar romp with most unlikely heroes and frequent laugh-out-loud moments. I look forward to more adventures featuring this delightful cast of galactic janitors.” —Marko Kloos, author of the Frontlines series“Like the slightly demented love child of Douglas Adams and Elizabeth Moon, Terminal Alliance is clever, silly, full of surprises, and unfailingly entertaining. Apparently Jim C. Hines is capable of being funny in every genre.” —Deborah Blake, author of the Baba Yaga series“Hines (Libriomancer) delivers a fantastic space opera that doesn’t skimp on the action and excitement but pairs it with a hefty dose of slightly scatological humor. The author is especially clever in having Mops and her team leverage cleaning tools and a knowledge of spaceship plumbing to fight their enemies.” —Library Journal (starred)"[Terminal Alliance] is also good science fiction: a solid premise, an expansive universe, a compelling history, a strong and varied cast of characters, pulse-pounding action, and a galactic crisis with high stakes. The fact that it’s funny is icing on a rich and delicious cake. Clever, and should appeal to fans of Douglas Adams and John Scalzi." —Booklist"Subtle absurdist humor permeates the narrative, derived from faulty translations, cultural references without context, and unconventional solutions to problems. Clever characterization and action-packed moments round out this thoroughly satisfying outing." —Publishers Weekly
£20.80
Astra Publishing House Terminal Peace
Book SynopsisThe third and final book of The Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse follows a group of unlikely heroes trying to save the galaxy from a zombie plague.Trade ReviewPraise for The Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse:"The book is damn hilarious. It's less Tanya Huff and more Phule's Company in the best possible way. It's witty and sharp, it sneaks in some social commentary, and it skates just on the right side of the line between clever absurdity and complete chaos." —Ilona Andrews, #1 New York Times bestselling author"A high-stakes romp full of interstellar hi-jinks and pulse-pounding action. Jim Hines's space janitors are the unlikeliest crew of heroes ever to save a galaxy." —Lisa Shearin, New York Times-bestselling author of the Raine Benares novels"It's like Guardians of the Galaxy meets MacGyver, with zombies." —Howard Tayler, Hugo-winning author of Schlock Mercenary“Jim Hines is one of the funniest, and most fun, writers in our genre! Terminal Alliance skewers science fiction tropes and takes on a wild romp through an original universe.” —Tobias S. Buckell, author of the Xenowealth series“Terminal Alliance was a really fun read. Mops is a great POV character, and I enjoyed the way that the maintenance crew got to be the heroes—but also they didn't just pick up the controls of the ship and fly around as though it were super easy.” —Ann Leckie, Nebula- and Hugo-winning author of Ancillary Justice“I enjoyed Terminal Alliance very much. It’s a spunky, irreverent interstellar romp with most unlikely heroes and frequent laugh-out-loud moments. I look forward to more adventures featuring this delightful cast of galactic janitors.” —Marko Kloos, author of the Frontlines series“Like the slightly demented love child of Douglas Adams and Elizabeth Moon, Terminal Alliance is clever, silly, full of surprises, and unfailingly entertaining. Apparently Jim C. Hines is capable of being funny in every genre.” —Deborah Blake, author of the Baba Yaga series“Hines (Libriomancer) delivers a fantastic space opera that doesn’t skimp on the action and excitement but pairs it with a hefty dose of slightly scatological humor. The author is especially clever in having Mops and her team leverage cleaning tools and a knowledge of spaceship plumbing to fight their enemies.” —Library Journal (starred)"[Terminal Alliance] is also good science fiction: a solid premise, an expansive universe, a compelling history, a strong and varied cast of characters, pulse-pounding action, and a galactic crisis with high stakes. The fact that it’s funny is icing on a rich and delicious cake. Clever, and should appeal to fans of Douglas Adams and John Scalzi." —Booklist"Subtle absurdist humor permeates the narrative, derived from faulty translations, cultural references without context, and unconventional solutions to problems. Clever characterization and action-packed moments round out this thoroughly satisfying outing." —Publishers Weekly
£21.25
Astra Publishing House The Ice Orphan
Book SynopsisThis third book in a cli-fi series from a nationally-recognized anthropologist explores a frozen future where archaic species struggle to survive an apocalyptic ice age.It’s been 925 summers since the Jemen introduced zyme, a bioluminescent algae, into the world’s ocean and unwittingly triggered an ice age that has consumed most of the planet. All but a handful of Jemen flew to the stars, but before they left, they recreated several extinct species that had thrived in the last ice age. After almost a thousand summers, the archaic hominins that struggle along the edges of massive glaciers are dwindling. All they have to save them is a dying quantum computer called Quancee and her student, a Denisovan man named Lynx.When the last Jemen, Vice Admiral Jorgenson, tells Lynx he’s going to dismantle Quancee and use her parts