captain moxley and the embers of the empire by dan hanks

And as soon as I was back in my world, I wanted to go back into the one Dan had created. When I first opened up the book, I meant to just skim a few pages and then the next thing I knew I was blinking back to awareness fifty pages later. That's a gift we could all use this year, I think! And he definitely hit the mark.

In this interview, Dan Hanks writes that with his book Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire he wanted to give readers fun. “A strong debut, and one that makes me want to read more from this up-and-coming author.This one is for the readers who love adventure, genre mashups, and the kind of escapism that makes you completely forget where you are. “Caroline Hardaker’s debut poetry pamphlet is a triumph of contemporary myth-making.” “favorite science fiction book of the year” – Keren Landsman, Geffen Award-winning author of The Heart of the Circle “A delicate and terrifying prospect of our future, with the most lovable creatures.” – Dan Hanks, author of Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire “Creepy and enthralling, Hardaker’s superbly written debut will drip feed you dread from beginning to end.” – Chris Panatier, author of The Phlebotomist It is an unapologetic, intimate tale of our shared human fragility, and the deceptions we employ to keep from breaking.”

Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Hardaker’s debut tells the story of sacrifices made in exchange for corporate-sponsored longevity. What could pass for the memoir of someone trying to live a normal life on the poisoned Earth of Philip K. “ Composite Creatures reads like an ever-tightening garrote. “The writing is wistful and works in such a way you don’t realise how wonderfully strange the book is until you are enfolded in it.” – Rosie Garland, author of The Night Brother “Set in a future that feels uncomfortably close, Composite Creatures explores what constitutes love, how to build a life when a lot we take for granted is missing, and what it takes to ‘glue together a splitting world’.” “A story you won’t forget in a hurry (try as you might) and an exceptional debut novel.” “A thought-provoking dystopian debut which continuously questions what it truly means to be alive…Hardaker’s prose is pensive, melancholic and lyrical.” “Nuanced prose and great sense of character ground the story as it delves unabashedly into the surreal, consistently catching the reader off guard with eerie imagery and delightful twists on expectations… as thought-provoking as it is chilling.” “Hardaker creates her dystopian world of poisoned soil and privatized health with prose that feels as precise and clinical as her subjects’ lives. – Chris Riddell, triple Award-winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal

“With a feline inscrutability, Composite Creatures exerts a compelling hold on the imagination – Ray Bradbury meets Sally Rooney.

Captain moxley and the embers of the empire by dan hanks