Composite Creatures

Name: Composite Creatures
Brand: Penguin Random House
Availability: InStock
Author: Caroline Hardaker
ISBN: 9780857669346

Author: Caroline Hardaker

Narrator: Zoe Mills

Unabridged: 9 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Angry Robot

Published: 04/13/2021

Categories: Fiction, Science Fiction

Synopsis

How close would you hold those you love, when the end comes?

In a society where self-preservation is as much an art as a science, Norah and Arthur are learning how to co-exist in their new little world. Though they hardly know each other, everything seems to be going perfectly – from the home they’re building together to the ring on Norah’s finger.

But survival in this world is a tricky thing, the air is thicker every day and illness creeps fast through the body. And the earth is becoming increasingly hostile to live in. Fortunately, Easton Grove is here for that in the form of a perfect little bundle to take home and harvest. You can live for as long as you keep it – or her – close.

File Under: Science Fiction [ Teratoma for One | Nine Lives | Cell Patchwork | Till Death ]

About The Author

Caroline Hardaker is a poet and novelist from the northeast of England. She has published two collections of poetry, and her work has appeared worldwide in print and on BBC radio. She is Writer in Residence for Newcastle Puppetry Festival and is currently collaborating with the Royal Northern College of Music to produce a cycle of songs to be performed throughout the year. She lives and writes in Newcastle, UK.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Nils | nilsreviewsit on March 15, 2021

Composite Creatures by Caroline Hardaker is a thought-provoking dystopian debut which continuously questions what it truly means to be alive in a dying world. Over the years Earth has essentially become toxic, the soil and air has become contaminated, many species of wildlife and plants have become e......more

Goodreads review by Athena on April 12, 2021

Author and book tour info, full review and more can be found on my blog at [URL not allowed] Thank you so much to Angry Robot Books (Caroline, Gemma, and Sam are good eggs!) for having me on the book tour for Composite Creatures, an exciting new book that releases on 04/13/21! ......more

Goodreads review by Chris on April 09, 2021

Wow, talk about a round house to the head and a solid punch to the gut. Everything is dying in this book and the main character is clinging to one of the things that makes humans humans, compassion, and no one around her gets it. This story is like if David Cronenberg wrote and directed an episode o......more

Goodreads review by Christine on March 28, 2021

This review and others can be read on my blog, Black Forest Basilisks. What I wanted all along was to bury myself deep where it’s warm and never come out. I won, they didn’t. Melancholy and compelling, Caroline Hardaker has captured the narrow wistfulness of self-inflicted isolation. As we draw oursel......more

Goodreads review by Tammy on April 13, 2021

The nitty-gritty: A peculiar, melancholy but ultimately uplifting futuristic story, beautifully written. Composite Creatures is a strange, heartbreaking story that completely took me by surprise. I want to make sure my review is spoiler free, because this is one of those books where you should disco......more

Quotes

"Deliciously creepy!"
– Chris Riddell, triple Award-winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal

"As thought-provoking as it is chilling."
– Publishers Weekly

"A thought-provoking dystopian debut which continuously questions what it truly means to be alive...Hardaker’s prose is pensive, melancholic and lyrical."
– The Fantasy Hive

"A story you won’t forget in a hurry (try as you might) and an exceptional debut novel."
– SciFiNow

"The writing is wistful and works in such a way you don't realise how wonderfully strange the book is until you are enfolded in it."
– RJ Barker, author of The Bone Ships

"an unapologetic, intimate tale of our shared human fragility, and the deceptions we employ to keep from breaking."
– Chris Panatier, author of The Phlebotomist

"Explores what constitutes love, how to build a life when a lot we take for granted is missing, and what it takes to ‘glue together a splitting world.’"
– Rosie Garland, author of The Palace of Curiosities

"A delicate and terrifying prospect of our future, with the most lovable creatures."
– Keren Landsman, Geffen Award-winning author of The Heart of the Circle

“Creepy and enthralling, Hardaker’s superbly written debut will drip feed you dread from beginning to end.”
– Dan Hanks, author of Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire

“Highly recommended.”
– Booklist, Starred Review

"Favorite science fiction book of the year"
– The Washington Post

PRAISE FOR CAROLINE HARDAKER

"A strong debut, and one that makes me want to read more from this up-and-coming author."
– Marija Smits on Bone Ovation

"Caroline Hardaker’s debut poetry pamphlet is a triumph of contemporary myth-making."
– Sabotage Reviews