How High We Go in the Dark

FINALIST FOR THE URSULA LE GUIN PRIZE FOR FICTION 2022

Siberia, 2031. After a virus, unearthed from melting permafrost, unleashes a deadly plague upon humanity, those left alive are forced to adapt to a new world, and do so in myriad moving and inventive ways. Among those adjusting to this new normal are an aspiring comedian, employed by a theme park designed for terminally ill children, who falls in love with a mother trying desperately to keep her son alive; a scientist who, having failed to save his own son from the plague, gets a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects a pig develops human speech; and a widowed painter and her teenage granddaughter who must set off on cosmic quest to locate a new home planet.

A story of unshakeable hope that seamlessly crosses literary lines, How High We Go in the Dark follows a cast of intricately linked characters spanning hundreds of years as humankind endeavours to restore the delicate balance of the world.

'Haunting and luminous — an astonishing debut' — Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen and V for Vendetta

'A powerfully moving and thought provoking read. At times sublime, strange and deeply human' — Adrian Tchaikovsky, bestselling author of the Children of Time series