A dark and hungry god arises

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John Calvin Batchelor

The book tells the strange story of Grim Fiddle, born in Sweden, and of his father, Peregrine, an American who escaped the U.S. war in Vietnam and is illegal in Sweden. Grim grows up around Peregrine's friends who take care of him, but things in Sweden get complicated, because Peregrine is imprisoned and becomes the symbol of a xenophobic nationalist revolt led by Mord Fiddle, the grandfather of Grim. Eventually, Grim, his grandfather and his friends are aimed at a sea voyage in the midst of a cruel, even mysterious war that shakes Europe and the adventure takes them to the Falkland Islands, then to South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula finally ... Told in first person by an old Grim who recounts his memories, and talks about war crimes he committed, the novel creates an atmosphere of condemnation and guilt, and is full of philosophical reflections on human nature, the relationship between the powerful nations, poor nations and the relations of war. Classification? Future social history sci-fi, maybe. with the emphasison the sociology of a world involved in a war that is almost a worldwide phenomenon. "Norse saga" or "epic" could also be applicable categorizations. There are two distinct parts. In the first, which occupies almost all the book, deals with the long drift to the ice and the exile of Grim Fiddle. In the second part, it suggests vaguely historical events in the background. Western governments, concerned about the unstoppable wave of refugees and the problems that can cause, organize what is called the Cross of Ice, which is responsible to set up camps for resettlement in the Antarctic Circle which are reality nothing more than concentration camps where refugees are expected to stay away from civilization.

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David Thorpe

A thrilling sci-fi novel set in a believeable – and terrifying – near future... Hybrids is the winning entry to the HarperCollins nationwide new author competition with SAGA Magazine.Johnny Online and Kestrella are hybrids – victims of "Creep", a pandemic sweeping the country which causes sufferers to merge with items of technology when over-exposed to their use. Kestrella persuades a wary Johnny to help her find her missing mother, but the Gene Police have other plans for him... Powerful, compelling, and narrated alternately by Johnny and Kes, it questions our human dependence on technology, and our reactions in the face of nationwide panic. This was the outstanding winner of the Children's Book Writing Competition run in conjunction with SAGA Magazine.Orange-prize winning author Helen Dunmore – one of the judges – says: "The writing is sharp, the dialogue good, and the action pacey and page-turning. But there's a real depth to this story, too. Like all good fiction it makes the reader see the world in a different light."

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Terry Brooks

Twenty years ago, Terry Brooks turned fantasy fiction on its head with The Sword of Shannara, the first fantasy novel to make the mainstream bestseller lists, and the first in an unbroken string of thirteen bestselling books. Now, in Running with the Demon, Brooks does nothing less than revitalize fantasy fiction again, inventing the complex and powerful new mythos of the Word and the Void, good versus evil still, but played out in the theater-in-the-round of the "real world" of our present. On the hottest Fourth of July weekend in decades, two men have come to Hopewell, Illinois, site of a lengthy, bitter steel strike. One is a demon, dark servant of the Void, who will use the anger and frustration of the community to attain a terrible secret goal. The other is John Ross, a Knight of the Word, a man who, while he sleeps, lives in the hell the world will become if he fails to change its course on waking. Ross has been given the ability to see the future. But does he have the power to change it?At stake is the soul of a fourteen-year-old girl mysteriously linked to both men. And the lives of the people of Hopewell. And the future of the country. This Fourth of July, while friends and families picnic in Sinnissippi Park and fireworks explode in celebration of freedom and independence, the fate of Humanity will be decided . . .A novel that weaves together family drama, fading innocence, cataclysm, and enlightenment, Running with the Demon will forever change the way you think about the fantasy novel. As believable as it is imaginative, as wondrous as it is frightening, it is a rich, exquisitely-written tale to be savored long after the last page is turned.From the Hardcover edition.

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A.D. Nauman

In the future world of Scorch, America is run by a “corporacracy.” Three conglomerates have taken control not by force but by manipulating common beliefs and values through the media, and particularly by playing on Americans’ fears of Big Brother. Consumerism and privatization have run amok in this landscape of flashing screens and subtle brainwashing, a world where even city streets and public schools are run by big business. This is a darkly comic first novel of a dystopian future, with echoes of 1984 and Brave New World.