How High We Go in the Dark

‘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

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 a 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.

Wonderful and disquieting, dreamlike and all too possible. How High We Go in the Dark reaches far beyond our stars while its heart remains rooted to Earth, and reminds us that our wellbeing depends on the wellbeing of our world — Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree