Nebula Award, Ray Bradbury Prize and Arthur C. Clarke award finalist and Locus Award winner Ray Nayler returns with a gripping technological thriller.
All systems fail. All societies crumble. All worlds end.
In the authoritarian Federation, there is a plot to assassinate and replace the President, a man who has downloaded his mind to a succession of new bodies to maintain his grip on power. Meanwhile, on the fringes of a Western Europe that has renounced human governance in favour of ostensibly more efficient, objective, and peaceful AI Prime Ministers, an experimental artificial mind is malfunctioning, threatening to set off a chain of events that may spell the end of the Western world.
As the Federation and the West both start to crumble, Lilia, the brilliant scientist whose invention may be central to bringing down the seemingly immortal President, goes on the run, trying to break out from a near-impenetrable web of Federation surveillance. Her fate is bound up with a worldwide group of others fighting against the global status quo.
Each of them must navigate seemingly insurmountable dangers and threats to remain free and, ultimately, put humanity's future back into its own hands.
A cybernetic novel of political intrigue, Where the Axe is Buried combines the story of a near-impossible revolutionary operation with a blistering indictment of the many forms of authoritarianism that suffocate human freedom.
Roll over, George Orwell: This post-apocalyptic dystopia makes Airstrip One look like a summer camp. Nayler's sophomore novel is set in a familiar future world in which totalitarian orders rule, with recognisably Putinesque touches in what's called the (né Russian) Federation, not least an autocratic ruler who's been running the show for decades . . . A richly detailed evocation of a grim future that is, sadly, absolutely believable Kirkus (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)
An intense, claustrophobic novel . . . a work of first-rate science fiction Cory Doctorow
This thought-provoking, fast-moving thriller is also a heartfelt call for resistance to oppressive regimes The Guardian
Ray Nayler follows up two excellent ecological SF novels with this fast-paced dystopian thriller. -- Will Salmon SFX MAGAZINE
There's a lot to chew on here . . . [and it's] worth the effort Financial Times
A book that warns and makes you think... it has things to say and does so extremely well... one of my best reads of 2025. -- Mark Yon SFF WORLD
Ray Nayler's short fiction has appeared in multiple 'Year's Best' anthologies, including The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction. As Environment, Science, Technology and Health Officer at the United States Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, he led a series of environmental conservation projects on the Con Dao Archipelago, the setting for The Mountain in the Sea. He dove its reefs daily, working with an international team of scientists, park rangers, and local youth on a project to preserve the archipelago's biodiversity.
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