A01=Edward Ashton
adrian tchaikovsky
alien invasion
antimatter blues
Author_Edward Ashton
bong joon-ho
buddy comedy
buddy duo
Category=FDB
Category=FL
Category=FU
darkly funny
edward ashton
eq_bestseller
eq_fiction
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_science-fiction
far future
first contact
forthcoming
humans as pets
humour
john scalzi
mal goes to war
mickey 17
mickey 7
mickey17movie
mickey7
oscar winner
robert pattinson
science fiction
sf
sf humour
sf satire
starter villain
the fourth consort
workplace satire
Product details
- ISBN 9781837867493
- Dimensions: 128 x 198mm
- Publication Date: 18 Jun 2026
- Publisher: Rebellion Publishing Ltd.
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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One hundred and twenty years after The Fall, and a hundred years after the grays swept in to pick over the last dregs of humanity, John has found himself bonded to Martok Barden nee Black Hand, one of the "good" grays. Sure, Martok is broke, homeless, and borderline manic, but he’s always treated John like an actual person, and sometimes like a friend.
But when Martok puts John’s bond up as collateral against a house in the woods that he hopes to turn into a wilderness retreat for wealthy grays, John learns that there are limits to Martok’s friendship. Soon he finds himself caught between an underworld boss, a girl raised by feral humans who has nothing but contempt for John, and Martok himself, whose delusions of grandeur seem to be finally catching up with him.
Oh, and something in the woods has been killing people.
John has sixty days to buy back his life before Martok’s loan comes due, all while avoiding getting butchered by feral humans, killed by the thing in the woods or having his head crushed by an angry gray. Easy peasy, right?
But when Martok puts John’s bond up as collateral against a house in the woods that he hopes to turn into a wilderness retreat for wealthy grays, John learns that there are limits to Martok’s friendship. Soon he finds himself caught between an underworld boss, a girl raised by feral humans who has nothing but contempt for John, and Martok himself, whose delusions of grandeur seem to be finally catching up with him.
Oh, and something in the woods has been killing people.
John has sixty days to buy back his life before Martok’s loan comes due, all while avoiding getting butchered by feral humans, killed by the thing in the woods or having his head crushed by an angry gray. Easy peasy, right?
Edward Ashton (he/him) is the author of the novels Three Days in April, The End of Ordinary, Mickey7, Antimatter Blues, Mal Goes to War, and The Fourth Consort, as well as of short stories which have appeared in venues ranging from the newsletter of an Italian sausage company to Escape Pod, Analog, and Fireside Fiction. He lives in a cabin on the shore of an inland sea, where he enjoys cancer research, teaching quantum physics to sullen graduate students, and whittling.
