The Word - Softcover

JL George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1913830047 ISBN 13: 9781913830045

Publisher: New Welsh Review Ltd, 2021

Synopsis

**Winner of the International Rubery Award [overall book winner]**

New Welsh Writing Awards 2019 Aberystwyth University Prize for a Dystopian Novella

One idea can jinx a whole country in less than a lifetime.... Rhydian is one of five teenagers born into his generation with the Word - a preternatural power that enables them to compel other people to obey. Along with his best friend Jonno, almost-grown-up Rachel, and Cadi, he is studied and experimented on in a facility called the Centre. When they learn that the Centre’s purpose is to turn them into weapons of war, the teens go on the run. How did this brutal fortress Britain emerge? Here, babies are stolen from mothers whose identities are stripped away at will. Protesting crowds are mesmerised, and children who disobey are killed in cold blood.

'A pacey novella which balances big concepts such as ethics, language, propaganda and control with a human story of flight and finding love and trust where you can.' Gwen Davies, editor of New Welsh Review

'For readers of Margaret Atwood and Kazuo Ishiguro' - The Bookeller

'Has the vibe of a cult late 70s British sci-fi TV show – one of those clever, bleak, violent ones where you wonder how they slipped it past the higher ups. It explores its fantastical premise thoughtfully – ruminating on the ways in which language can be both a force for liberation and for oppression. Plus there is a charming will-they-won’t-they gay teen love triangle at the centre of it all anchoring its weighty themes.' Lloyd Markham, author of Bad IdeasChemicals

About this title

About the Author

JL George was born in Cardiff, and has recently returned there after a spell living in Pontypool. She writes weird and speculative fiction. Her work has appeared in magazines and anthologies, including Fireside, Curiosities, and Gwyllion, and she was a 2019 Literature Wales bursary recipient. A graduate of Manchester and Cardiff universities, her academic interests lie in literature and science, the nineteenth-century Gothic, and the classic weird tale. jl-george.com

Edition details

• Publisher: New Welsh Review Ltd
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1913830047
• ISBN 13: 9781913830045
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 300