to create a new computer, Lynx is stunned. But while Lynx battles to save Quancee, the quantum computer has other priorities. BefTrade ReviewPraise for The Ice Lion"With this engrossing series launch, Gear conjures a vivid postapocalyptic world.... This mesmerizing adventure through a world destroyed by climate change is sure to have readers hooked." —Publishers Weekly"Gear brings her vast knowledge of prehistoric cultures to this climate-fiction tale with beautiful and engaging worldbuilding.... A loose, beautiful tapestry of a tale." —Kirkus Reviews"Written by both a master storyteller and scientist, it’s a chilling tale of a different climate change." —Amazing Stories"The icy setting, with its mountains and ocean, provide a cold backdrop to the warmth of the peoples, whose lives are going to be inescapably altered when paths cross and the past is excavated." —Whiskey with my Book
£22.95
Astra Publishing House Who Fears Death
Book SynopsisNow optioned as a TV series for HBO, with executive producer George R. R. Martin!An award-winning literary author enters the world of magical realism with her World Fantasy Award-winning novel of a remarkable woman in post-apocalyptic Africa. In a post-apocalyptic Africa, the world has changed in many ways; yet in one region genocide between tribes still bloodies the land. A woman who has survived the annihilation of her village and a terrible rape by an enemy general wanders into the desert, hoping to die. Instead, she gives birth to an angry baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand. Gripped by the certainty that her daughter is different—special—she names her Onyesonwu, which means Who fears death? in an ancient language. It doesn't take long for Onye to understand that she is physically and socially marked by the circumstances of her conception. She is Ewu—a child of rape who is expected to live a life of violTrade ReviewPraise for Who Fears Death"Haunting and absolutely brilliant. My heart and guts are all turned inside out." —John Green, New York Times-bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars"Who Fears Death is one of the most striking, chilling, truly fascinating, and all-around remarkable novels I've read in a very long time.” —Peter S. Beagle, bestselling author of The Last Unicorn"Nnedi Okorafor is American-born but her Nigerian blood runs strong, lacing her work with fantasy, magic and true African reality. Many people need to read Who Fears Death, it's an important book." —Nawal El Saadawi, bestselling author of Woman at Point Zero "To compare author Nnedi Okorafor to the late Octavia E. Butler would be easy to do, but this simple comparison should not detract from Okorafor’s unique storytelling gift." —New York Journal of Books"Both wondrously magical and terribly realistic." —The Washington Post"Believable, nuanced characters of color and an unbiased view of an Africa full of technology, mysticism, culture clashes and true love." —Ebony Magazine (editor's pick)"A fantastical, magical blend of grand storytelling." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Beautifully written, this is dystopian fantasy at its very best. Expertly exploring issues of race, gender, and cultural identity, Okorafor blends future fantasy with the rhythm and feel of African storytelling. " —Library Journal (starred review) "Her pacing is tight. Her expository sections sing like poetry. Descriptions of paranormal people and battles are disturbingly vivid and palpable. But most crucial to the book's success is how the author slowly transforms Onye's pursuit of her rapist father from a personal vendetta to a struggle to transform the social systems that created him." —The Village Voice "Okorafor is a master storyteller who combines recent history, fantasy, tradition, advanced technology, and culture into something wonderful and new that should not be missed." —RT Book Review (top pick)
£15.30
Astra Publishing House Mazes of Power
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPraise for Mazes of Power"The impressively winding plot, layered worldbuilding, and psychologically acute characterizations are sure to hold readers’ attention. Wade is an author to watch." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)"Delicious political intrigue and really cool world building." —Ann Leckie, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of Ancillary Justice"A vivid, thrilling journey through a wonderfully realized and wonderfully complex world; and a fascinating look at power and its exercise across different strata of an intricate society." —Aliette de Bodard, Nebula award-winning author of The Tea Master and the Detective"A twisty ride through family drama and tangled politics, Mazes of Power carries readers into a world of love and treachery, and doesn’t let them go." —Laura Anne Gilman, author of The Cold Eye"A deliciously complex, glittering work of family intrigue and life-or-death politics in a world that's utterly alien, with characters who are all-too human. I loved it." —Kelly Robson, Hugo award-winning author of Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach"Mazes of Power is a gasp-inducing political Hunger Games packed with intrigue, assassins, and stunning social dynamics. I didn't want it to end!" —Beth Cato, author of Breath of Earth"Mazes of Power is a taut, tense, wonderfully claustrophobic entry into a world and society brimming with surprises and secrets. Loved it and cannot wait for more!” —Julie E. Czerneda, author of The Web Shifter’s Library series"[Mazes of Power] is a deeply political novel, that treats with the complexities of caste as much as with the arrogance of ambition; and it steps as lightly through its major themes of political and mental disorder as it does through its plotlines of romance and revolution. This book is a delight to read, and a constant surprise, offering consequences as unexpected to the reader as they are to the characters." —Chaz Brenchley, Lambda award-winning author of Bitter Waters"Mazes of Power showcases Wade’s ability to take the reader deep inside a fully alien culture on the grandest scale yet—even if the ‘aliens’ are fully human." —Stanley Schmidt, author of Night Ride and Sunrise"Mazes of Power is one of those novels that redefines the genre. The storyline draws you in immediately, with characters that range from sympathetic to charming to downright terrifying in their insanity, but despite the initial, fairly conventional coming-of-age plot, this book dives fearlessly into darker questions.... With compassion and keen insight, not to mention the skill of a gifted storyteller, Wade has created Varin, a world without a sun, a society crumbling under the weight of its own survival, and characters desperate for power and for love…a world that will leave readers clamoring for more." —Deborah J. Ross, author of The Seven-Petaled Shield
£15.30
Astra Publishing House Inheritors of Power
Book SynopsisThe third book of The Broken Trust continues an epic struggle for power, kindled in the hearts of two brothers, as it spreads to crack the foundations of their underground society.Many years have passed since the Eminence Nekantor and Heir Adon seized power, and life in Pelismara has found a fragile equilibrium under Nekantor’s thumb. Now the Imbati Service Academy suspects that Xinta, Manservant to the Eminence, may have taken control of Nekantor for his own sinister purposes, endangering what peace still remains. Imbati Catín, an Academy prodigy, vows service to Adon, balancing two core purposes — to advance her Master''s designs on power, and to determine the full extent of Xinta''s influence. When a trash hauler named Akrabitti Corbinan walks into a place he doesn’t belong, everything falls out of balance. Catín, who is investigating this newly discovered hidden library, immediately arrests Corbinan for trespassing. Nekantor thTrade ReviewPraise for Inheritors of Power“I devoured it in half a day. With every book and every chapter, Wade leads us deeper into the maze. Just when you think the tension has reached its peak, she winds it even tighter. I can't wait to see what Varin's fate will be." —Marie Brennan, author of the Memoirs of Lady Trent novels“This third book in the series delves deeper into an incredible world divided by caste and culture, with stunningly nuanced characters that will break your heart in the best sort of way.” —Beth Cato, author of Breath of Earth“Inheritors of Power is not only jam-packed with deadly intrigue, unlikely alliances, complex characters, and incredible friendship, but is above all an absolute masterclass in building a massive sandbox of a world that never once slows the story to explain itself. It lays out an incredible breadcrumb trail which is an absolute delight to follow.” —Nicole Kornher-Stace, author of FirebreakPraise for The Broken Trust series“Wade expands Varin from the claustrophobic confines of the deteriorating elite Grobal caste to the brilliant and perilous planetary surface, to other cities and other levels of society. Beloved characters from the first book are joined by a cast of fascinating new figures with minds and destinies of their own.” —Deborah J. Ross, author of The Seven-Petaled Shield“With an enthralling, grab you by the throat plot, a charismatic—and mysterious—cast of characters, and a fabulously original setting full of secrets, Transgressions of Power is everything I’d hoped it would be and more. Juliette Wade’s Broken Trust series just keeps getting better. Don’t miss this!” —Julie E. Czerneda, author of the Web Shifter’s Library series"The impressively winding plot, layered worldbuilding, and psychologically acute characterizations are sure to hold readers’ attention. Wade is an author to watch." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)"Delicious political intrigue and really cool world building." —Ann Leckie, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of Ancillary Justice"A vivid, thrilling journey through a wonderfully realized and wonderfully complex world; and a fascinating look at power and its exercise across different strata of an intricate society." —Aliette de Bodard, Nebula award-winning author of The Tea Master and the Detective"A twisty ride through family drama and tangled politics, Mazes of Power carries readers into a world of love and treachery, and doesn’t let them go." —Laura Anne Gilman, author of The Cold Eye"A deliciously complex, glittering work of family intrigue and life-or-death politics in a world that's utterly alien, with characters who are all-too human. I loved it." —Kelly Robson, Hugo award-winning author of Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach"[Mazes of Power] is a deeply political novel, that treats with the complexities of caste as much as with the arrogance of ambition; and it steps as lightly through its major themes of political and mental disorder as it does through its plotlines of romance and revolution. This book is a delight to read, and a constant surprise, offering consequences as unexpected to the reader as they are to the characters." —Chaz Brenchley, Lambda award-winning author of Bitter Waters"Mazes of Power showcases Wade’s ability to take the reader deep inside a fully alien culture on the grandest scale yet—even if the ‘aliens’ are fully human." —Stanley Schmidt, author of Night Ride and Sunrise
