In infinite parallel universes, there’s a version of you who already has everything you’ve ever wanted. But 24-year-old drop-out Bridge is paralysed, by all the other lives she could have lived, the choices she could have made, and now, whoever she’s supposed to be in the wake of her mother’s premature death. They always had a complicated relationship. Jo was the teenage runaway turned maverick neuroscientist who threw everything away chasing after an impossibility – a mysterious artefact – the dreamworm – that allows you to switch between realities. And now she’s dead and any chance of reconciliation with her is gone. But is Jo really gone ... or only in this universe? When Bridge and her best friend Dom stumble on the dreamworm,which does indeed open the doors to other worlds, otherselves, she becomes convinced her mom is lost out there. But the dreamworm is more dangerous than she can imagine, and she’s not the only one hunting across time and space. Page-turning and ambitious, Bridge is a dazzlingly inventive speculative thriller with an unforgettable cast of characters, and the work of a novelist at the height of her powers.
A Punk Lolita fighter-pilot rescues Tokyo from a marauding art installation. A young architect’s life is derailed by an inquisitive girl who happens to be a ghost. Loyalty to a favorite product can be addictive when it gets under your skin. In her edgy and satiric debut collection, award-winning South African author Lauren Beukes (The Shining Girls) never holds back. Ranging from Johannesburg to outer space, Beukes is a fierce and captivating presence in the literary landscape.
A grieving daughter’s search for her mother becomes a journey across alternate realities in this dazzling new thriller from the author of The Shining Girls that is "sheer thrilling madness with a big, beating heart that reminds us we're all connected" (Grady Hendrix, New York Times bestselling author). There are infinite realities. She's looking for one . . . Twenty-four-year-old Bridge is paralyzed by choices: all the other lives she could have lived, the decisions she could have made. And now, who she should be in the wake of her mother’s unexpected death. Jo was a maverick neuroscientist fixated on an artifact she called the “dreamworm” that she believed could open the doors to other worlds. It was part of Jo’s grand delusion, her sickness, and it cost her everything, including her relationship with her daughter. But in packing up Jo’s house, Bridge discovers Jo’s obsession hidden amongst her things. And the dreamworm works, exactly the way it’s supposed to, the way Bridge remembers from when she was a little girl. Suddenly Bridge can step into other realities, otherselves. In one of them, could she find out what really happened to her mother? What Bridge doesn’t know is that there are others hunting for the dreamworm—who will kill to get their hands on it. Bridge is a highly original, reality-bending thrill-ride that could only have come from the brilliant mind of award-winning novelist, Lauren Beukes, about mothers and daughters, hunters and seekers, and who we each choose to be. "A fantastic high-wire act of a novel . . . at once a cosmic narrative and a deeply intimate human story." —Catriona Ward "Ass-kicking, mind-bending entertainment." —Kirkus Reviews “A suspenseful, deeply immersive odyssey that will make you consider the alternate possibilities inside us all.” —Katie Gutierrez "Spiders out into alternate universes yet manages to be very much about us and our fractured now." —Paul Tremblay "Lauren Beukes is a major, major talent." —George R. R. Martin
Now an Apple TV+ series starring Elisabeth Moss: the girl who wouldn't die hunts the killer who shouldn't exist in this "expertly chilling" twist on the serial killer novel from the award-winning author Lauren Beukes (San Francisco Chronicle). Harper Curtis is a killer who stepped out of the past. Kirby Mazrachi is the girl who was never meant to have a future. Kirby is the last shining girl, one of the bright young women, burning with potential, whose lives Harper is destined to snuff out after he stumbles on a House in Depression-era Chicago that opens on to other times. At the urging of the House, Harper inserts himself into the lives of these shining girls, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He's the ultimate hunter, vanishing without a trace into another time after each murder -- until one of his victims survives. Determined to bring her would-be killer to justice, Kirby joins the Chicago Sun-Times to work with the reporter, Dan Velasquez, who covered her case. Soon Kirby finds herself closing in on an impossible truth . . . “Utterly original, beautifully written, and I must say, it creeped the holy bejasus out of me. This is something special.” —Tana French
Children of Men meets The Handmaid's Tale in this "smartly written" and "splendid" thriller about how far a mother will go to protect her son from a hostile world transformed by the absence of men (Stephen King). Most of the men are dead. Three years after the pandemic known as The Manfall, governments still hold and life continues—but a world run by women isn't always a better place. Twelve-year-old Miles is one of the last boys alive, and his mother, Cole, will protect him at all costs. On the run after a horrific act of violence-and pursued by Cole's own ruthless sister, Billie—all Cole wants is to raise her kid somewhere he won't be preyed on as a reproductive resource or a sex object or a stand-in son. Someplace like home. To get there, Cole and Miles must journey across a changed America in disguise as mother and daughter. From a military base in Seattle to a luxury bunker, from an anarchist commune in Salt Lake City to a roaming cult that's all too ready to see Miles as the answer to their prayers, the two race to stay ahead at every step . . . even as Billie and her sinister crew draw closer. A sharply feminist, high-stakes thriller from award-winning author Lauren Beukes, Afterland brilliantly blends psychological suspense, American noir, and science fiction into an adventure all its own—and perfect for our times.
