Those Beyond the Wall
The gripping new novel from a Sunday Times bestselling author, shortlisted for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction
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- 49,00 kr
Publisher Description
Faced with a coming apocalypse, a woman must reckon with her past to solve a series of sudden and inexplicable deaths in a searing sci-fi thriller from the author of The Space Between Worlds.
Revolution is a spark, and rage is the fire.
In the harsh desert realm of Ashtown, the Emperor reigns with an iron fist, guarding against the relentless hostility of Wiley City. Scales, a skilled mechanic and fierce warrior, is the Emperor's trusted confidante. When a mysterious murder shatters the fragile peace, Scales, with an unlikely team, must uncover the killer plaguing both Ashtown and Wiley City. As she delves into the secrets hidden beneath the city's pristine exterior, Scales unravels startling truths, forcing her to confront a past she'd rather forget.
To save the world, she must break her silence, even if it means sacrificing everything.
'Those Beyond the Wall shows us the extent to which evil will avoid accountability.' READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'I'm glad that Micaiah Johnson is so angry - it makes her a fantastic writer!' READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'This is the book you write about revolution when your peaceful resistance was met with state-sanctioned violence.' READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a telling introductory note to this fierce, noir vision of a postapocalypse Earth, Compton-Crook Award winner Johnson (The Space Between Worlds) distinguishes between rage, which has a target, and anger, which has none. Conceived during the 2020 sit-in at Nashville's People's Plaza aimed at "institutionalized racialized violence," this thought-provoking novel's rage is fueled by "dreams of a different but possible future." Scales, the most effective enforcer for the ruler of the Black community of Ashtown, witnesses her friend Helene X inexplicably torn to pieces by an unseen force. After more, similarly shattered bodies appear throughout Ashtown and the neighboring, walled-in white enclave of Wiley City, Scales is ordered to investigate. Her quest is textured by her anger issues, lingering trauma from childhood abuse, and unrequited love for a man she'll never have. Also complicating things is the sinister influx of "dops," alternate versions of existing people from parallel universes. Wrenching scenes of physical and psychological torture are tempered only slightly by a closing vision that things could be better, "by fire if necessary." This searing and demanding novel is sure to stir readers.