£16.15
Astra Publishing House The Ice Ghost
Book SynopsisNow in paperback, this second book in a cli-fi series from a nationally-recognized anthropologist explores a frozen future where archaic species struggle to survive an apocalyptic Ice AgeIn the brutal Ice Age caused by the ancient Jemen war, many archaic human species, including Denisovans and Homo erectus, hover on the verge of extinction. There seems no way out, until the greatest Neanderthal holy man, Trogon, has a vision. Legends say the truce that ended the old war left one hostage in the hands of the victorious rebels: the godlike Jemen leader known as the Old Woman of the Mountain. According to Trogon’s vision, only one person knows the location of that burial cave. Trogon must capture young Quiller and force her to lead him there…for the Old Woman may not be dead. She may only have been in stasis for a thousand summers, and when reawakened she will save them from oblivion. But according to the Denisovans—Quiller’s people&mdasTrade ReviewPraise for The Ice Lion"With this engrossing series launch, Gear conjures a vivid postapocalyptic world.... This mesmerizing adventure through a world destroyed by climate change is sure to have readers hooked." —Publishers Weekly"Gear brings her vast knowledge of prehistoric cultures to this climate-fiction tale with beautiful and engaging worldbuilding.... A loose, beautiful tapestry of a tale." —Kirkus Reviews"Written by both a master storyteller and scientist, it’s a chilling tale of a different climate change." —Amazing Stories"The icy setting, with its mountains and ocean, provide a cold backdrop to the warmth of the peoples, whose lives are going to be inescapably altered when paths cross and the past is excavated." —Whiskey with my Book
£15.30
Forge 48 Hours
Book SynopsisFrom the New York Times bestselling author of the smash hit One Second After series comes 48 Hours, a nail-biting and prescient thriller about a solar storm with the power to destroy the world''s electrical infrastructureIn 48 hours, the Earth will be hit by a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from the Sun, a Carrington Event that has the power to shut down and possibly destroy the world''s electrical infrastructure. To try and prevent permanent damage, everything goes dark prior to the hit: global communications are shut down; hospital emergency generators are disconnected; the entire internet, media broadcasting, and cell phone systems are turned off. Will the world''s population successfully defend itself in the wake of the CME, or will mass panic lead to the breakdown of society as we know it?William R. Forstchen is at his best in 48 Hours, a tale of the resilience of American citizens when faced with a cr
£999.99
Flatiron Books salt slow
Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year AwardFrom White Review Short Story Prize winner Julia Armfield, a brilliant, provocative debut story collection for fans of Carmen Maria Machado and Kelly Link.In her electrifying debut, Julia Armfield explores women's experiences in contemporary society, mapped through their bodies. As urban dwellers' sleeps become disassociated from them, like Peter Pan's shadow, a city turns insomniac. A teenager entering puberty finds her body transforming in ways very different than her classmates'. As a popular band gathers momentum, the fangirls following their tour turn into something monstrous. After their parents remarry, two step-sisters, one a girl and one a wolf, develop a dangerously close bond. And in an apocalyptic landscape, a pregnant woman begins to realize that the creature in her belly is not what she expected. Blending elements of horror, science fiction, mythology, and femini
£999.99
St. Martin's Press Antimatter Blues
Book SynopsisEdward Ashton''s Antimatter Blues is the thrilling follow up to Mickey7 in which an expendable heads out to explore new terrain for human habitation.Summer has come to Niflheim. The lichens are growing, the six-winged bat-things are chirping, and much to his own surprise, Mickey Barnes is still alivethat last part thanks almost entirely to the fact that Commander Marshall believes that the colony's creeper neighbors are holding an antimatter bomb, and that Mickey is the only one who's keeping them from using it. Mickey's just another colonist now. Instead of cleaning out the reactor core, he spends his time these days cleaning out the rabbit hutches. It's not a bad life.It's not going to last.It may be sunny now, but winter is coming. The antimatter that fuels the colony is running low, and Marshall wants his bomb back. If Mickey agrees to retrieve it, he'll be giving up the only thing that's kept his head off of the chopping block. If he
