Description

‘A spellbinding and chilling fable’ Financial Times

‘One of the best YA books I have read this year’ Just Imagine

‘Hugely thought-provoking’ Guardian

When Xavier wakes up on the first morning of an enforced family weekend away with his pregnant stepmum and dad, he doesn’t recognise where they are – it’s as if the house has inexplicably been transported to the set of a video game, inside an impenetrable dome where the family have been ‘donated’ chickens, goats, wheat to help them survive. There is no trace of their mysterious captors and no way to escape. Three years later, he’s sixteen and resigned to life without the internet, other people, let alone a girlfriend… when suddenly another family appears, one with vastly contrasting political ideologies and priorities. In the confines of this strange world, Xavier and 17-year-old gorgeous Mackenzie are thrown together, Mackenzie’s erratic father becomes obsessively fixated on escape, and tensions between the two families begin to rise with devastating and tragic consequences… Kenneth Oppel’s most thrilling novel to date is challenging, provocative and unforgettable.

Publisher Review

Hugely thought-provoking, frequently frustrating, this speculative YA novel will stay in the mind long after it's finished * The Guardian * I love Oppel's control of menace and there's deep disquiet in this dystopian thriller -- Sally Morris * The Daily Mail * An electrifying story for young adults. It reads like a thriller, but has the soul of a 'sandbox' video game with an eerie element of The Truman Show thrown in for good measure. * The Times Children's Book of the Week * Hugely thought-provoking, frequently frustrating, this speculative YA novel will stay in the mind long after its finished. * The Guardian * Racism, divisive politics, conspiracy theories and the environment all feature in a spellbinding and chilling fable. * The Financial Times * The prolific Canadian author Kenneth Oppel is on form with his latest, a quietly tense thriller... There's much to discuss in this smart, engaging book. * The Irish Times * A creepy, uplifting, head-scratching fairy tale. * SFX Magazine *