The Lost Cause

Centred around the ever-important topic of the climate emergency, The Lost Cause is the engaging new standalone from activist and author Cory Doctorow

Completely delightful...Neither utopian nor dystopian, it portrays life in SoCal in a future woven from our successes (Green New Deal!), failures (climate chaos anyway), and unresolved conflicts (old MAGA dudes). I loved it.

An urgent call to action… It is rare to read realistic depictions of climate disaster that inspire hope rather than despair, but this lively work of cli-fi does

This chronicle of mutual aid is politically perceptive, scientifically sound, and extraordinarily hopeful even amidst the smoke. Forget the Silicon Valley bros – these are the California techsters we need rebuilding our world, one solar panel and prefab insulated wall at a time.

Offering a deeply political take on the future... As with the latter work of Kim Stanley Robinson, this is a novel that not only deftly asks how we can build a better world, but sketches out how we might do so

This book looks like our future and feels like our present — it’s an unforgettable vision of what could be. Even a partly good future will require wicked political battles and steadfast solidarity among those fighting for a better world, and here I lived it along with Brooks, Ana Lucía, Phuong, and their comrades in the struggle. Along with the rush of adrenaline I felt a solid surge of hope. May it go like this.

Simultaneously hopeful and nihilistic… [A] horrifyingly plausible vision of the route to the future

The always-excellent Doctorow’s new novel is set a generation from now, when climate change is a fact of life…as ever, Doctorow takes an intriguing approach

There is a passion in Doctorow’s writing that you cannot help but be swept away by... thought provoking

[Doctorow is] an excellent communicator of what is possible and we need voices like his, if we going to avoid being sucked into an abyss ruled by corporate overlords

Invites readers to ponder the complexities of bridging the gap between generations and finding common ground in the face of a global crisis

A thought-provoking and engaging read, enlivened by Doctorow’s satirical wit… if you want hope and enthusiasm despite the problems currently besetting the world, then read this novel

Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, most recently Radicalized and Walkaway , science fiction for adults; How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism , nonfiction about monopoly and conspiracy; In Real Life , a graphic novel; and the picture book Poesy the Monster Slayer . His latest book is Attack Surface , a standalone adult sequel to Little Brother ; his next nonfiction book is Chokepoint Capitalism , with Rebecca Giblin, about monopoly, monopsony and fairness in the creative arts labour market (Beacon Press, 2022). In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.