£23.19
St Martin's Press These Prisoning Hills
Book SynopsisThese Prisoning Hills is a post-apocalyptic Appalachian weird fiction novella by Hugo and Nebula Award nominee Christopher Rowe.Haunting and heartfelt, violent and vibrant.Alix E. HarrowDeallocate all implications,Fortran harrows all the nations.In a long-ago war, the all-powerful A.I. ruler of the Voluntary State of TennesseeAthena Parthenus, Queen of Reasoninvaded and decimated the American Southeast. Possessing the ability to infect and corrupt the surrounding environment with nanotechnology, she transformed flora, fauna, and the very ground itself into bio-mechanical weapons of war.Marcia, a former captain from Kentucky, experienced first-hand the terrifying, mind-twisting capabilities of Athena's creatures. Now back in the Commonwealth, her retirement is cut short by the arrival of federal troops in her tiny, isolated town. One of Athena's most powerful weapons may still be buried nearby. And they need Marcia's hel
£12.34
Tor Nightfire Sister Maiden Monster
Book SynopsisAbsolutely recommended for readers of the cosmic and gloriously horrific. ?Seanan McGuire, New York TImes bestselling authorSister, Maiden, Monster is a visceral story set in the aftermath of our planet's disastrous transformation and told through the eyes of three women trying to survive the nightmare, from Bram Stoker Award-winning author Lucy A. Snyder.A virus tears across the globe, transforming its victims in nightmarish ways. As the world collapses, dark forces pull a small group of women together.Erin, once quiet and closeted, acquires an appetite for a woman and her brain. Why does forbidden fruit taste so good?Savannah, a professional BDSM switch, discovers a new turn-on: committing brutal murders for her eldritch masters.Mareva, plagued with chronic tumors, is too horrified to acknowledge her divine role in the coming apocalypse, and as her growths multiply, so too does her desperation
£15.29
St Martin's Press Deep Freeze
Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of the Breakthrough series: In his next near-future thriller, Michael C. Grumley explores humanity?s thirst for immortality?at any cost... ?A fast-paced juggernaut of a story, where revelations pile upon revelations, building to a stunning conclusion that will leave readers clamoring for more.? ?James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sigma Force series The accident came quickly. With no warning. In the dead of night, a precipitous plunge into a freezing river trapped everyone inside the bus. It was then that Army veteran John Reiff?s life came to an end. Extinguished in the sudden rush of frigid water. There was no expectation of survival. None. Let alone waking up beneath blinding hospital lights. Struggling to move, or see, or even breathe. But the doctors assure him that everything is normal. That things will improve. And yet, he has a strange feeling that there''s something they''re not telling him. As Reiff''s mind and body gradually recover, he becomes certain that the doctors are lying to him. One by one, puzzle pieces are slowly falling into place, and he soon realizes that things are not at all what they seem. Critical information is being kept from him. Secrets. Supposedly for his own good. But who is doing this? Why? And the most important question: can he keep himself alive long enough to uncover the truth?
£21.59
WW Norton & Co Blue Skies A Novel
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Boyle’s satire has lost none of its edge over the course of a nearly half-century literary career . . . [Blue Skies is] an expert blend of suspense, terror and, occasionally, very black humor . . . this fiercely honest writer shows us what he sees and invites his readers to draw their own conclusions." -- Wendy Smith - Washington Post"Blue Skies is less a novel about what might be done about the climate crisis and more an accomplished family drama with a climate-crisis setting . . . Boyle doesn’t offer his own clear answer. Maybe he doesn’t need to. At this stage of the climate game, it shouldn’t take much prodding to convince us that there’s plenty of work to do if we don’t want our own families to be forced to answer Boyle’s thought problem." -- Matt Bell - New York Times Book Review"If our overpopulated and overheated planet is said to be approaching its terminus, as many nervous prognosticators believe, don’t say T.C. Boyle didn’t warn us… In Boyle’s world, insects are the de rigueur foodie alternative, and why not? As the most abundant life form on Earth, there are plenty to go around, and, given the right culinary sleight of hand, they make a dandy, nutritious meal. But now they, too, are quietly dying off, and no one is really paying much attention. In Blue Skies, nature’s slow death is humanity’s blind spot…. Entertaining… He has certainly got it right. As we become more estranged from the natural world, so we are becoming strangers to ourselves, that crucial aspect of us that is enriched by a keener understanding of how the nonhuman world works." -- Marc Weingarten - Los Angeles Times"T.C. Boyle is one of our greatest living writers, and ‘Blue Skies’ is one of his greatest books. It is a climate fiction novel, but Boyle doesn’t beat you over the head with idealistic philosophies. Instead, he weaves the catastrophic details into the narrative (for example, oceanside property owners have to park their cars on ramps so the tides won’t carry them away). Like the television series ‘Succession,’ there are no redeeming characters in ‘Blue Skies,’ but the narrative is one that you will not be able to turn away from. And because T.C. Boyle has been blessed with a comedian’s pen, you can’t help but laugh at his characters’ misfortunes." -- Jason Jeffries - Colorado Sun"There have been entire shelves of non-fiction books written about climate change . . . But somehow none of them are quite as devastating as T.C. Boyle’s latest novel, 'Blue Skies'. . . . And yet just before Boyle drives his characters over the edge, he eases off the accelerator long enough to find a little hope . . . 