Opposite World

You can't always trust your memories. But what if you can't trust the moment you're living in either?

Fifteen years after her mother’s mysterious death, Piper “Pip” Screed discovers The Reverie Cloud — a revolutionary sleep-therapy program that merges the subconscious with virtual reality. The deeper Pip descends the cloud, the less she can distinguish what she's uncovering from what she's creating. Reality shifts in the waking world. And the people who built the technology have their own reasons for wanting Pip locked into the program — reasons worth killing for.

Blending science fiction with psychological horror, surreal fantasy, and the disorientation of the mind turning against itself, Opposite World is about the stories we build to survive and what happens when the architecture holding up those narratives collapses.

For readers of Christopher Priest's The Affirmation and Stanisław Lem's Solaris.

FLAME TREE PRESS is the imprint of long-standing Independent Flame Tree Publishing, dedicated to full-length original fiction in the horror and suspense, science fiction & fantasy, and crime / mystery / thriller categories. The list brings together fantastic new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices. Learn more about Flame Tree Press at www.flametreepress.com and connect on social media @FlameTreePress.

Elizabeth Anne Martins is a Philadelphia-based writer who studied English and Publishing at Rosemont College. Her writing often explores resilience, identity, and survival, blending speculative elements with deeply human stories.

Her debut novel, Dry Lands, is a post-apocalyptic story of motherhood and survival set in a world reshaped by water. The book was named a 2024 Great Group Reads pick by the Women’s National Book Association and has resonated with readers who connect with its themes of hope and endurance.

When she’s not writing, Elizabeth can usually be found at the piano, composing something new or playing a duet with her son and husband. Music, like storytelling, is her way of making sense of the world—one note or word at a time.