Where the Axe Is Buried

Description: "A geopolitical thriller about a disintegrating Western world and the race to take control of the mysterious technology that could hold the key to the brewing revolution against tyranny"--

Brief description: Ray Nayler is the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Mountain in the Sea, which won the Locus Award for "Best First Novel," and was a finalist for the Nebula Award and the Los Angeles Times' Ray Bradbury Prize. Called "one of the up-and-coming masters of SF short fiction" by Locus, Nayler's stories have been published in Asimov's Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, Analog Science Fiction & Fact, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Lightspeed, Vice, and Nightmare, as well as in many "Best Of" anthologies. His stories have won the Clarkesworld Readers' Poll and the Asimov's Readers' Award, and his novelette "Sarcophagus" was a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Award.

Review Quotes:

"[Where the Axe is Buried] boldly imagines how we might escape authoritarianism . . . Deserves to be read and discussed for its futuristic, philosophical exploration of our era's problems. The questions [Nayler] asks could not be more timely or better formed."
--Jacob Brogan, The Washington Post

"Where the Axe is Buried shows how the embers of hope smolder long after they should have been extinguished, and how they are always ready to be kindled into a roaring, system-consuming wildfire"
--Cory Doctorow, author of Picks and Shovels

"Roll over, George Orwell: This post-apocalyptic dystopia makes Airstrip One look like a summer camp. . . A richly detailed evocation of a grim future that is, sadly, absolutely believable."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Nayler's twisting, turning political thriller has spectacular surprises, grounded by realistic, complex characters who are determined to change their world, however hopeless it may seem. A bold, epic sf story and an inspiring tale about taking down all forms of authoritarianism."
--Booklist (starred review)

"Nayler blends quantum theory and gulag history . . . The scene-setting is on point . . . Nayler's writerly bravado impresses."
--Publishers Weekly

"An engrossing exploration of consciousness, autocracy and global politics . . . A cybernetically enhanced thriller with the pacing of a literary novel. . . Where the Axe Is Buried successfully strikes a balance between creating a global narrative and a deeply personal one."
--Bookpage

"Thought-provoking in the extreme . . . will trap fans of technothrillers in its web."
--Library Journal