'Blue Skies' could be a very influential book indeed." -- Rob Merrill - Associated Press"Satire has often been an important element in his work, and environmental disaster a running theme, and both are at play in this ironically titled, beautifully crafted novel…. Boyle does a brilliant job of writing about an enormous subject in utterly human terms. He draws the Cullens with all their flaws but with tender affection, too. Amid the climate apocalypse, life goes on, which is, maybe, a sign of hope." -- Colette Bancroft - Tampa Bay Times"Boyle’s writing is descriptive but sparse, with surprising outbursts of hilarity . . . Blue Skies is a leisurely ramble along the edges of destruction in a world where knowledge is snatched thoughtlessly from Google and everything, no matter how silly, is marketable." -- Dave Luhrssen - Shepherd Express"[An] ironically titled, beautifully crafted novel . . . Boyle does a brilliant job of writing about an enormous subject in utterly human terms. He draws the Cullens with all their flaws but with tender affection, too. Amid the climate apocalypse, life goes on, which is, maybe, a sign of hope." -- Colette Bancroft - Republican American"Boyle, long a fervent proselytizer for environmental and animal rights, strikes the perfect satirical note to illustrate the nonchalance and obliviousness many otherwise intelligent people display…. Boyle’s genius lies in his ability to blend the horrific and the humorous, to slowly ratchet up the tension while crafting a gripping yet eerie narrative that forecasts a disaster of our own making." -- Booklist, starred review"Spirited... Boyle remains a vibrant stylist, with fondness for his complex characters and a knack for zany details... Equal parts entertaining and anxiety inducing, this dazzles." -- Publishers Weekly"A tragicomic novel of environmental apocalypse in which no matter how bad things get, there’s worse to come . . . the breathless momentum matches the tonal command, which walks a tightrope between darkest humor and truly horrifying . . . Yet so much of this is so funny, in a twisted sort of way. At one point, a character describes the novel he’s reading as cli-fi, and this novel might fit that category as well. Yet it doesn’t so much imagine a climate future as awaken us to today’s." -- Kirkus Reviews"Is climate change funny? Yes, in the brilliantly imaginative T. C. Boyle’s hands, in a terrifying way. Blue Skies is both comic and wrenching. . . . A black arrow of unimaginable horror shoots through the novel’s center, and Boyle leads us to contemplate the ‘inexpressible sadness at the heart of everything’—and a morsel of the world’s inexpressible beauty." -- Annie Proulx"Boyle writes with a youthful and sustained energy that parallels the zeal of his dreamers, and that ultimately attenuates their failures. There are few writers who seem more American." -- Chris Bachelder - New York Times Book Review
£21.75
William Morrow & Company Sand
Book Synopsis
£16.99
Atria Books Zero Day
Book Synopsis
£16.14
Blackstone Publishing Hell Divers
Book Synopsis
£23.74
Penguin Books Ltd The Last Day: A Novel
Book Synopsis
£21.60
Penguin Books Ltd The Last Day: A Novel
Book Synopsis
£15.30
Forever Eternal Rider
Book Synopsis
£999.99
Amazon Publishing Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold: A Novel
Book SynopsisAn inexplicable sickness. A small town cut off from the world. An unexpected community of survivors forges a family out of the despair, struggling against things known and unknown for survival and hope. A mysterious plague known as the Grey grips the small village of Pilam, which the world has quarantined without pity. Laying waste to Pilam’s residents, the sickness saps its victims of strength, drains the color from their eyes, and kills all promise. Only the young are immune. But beyond the barricades and walls of soldiers—the manifestation of a nation’s terror—there are rumors of a cure. Dunka, the eldest son of a family reeling from the Grey, takes on the daunting task of leaving Pilam to find that cure for his siblings and save them before it’s too late. His brother and sisters, however, have plans of their own. Navigating the chaos of violence, hunger, and death, each of them tries to make sense of the bleak circumstances, forging new bonds with other juvenile survivors left to their own devices. Now an unlikely family of six, they choose their own perilous paths, at first separately and then together, coming to terms with the decisions they make and the ghosts they cannot leave behind. Umar Turaki’s gripping novel is a story of survival, love, and the human