Orpheus
On sale
16th February 2027
Price: £22
Genre
From the bestselling M. R. Carey, winner of the Philip K. Award, comes an epic and exhilarating science fiction tale about a distant colony planet at war with itself – where one half is forever in sunlight and the other in endless night.
HUMANITY CAN’T SURVIVE THE NIGHTSIDE
On the distant colony world of Tessix, the sun never moves in the sky. One side of the planet burns under endless noon, whilst the other is a frozen wasteland in perpetual darkness. Human life is only possible in a narrow strip of land where the terraforming project almost worked.
Growing up on the borderland between light and dark, under the fading sun globes of Tanner’s Hook, fifteen-year-old Bead Plessey clings to his friends and his fantasies. Bead dreams of one day escaping the grim realities of life on Tessix – the declining population, the ruthless autocracy of the Noonday government, and the monstrous Daspa that come out of the nightside to feed on human blood.
When a stranger turns up at Bead’s home asking for lodgings, he brings the possibility of change. But who is Jud Valery, and where has he come from? Is his interest in Bead benign or sinister? And how is he connected to the disappearance of Bead’s mother, Omrid, eight years before? Looking for answers, Bead assembles an ill-assorted band of allies – but their investigation takes them far beyond Tanner’s Hook, into the nightside and into the long-buried secrets that shaped their world.
Discover this thrilling standalone science fiction novel from M. R. Carey, author of the Philip K. Dick Award-winning Outlaw Planet and Infinity Gate (a New York Times Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of the Year), perfect for fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky, Alasdair Reynolds and Peter F. Hamilton.
Praise for M. R. Carey:
‘AN IMMENSE ACHIEVEMENT: AN IMPECCABLY CRAFTED BOOK’ New York Times
‘A GENUINE TREAT FOR SF FANS’ Kirkus
‘A FASCINATING WINDOW ONTO A DANGEROUS AND MULTIFACETED UNIVERSE’ Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time
HUMANITY CAN’T SURVIVE THE NIGHTSIDE
On the distant colony world of Tessix, the sun never moves in the sky. One side of the planet burns under endless noon, whilst the other is a frozen wasteland in perpetual darkness. Human life is only possible in a narrow strip of land where the terraforming project almost worked.
Growing up on the borderland between light and dark, under the fading sun globes of Tanner’s Hook, fifteen-year-old Bead Plessey clings to his friends and his fantasies. Bead dreams of one day escaping the grim realities of life on Tessix – the declining population, the ruthless autocracy of the Noonday government, and the monstrous Daspa that come out of the nightside to feed on human blood.
When a stranger turns up at Bead’s home asking for lodgings, he brings the possibility of change. But who is Jud Valery, and where has he come from? Is his interest in Bead benign or sinister? And how is he connected to the disappearance of Bead’s mother, Omrid, eight years before? Looking for answers, Bead assembles an ill-assorted band of allies – but their investigation takes them far beyond Tanner’s Hook, into the nightside and into the long-buried secrets that shaped their world.
Discover this thrilling standalone science fiction novel from M. R. Carey, author of the Philip K. Dick Award-winning Outlaw Planet and Infinity Gate (a New York Times Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of the Year), perfect for fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky, Alasdair Reynolds and Peter F. Hamilton.
Praise for M. R. Carey:
‘AN IMMENSE ACHIEVEMENT: AN IMPECCABLY CRAFTED BOOK’ New York Times
‘A GENUINE TREAT FOR SF FANS’ Kirkus
‘A FASCINATING WINDOW ONTO A DANGEROUS AND MULTIFACETED UNIVERSE’ Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time
Reviews
A dazzling speculation on the many ways our world could have evolved, layered inside a thriller that will make your eardrums vibrate. M.R. Carey reveals the human (and non-human) cost extracted by the crumbling aspirations of a multiverse empire. I was charmed, disturbed, and fascinated by turns - and I couldn't put this book down
Infinity Gate, with its in-depth science and rich characterization, is a must-read for SF fans, as Carey's story crosses the militarism of an anthropomorphic Starship Troopers with Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's Long Earth series while waging a war against Stargate's replicators.
A dazzling speculation on the many ways our world could have evolved, layered inside a thriller that will make your eardrums vibrate. M.R. Carey reveals the human (and non-human) cost extracted by the crumbling aspirations of a multiverse empire. I was charmed, disturbed, and fascinated by turns - and I couldn't put this book down
[A] brilliant dimension-hopping sci-fi thriller . . . readers will be wowed
Infinity Gate is a powerful exploration of the near-future, skilfully and seamlessly weaving different realities and different iterations of AI . . . A compelling entry and a must-read!
When the book's different subplots converge, they do so in a brilliantly realised set-piece that combines balletic über-violence with real emotional heft - which only makes you impatient to open the next volume
M.R. Carey is a master of imagination and suspense
A genuine treat for SF fans: an epic multiverse tale that moves like a thriller
Infinity Gate is a powerful exploration of the near-future, skilfully and seamlessly weaving different realities and different iterations of AI . . . Carey has the experience, imagination and verve to pull it off. A compelling entry and a must-read!
A genuine treat for SF fans: an epic multiverse tale that moves like a thriller
Compulsively readable . . . This is the science-fiction epic I've always wanted to read. It's nothing short of superb, and deserves every accolade it's sure to get. Go and read it as soon as it comes out - you will not be disappointed
A fascinating window onto a dangerous and multifaceted universe
M.R. Carey is a master of imagination and suspense
A mind-bending multiverse novel that feels wholly original
Humane, thoughtful and exciting, Mike Carey reaffirms his place in the ranks of SF with this startlingly good novel
This is gripping, unrelenting, and absolutely unique. Carey is working at the absolute top of his game, and I cannot wait to see where this story goes next! They say there's nothing new under the sun. Well, M. R. Carey heard this and invented a whole new sun to put new things under. Absolutely brilliant. Top-notch science fiction, thrilling and thoughtful at the same time.
This is gripping, unrelenting, and absolutely unique. Carey is working at the absolute top of his game, and I cannot wait to see where this story goes next! They say there's nothing new under the sun. Well, M. R. Carey heard this and invented a whole new sun to put new things under. Absolutely brilliant. Top-notch science fiction, thrilling and thoughtful at the same time