Description
Book SynopsisIn a far-future society where biotechnology has revolutionised gender, young Fift must decide whether to conform or carve a new path. In the distant future somewhere in the galaxy, a society has emerged where everyone has multiple bodies, cybernetics has abolished privacy, and individual and family success within the rigid social system is reliant upon instantaneous social approbation. Young Fift is an only child of the staid gender, struggling to maintain their position in the system while developing an intriguing friendship with the poorly publicised bioengineer Shria - somewhat controversial, since Shria is bail gendered. In time, Fift and Shria unintentionally wind up at the center of a scandalous art spectacle which turns into the early stages of a multi-layered revolution against their strict societal system. Suddenly they become celebrities and involuntary standard-bearers for the upheaval. Fift is torn between the survival of Shria and the success of their family cohort; staying true to their feelings and caving under societal pressure. Whatever Fift decides will make a disproportionately huge impact on the future of the world. What's a young staid to do when the whole world is watching?
Trade Review★ “This beautifully written debut is a thorough, well-realized picture of a world with a radically different concept of gender and the body that nonetheless has its own forms of oppression. Rosenbaum's novel is essential reading for anyone interested not only in speculative fiction that plays with gender norms, but also in quality SF in general. Highly recommended.” —
Booklist, starred review
“[A] complex meditation on fame, taboo, gender, and social control . . . as mind-bending as it is satisfying.”—
Publishers Weekly“A wildly inventive, funny, and ultimately quite heartfelt novel,
The Unraveling is a chaotic romp of gender deconstruction packaged up in a groovy science-fictional coming-of-age tale.” —
Chicago Review of Books
“A stunning far-future tale of what families might look like in a world where networking technology allows people to live in several bodies at the same time.”
—Science Friday “An immersive future history,
The Unraveling is a fantastic adventure that is also a story about the love that binds us to each other—and to the galaxy itself. Rosenbaum’s writing is wonderfully complex and whimsical, but most of all it is humane. No matter how alien his characters and worlds, they feel like kin.” —
Annalee Newitz, author of
Autonomous
“If you’ve followed Rosenbaum’s work to date—glittering, cerebral,hilarious short fiction—then it will not surprise you to learn thatthis is a book that is as weird and wild as shoes on a snake.”—
Cory Doctorow, author of
Walkaway“I hope a ton of people read this book, think about it, and talk about it, as this is the book that could launch a hundred think pieces and a thousand imitators . . . I truly feel like
The Unraveling is a reinvention of new directions stories can go when playing with science fiction’s favorite questions: What If? Why Not?” —
Little Red Reviewer
“The wonders of this novel are best revealed by reading it. . . . I was surprised again and again.” —
Rich Horton, editor of
Locus