spirit’s tenacious capacity for wonder.Trade Review“A mysterious disease sweeps through an African village in Umar Turaki’s debut novel. Estranged siblings reunite to band against this insidious illness, highlighting the power of the everyday in this terrifying yet elegant read.” —Good Morning America “Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold is ultimately a redemptive and uplifting text about what family means. The characters draw apart and come together again, showing an astonishing and moving amount of resilience. Though some of the characters commit unimaginable acts, their determination to prevail perfectly matches our own, and that brings great solace.” —Fredericksburg Free Lance Star “No matter how terrible the circumstances…Umar Turaki isn’t glossing over the reality of how bad this situation could get—the changing perspectives kick in at exactly the right times to break the tension and allow a little hope back for the reader…It’s a beautiful book, and even more impressive as a debut.” —Mystery & Suspense “There is an aching beauty woven into the lyrical prose of this novel that lingers with the reader beyond the last page. Against the richly drawn canvas of a landscape rendered vividly and with meticulous detail, a story unfolds of a family and community faced with both outward and inner desolation. Compelled to untangle the difficult questions of what it means to be both human and humane in the face of unspeakable cruelty and horror, one is drawn in and held by their resilience, courage, vulnerability, and tenderness and the inimitable power of the ties that bind.” —Colleen van Niekerk, author of A Conspiracy of Mothers “Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold is a stark, powerful novel about family, resilience, and survival in the face of nearly insurmountable odds. Turaki’s engrossing storytelling will draw you in from the very first page, and the siblings’ determination to escape their grim fates is as harrowing as it is hopeful, reminding us that even when faced with all matters of adversity and tragedy, humanity will still seek a way to forge ahead and prevail.” —Kirthana Ramisetti, author of Dava Shastri’s Last Day “Grim, beautiful—a stunning novel.” —T. L. Huchu, author of The Library of the Dead
£17.99
Large Print Press Station Eleven
Book Synopsis
£15.15
Soho Press Inc Sip
Book SynopsisA lyrical, apocalyptic debut novel about addiction, friendship, and the struggle for survival at the height of an epidemic.The sickness started with a single child and quickly spread: you could get high by drinking your own shadow. Artificial lights were destroyed so addicts could sip shadow at night in the pure moonlight. Gangs of shadow addicts chased down children on playgrounds, rounded up old ladies from retirement homes. Cities were destroyed and governments fell. And if your shadow was sipped entirely, you became one of them, had to drink the shadows of others or go mad.One hundred and fifty years later, what’s left of the world is divided between the highly regimented life of those inside dome cities who are protected from natural light (and natural shadows), and those forced to the dangerous, hardscrabble life in the wilds outside. In rural Texas, Mira, her shadow-addicted-friend Murk, and an ex-domer named Bale search for a possible mythological cure to the shadow sickness—but they must find it, it is said, before the return of Halley’s Comet, which is only days away.
£13.50
Akashic Books A River Called Time
Book Synopsis
£24.61
Button Poetry Not a Lot of Reasons to Sing, But Enough
Book Synopsis
£17.10
Counterpoint The Disaster Tourist: A Novel
Book Synopsis
£12.34
Algonquin Books Clean Air
Book Synopsis
£14.44
Catapult I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself: A Novel
Book SynopsisDept. of Speculation meets Black Mirror in this lyrical, speculative debut about a queer mother raising her daughter in an unjust surveillance stateIn a United States not so unlike our own, the Department of Balance has adopted a radical new form of law enforcement: rather than incarceration, wrongdoers are given a second (and sometimes, third, fourth, and fifth) shadow as a reminder of their crime—and a warning to those they encounter. Within the Department, corruption and prejudice run rampant, giving rise to an underclass of so-called Shadesters who are disenfranchised, publicly shamed, and deprived of civil rights protections.Kris is a Shadester and a new mother to a baby born with a second shadow of her own. Grieving the loss of her wife and thoroughly unprepared for the reality of raising a child alone, Kris teeters on the edge of collapse, fumbling in a daze of alcohol, shame, and self-loathing. Yet as the kid grows, Kris finds her footing, raising a child whose irrepressible spark cannot be dampened by the harsh realities of the world. She can’t forget her wife, but with time, she can make a new life for herself and the kid, supported by a community of fellow misfits who defy the Department to lift one another up in solidarity and hope.With a first-person register reminiscent of the fierce self-disclosure of Sheila Heti and the poetic precision of Ocean Vuong, I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself is a bold debut novel that examines the long shadow of grief, the hard work of parenting, and the power of queer resistance.
