Rachel's boyfriend Frank is different from other people. His strangeness is part of what she loves about him: his innocence, his intelligence, his passionate immersion in the music of JS Bach. As a coder, Frank sees patterns in everything, but as his theories slide further towards the irrational, Rachel becomes increasingly concerned for his wellbeing. There are people Frank knows online, people who share his view of the world and who insist he has a unique role to play. In spite of Rachel's fears for his safety, Frank is determined to meet them face to face.
When Frank disappears, Rachel is forced to seek help in the form of Robin, a private detective who left the police force for reasons she will not reveal. Like Frank, Robin is obsessed with the music of Bach. Like Frank, she has unexplained connections with the criminal underworld of southeast London.
An obscure science fiction story from the 1950s appears to offer clues to Frank's secret agenda, but not to where he is. As Robin and Rachel draw closer in their search for the truth, they are forced to ask themselves if Frank's obsession with an alien war, against all logic, might have a basis in fact.
Nina Allan's new novel is a work of the greatest imaginative power, an investigation of the human need to make connections, to find causes and effects, however fantastic. Conquest is the story of a disappearance, and of the mystery that follows.
Publisher: Quercus Publishing
ISBN: 9781529420791
Number of pages: 320
Weight: 230 g
Dimensions: 196 x 128 x 26 mm
The most experimental work yet from a boldly adventurous novelist... it both demands and rewards a more ruminative reading - Locus Magazine
Allan challengingly evokes a world of paranoia and delusion - Financial Times
The finest author currently writing regardless of genre... (Conquest) is both beautifully written and formally experimental... a haunting, thought-provoking speculative masterpiece, a riveting demonstration of an artist in masterful control of her material. - Fantasy Hive
In this outstanding, beautifully controlled novel, Allen explores the smudged edges of fear and paranoia, belief and credulity, where she finds a sweet spot shimmering with truth and a strange beauty. - Daily Mail
Formally inventive and utterly readable - Herald
In its themes of misinformation, potential microbiological Trojan horses and conspiracy, Conquest can also be read in total as a joyously fantastical and elaborate Covid-19 allegory; if so, it is surely the best book yet to emerge from the pandemic. - Guardian
A truly bold and inventive piece of work. It deserves to make Nina Allan famous. - TLS
This is one of the best books I've read this year. - Bookphase
A powerful exploration into the human need to make connections. - Scots Magazine
Bamboozingly brilliant - TLS, Book of the Year
Absorbing . . . her best novel yet. - Guardian (Five of the best science fiction and fantasy books of 2023)
The plot was intriguing and there's a lot of fascinating parts is this book: a mix of thriller, speculative fiction, and a travel into the world of conspiracies.
It doesn't always work, the meta-book part...
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Nina Allan is one of my favourite authors - I love the sense of unease her books deliver, of ordinary lives taking place alongside the "other". In Conquest, we have three characters whose stories are tightly... More
I read The Dollmaker a while back and really quite enjoyed it so I was quite excited to get my hands on this book. So, expectations were quite high and I am pleased to say that my expectations were well and truly met.... More
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