Literary synopsis

The book is deceptive and plays the same trick as Poor Things, in that you think in first reading that what you're getting is a straight adventure story, whereas it in fact holds a profound debate on society, both past and present. The book is set in a time where automated power plants, with a never-ending power source, create food, warmth, housing and clothing so the population do not have to work and want for nothing. War is now a spectator sport and the novel opens with Wat Dryhope's father leading his army to certain death in order to draw the battle on a technicality. Wat yearns for a time when life meant struggle. The book debates the point that a life without pain and battle is no life at all. As in Poor Things, the novel ends with a long section of historical notes.

Novel's website