A new edition of Lauren Beukes's Arthur C Clarke Award-winning novel set in a world where murderers and other criminals acquire magical animals that are mystically bonded to them. Zinzi has a Sloth on her back, a dirty 419 scam habit, and a talent for finding lost things. When a little old lady turns up dead and the cops confiscate her last paycheck, Zinzi's forced to take on her least favorite kind of job -- missing persons. Being hired by reclusive music producer Odi Huron to find a teenybop pop star should be her ticket out of Zoo City, the festering slum where the criminal underclass and their animal companions live in the shadow of hell's undertow. Instead, it catapults Zinzi deeper into the maw of a city twisted by crime and magic, where she'll be forced to confront the dark secrets of former lives -- including her own.
Lauren Beukes's frighteningly persuasive, high-tech fable follows four narrators living in a dystopian near-future. Kendra, an art-school dropout, brands herself for a nanotech marketing program. Lerato, an ambitious AIDS baby, plots to defect from her corporate employers. Tendeka, a hot-headed activist, is becoming increasingly rabid. Toby, a roguish blogger, discovers that the video games he plays for cash are much more than they seem. On a collision course that will rewire their lives, these characters crackle with bold and infectious ideas, connecting a ruthless corporate-apartheid government with video games, biotech attack dogs, slippery online identities, a township soccer school, shocking cell phones, addictive branding, and genetically modified art. Taking hedonistic trends in society to their ultimate conclusions, Lauren Beukes spins a tale of a utopia gone wrong, satirically undermining the idea of progress as society's white knight.
A stressed out, super-powered private investigator puts herself in harm’s way in pursuit of justice in this original Marvel story. As a private eye in New York City, it’s Jessica Jones’s job to investigate humanity’s worst, unleashed impulses. Possessing superhuman strength and endurance does nothing to help her process other people’s tragedies, much less her own slate of unresolved traumatic issues. Realizing drinking and hitting things is no way to cope with her problems—no matter how much fun it is—Jessica gives therapy a try. But she finds it hard to look after herself when so many people need help. Hired to find a missing boy, Jessica follows a trail that ends with his dead body, the apparent victim of a drug overdose. Her gut instinct tells her the case isn’t solved, leading Jessica into an even deeper, darker mystery . . . Jessica Jones: Playing With Fire is a collaborative novel by Lauren Beukes, Vita Ayala, Sam Beckbessinger, Zoe Quinn, and Elsa Sjunneson.
From Africa’s first black movie star to a stylish commie revolutionary, showgirls and soccer stars, writers and poets, activists, artists, a pop princess, a prophetess and a cold-blooded killer, Maverick explores the riveting, true tales of women who broke with convention. Updated, expanded, and now with photographs, this edition of Lauren Beukes’s first book casts light onto the fascinating lives of some of South Africa’s most famous – and notorious – women.