£21.60
Catapult I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself: A Novel
Book SynopsisDept. of Speculation meets Black Mirror in this lyrical, speculative debut about a queer mother raising her daughter in an unjust surveillance stateIn a United States not so unlike our own, the Department of Balance has adopted a radical new form of law enforcement: rather than incarceration, wrongdoers are given a second (and sometimes, third, fourth, and fifth) shadow as a reminder of their crime?and a warning to those they encounter. Within the Department, corruption and prejudice run rampant, giving rise to an underclass of so-called Shadesters who are disenfranchised, publicly shamed, and deprived of civil rights protections.Kris is a Shadester and a new mother to a baby born with a second shadow of her own. Grieving the loss of her wife and thoroughly unprepared for the reality of raising a child alone, Kris teeters on the edge of collapse, fumbling in a daze of alcohol, shame, and self-loathing. Yet as the kid grows, Kris finds her footing, raising a child whose irrepressible spark cannot be dampened by the harsh realities of the world. She can?t forget her wife, but with time, she can make a new life for herself and the kid, supported by a community of fellow misfits who defy the Department to lift one another up in solidarity and hope.With a first-person register reminiscent of the fierce self-disclosure of Sheila Heti and the poetic precision of Ocean Vuong, I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself is a bold debut novel that examines the long shadow of grief, the hard work of parenting, and the power of queer resistance.
£16.16
Two Dollar Radio Palaces
£13.95
Vesuvian Books It Takes Death to Reach a Star
Book SynopsisWE ALL HAVE DEMONS. SOME DEMONS HAVE YOU.The world you know is dead. We did this to ourselves. The epidemic struck at the end of the Third World War. Fighting over oil, power, and religion, governments ignored the rise of an antibacterial-resistant plague. In just five years, the Earth was annihilated. Only one city survived—Etyom—a frozen hellhole in northern Siberia, engulfed in endless conflict.The year is 2251. Two groups emerged from the ashes of the old world. Within the walled city of Lower Etyom dwell the Robusts—descendants of the poor who were immune to the New Black Death. Above them, in a metropolis of pristine platforms called lillipads, live the Graciles—the progeny of the superrich, bio-engineered to resist the plague. Mila Solokoff is a Robust who trades information in a world where knowing too much can get you killed. Caught in a deal gone bad, she's forced to take a high-risk job for a clandestine organization hell-bent on revolution. Demitri Stasevich is a Gracile with a dark secret—a sickness that, if discovered, will get him Ax'd. His only relief is an illegal narcotic produced by the Robusts, and his only means of obtaining it is a journey to the arctic hell far below New Etyom. Thrust together in the midst of a sinister plot that threatens all life above and below the cloud line, Mila and Demitri must master their demons and make a choice—one that will either salvage what's left of the human race or doom it to extinction …Awards Bronze Winner — 2019 Independent Publisher Book Awards — Science Fiction Gold (1st Place) Winner — 2019 Feathered Quill Book Awards — Science Fiction/Fantasy Finalist — 2018 Dragon Awards — Science Fiction Winner — 2018 New York Book Festival — Science Fiction Trade Review"...merging the best of apocalyptic fiction and sci-fi ...compelling." -- Library Journal"Cinematic, thought-provoking, and immersive in the manner of the novels of Philip K. Dick." BOOKLIST"One-of-a-kind, richly imagined and vividly portrayed. The sense of pacing is exquisite." Jason Kirk, 47North
£15.15
Running Wild Press The Serpents of Eden
Book Synopsis
£17.05
Penguin Putnam Inc The Mother Code
Book Synopsis
£15.30
Random House USA Inc Harrow: A novel (Kirkus Prize)
Book SynopsisIn her first novel since the Pulitzer Prize–nominated The Quick and the Dead, the legendary writer takes us into an uncertain landscape after an environmental apocalypse, a world in which only the man-made has value, but some still wish to salvage the authentic. She practices ... camouflage, except that instead of adapting to its environment, Williams’s imagination, by remaining true to itself, reveals new colorations in the ecology around her.” —A.O. Scott, The New York Times Book ReviewKhristen is a teenager who, her mother believes, was marked by greatness as a baby when she died for a moment and then came back to life. After Khristen’s failing boarding school for gifted teens closes its doors, and she finds that her mother has disappeared, she ranges across the dead landscape and washes up at a “resort” on the shores of a mysterious, putrid lake the elderly residents there call “Big Girl.” In a rotting honeycomb of rooms, these old ones plot actions to punish corporations and people they consider culpable in the destruction of the final scraps of nature’s beauty. What will Khristen and Jeffrey, the precocious ten-year-old boy she meets there, learn from this “gabby seditious lot, in the worst of health but with kamikaze hearts, an army of the aged and ill, determined to refresh, through crackpot violence, a plundered earth”? Rivetingly strange and beautiful, and delivered with Williams’s searing, deadpan wit, Harrow is their intertwined tale of paradise lost and of their reasons—against all reasonableness—to try and recover something of it.
£14.40
£42.96
