Filaria

Book excerpt: “A powerful, beautifully written dystopian tale concerning four inhabitants of a gigantic but dying artificial habitat.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review A drug-addled boy, living in dank recesses, sets out in an ancient car to find his ex, who has mysteriously vanished. A privileged girl, obsessed with the past and exiled by her esteemed father, learns more about her long-lost ancestors than she ever could have wished for. An old man, on his hundredth birthday, deserts his quiet post as an elevator operator, climbing the great shaft in hopes of seeing the fabled topmost level before he dies. And a fisherman, seeking answers to why his once-vibrant wife is now chronically ailing and wasting away, begins a quest to find and confront the god of all gods. They are four inhabitants of a strange, crumbling realm, and in this novel their stories intersect and wrap around each other like subterranean tunnels—revealing deeply disturbing truths about the artificial world in which they live. “A disquieting, claustrophobic, compelling hybrid of China Miéville and J.G. Ballard.” —Peter Watts, author of Blindsight “A great read, crackling with invention, energy, and suspense.” —Quill & Quire