Will Atlas Brown go down in history as the man who saved the world or as the coward who broke it?
Dr Atlas Brown was supposed to save humanity from itself. When he discovered the airborne particle that spread hate like a virus, his plan was to extract it from the atmosphere and reap the rewards. He dreamed of professional recognition and fame – book deals, TV interviews, and medals for the scientist responsible for a new age of peace and tranquillity. But Atlas and his plans have never seen eye to eye. Now he is hiding out, living like a hermit next to a gasholder that holds all the hate in the world, growing increasingly hungry and delusional, wondering how he got it so very wrong.
“unsettlingly brilliant”
“Black Mirror meets Kafka”
“uncomfortably prescient”
Haunting and darkly funny, this speculative literary novel explores arrogance, capitalism, and the irony of a man undone by his own solution. If you enjoyed Oryx and Crake, Cat’s Cradle or The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, you’ll love The Hate Extractor.
Sef Hughes was born in Stirling, Scotland, has lived in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Pittsburgh, Amsterdam and Eindhoven, and is currently hiding out in York, England. His fiction has been published in Litro USA and Popshot Quarterly. Salt Water, his first collection of short stories, was published in 2019. The Hate Extractor is his debut novel.