Look out for AFTERLAND, the new novel by Lauren Beukes In a troubling, near-future Cape Town four broken people try to carve out a place for themselves before a brutal storm of change hits them . . . ****** 'Beukes deals with slightly surreal things in very real ways. I'm all over it' Gillian Flynn Kendra, an art-school dropout, brands herself for a nanotech marketing program. Lerato, an ambitious AIDS baby, plots to defect from her corporate employers. Tendeka, a hot-headed activist, is becoming increasingly rabid. Toby, a roguish blogger, discovers that the video games he plays for cash are much more than they seem. Four hurt and damaged individuals trying to make lives for themselves in a broken, uncertain future. But as events send them on a collision course their worlds are about to change in unexpected - and explosive - ways. ******* 'You don't have to be an SF aficionado to love this novel that is fast, brimming with original ideas' Guardian 'A major, major talent' George R. R. Martin
WINNER OF THE 2011 ARTHUR C CLARKE AWARD Lauren Beukes' tale of a young woman trapped in a brutal city but looking for a way out . . . 'A major, major talent' George R. R. Martin *** Zinzi has a Sloth on her back, a dirty 419 scam habit and a talent for finding lost things. But when a little old lady turns up dead and the cops confiscate her last paycheque, she's forced to take on her least favourite kind of job - missing persons. Being hired by reclusive music producer Odi Huron to find a pop star should be her ticket out of Zoo City, the festering slum where the criminal underclass and their animal companions reside. Instead it catapults Zinzi deeper into the maw of a city twisted by crime and magic, where she'll be forced to confront the dark secrets of former lives - including her own. Look out for AFTERLAND, the new novel by Lauren Beukes *** 'Beukes is very *very* good. It feels effortless, utterly accomplished' William Gibson 'Beukes brings a secret tenderness and humanity to her off-kilter portrait of the here and now' Guardian 'Exquisitely paced and impeccably controlled. An enormously satisfying novel' New York Times Book Review
Chicago, 1931. Prima di trovare la Casa Harper Curtis era uno dei tanti vagabondi in una città schiacciata dalla Depressione. Poi una voce lo attira in quella che sembra solo una villa in rovina, e la sua vita cambia per sempre. Le porte della Casa permettono di viaggiare nel tempo e lui incomincia ad assaporare le meraviglie del futuro. Ma Harper Curtis è anche un uomo violento e crudele, un sadico, e a farne le spese sono giovani donne, forti, indipendenti e ricche di talento. Ogni giorno, nella sua testa i loro nomi riecheggiano, si ripetono, bruciano e splendono come stelle. Come un cacciatore Harper le insegue attraverso le epoche, scovandole da bambine e tornando a ucciderle quando sono sbocciate, al culmine del loro splendore. Ora Harper Curtis è l’assassino perfetto, non può essere scoperto né fermato. O almeno, così crede. Chicago, 1992. Quello che non ti uccide ti rende più forte. Kirby Mazrachi ha imparato bene la lezione da quando è stata assalita ed è sopravvissuta per miracolo. Il suo aggressore non è mai stato identificato. Nonostante il trauma emotivo, ha deciso che non vuole rimanere una vittima: l’unico modo per farlo è trovare chi l’ha attaccata e fermarlo. Il suo unico alleato è Dan, il giornalista che ha seguito il suo caso dopo l’aggressione. Lentamente, Kirby si rende conto che l’uomo a cui sta dando la caccia non è un semplice maniaco. Molte, troppe ragazze sono state uccise a Chicago, una scia di morte che si allunga così indietro negli anni che non può essere opera di una sola mano. E ogni volta sulla scena del delitto sono stati trovati oggetti che non hanno spiegazione. Come può Kirby trovare e catturare un uomo che non esiste?
FEATURING KELLY LINK * HOLLY BLACK * KEN LIU * USMAN T. MALIK * LAUREN BEUKES * PAOLO BACIGALUPI * JOE ABERCROMBIE * GENEVIEVE VALENTINE * NICOLA GRIFFITH * CAITLÍN R. KIERNAN * GREG EGAN * K. J. PARKER * RACHEL SWIRSKY * ALICE SOLA KIM * GARTH NIX * KARL SCHROEDER * ELLEN KLAGES * KAI ASHANTE WILSON * MICHAEL SWANWICK * ELEANOR ARNASON * JAMES PATRICK KELLY * IAN MCDONALD * AMAL EL-MOHTAR * TIM MAUGHAN * ELIZABETH BEAR * THEODORA GOSS * PETER WATTS Science fiction and fantasy has never been more diverse or vibrant, and 2014 has provided a bountiful crop of extraordinary stories. These stories are about the future, worlds beyond our own, the realms of our imaginations and dreams but, more importantly, they are the stories of ourselves. Featuring best-selling writers and emerging talents, here are some of the most exciting genre writers working today. Multi-award winning editor Jonathan Strahan once again brings you the best stories from the past year. Within you will find twenty-eight amazing tales from authors across the globe, displaying why science fiction and fantasy are genres increasingly relevant to our turbulent world.
All new Fiction by Nisi Shawl, Lauren Beukes, Nancy Palmer, Kathryn Ptacek, R.A. MacAvoy and Christopher Golden. Interviews with: Christopher Golden, Richard Smoley, Philip Fracassi, and more! Columns from Mike Davis, Laird Barron, Robert Morrish, Donald Tyson and Richard Dansky! Dark Poetry: Michael Collings
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