A damaged young man meets an enigmatic waitress in a Tokyo cafÉ, and they embark on a journey that will change everything ... an emotive speculative literary novel set in a near-future Japan
It's our world, but decades into the future ... an ordinary world, where cars drive themselves, drones glide across the sky, and robots work in burger shops. There are two superpowers and a digital Cold War, but all conflicts are safely oceans away. People get up, work, and have dinner. Everything is as it should be...
Except for seventeen-year-old John, a tech prodigy from a damaged family, who hides a deeply personal secret. But everything starts to change for him when he enters a tiny cafÉ on a cold Tokyo night. A cafÉ run by a disgraced sumo wrestler, where a peculiar dog with a spherical head lives, alongside its owner, enigmatic waitress Neotnia...
But Neotnia hides a secret of her own – a secret that will turn John's unhappy life upside down. A secret that will take them from the neon streets of Tokyo to Hiroshima's tragic past to the snowy mountains of Nagano.
A secret that reveals that this world is anything ordinary – and it's about to change forever...
Genre: Science Fiction
It's our world, but decades into the future ... an ordinary world, where cars drive themselves, drones glide across the sky, and robots work in burger shops. There are two superpowers and a digital Cold War, but all conflicts are safely oceans away. People get up, work, and have dinner. Everything is as it should be...
Except for seventeen-year-old John, a tech prodigy from a damaged family, who hides a deeply personal secret. But everything starts to change for him when he enters a tiny cafÉ on a cold Tokyo night. A cafÉ run by a disgraced sumo wrestler, where a peculiar dog with a spherical head lives, alongside its owner, enigmatic waitress Neotnia...
But Neotnia hides a secret of her own – a secret that will turn John's unhappy life upside down. A secret that will take them from the neon streets of Tokyo to Hiroshima's tragic past to the snowy mountains of Nagano.
A secret that reveals that this world is anything ordinary – and it's about to change forever...
Genre: Science Fiction
Praise for this book
"Exquisite world-building, this book had me invested from the very first page. Vivid plot and irresistible characters and a real tug at the soul - you'll drown in it." - Lisa Bradley
"Outstanding! Sci-fi showing how the past might impact on the future; part coming of age, part boy meets girl, with a strong sense of place and a glimpse into a (very plausible) terrifying future." - Michael J Malone
"A fascinating exploration of what it means to be human in a world where everything can be faked, and an alarming projection into a not-too-distant and all-too-plausible future - wonderful, insightful and thoughtful." - James Oswald
"Totally engrossing from the start - the story, characters and settings will linger in your imagination long after you're finished - truly wonderful." - Jonathan Whitelaw
"Outstanding! Sci-fi showing how the past might impact on the future; part coming of age, part boy meets girl, with a strong sense of place and a glimpse into a (very plausible) terrifying future." - Michael J Malone
"A fascinating exploration of what it means to be human in a world where everything can be faked, and an alarming projection into a not-too-distant and all-too-plausible future - wonderful, insightful and thoughtful." - James Oswald
"Totally engrossing from the start - the story, characters and settings will linger in your imagination long after you're finished - truly wonderful." - Jonathan Whitelaw
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