Mike Chen

"One pet crow fights to save humanity from an apocalypse in this uniquely hilarious debut from a genre-bending literary author.

S.T., a domesticated crow, is a bird of simple pleasures: hanging out with his owner Big Jim, trading insults with Seattle's wild crows (those idiots), and enjoying the finest food humankind has to offer: Cheetos ®.

Then Big Jim's eyeball falls out of his head, and S.T. starts to feel like something isn't quite right. His most tried-and-true remedies--from beak-delivered beer to the slobbering affection of Big Jim's loyal but dim-witted dog, Dennis--fail to cure Big Jim's debilitating malady. S.T. is left with no choice but to abandon his old life and venture out into a wild and frightening new world with his trusty steed Dennis, where he discovers that the neighbors are devouring each other and the local wildlife is abuzz with rumors of dangerous new predators roaming Seattle. Humanity's extinction has seemingly arrived, and the only one determined to save it is a foul-mouthed crow whose knowledge of the world around him comes from his TV-watching education.

Hollow Kingdom is a humorous, big-hearted, and boundlessly beautiful romp through the apocalypse and the world that comes after, where even a cowardly crow can become a hero."

"How do you start over after the end of the world?

Six years after a global pandemic wiped out most of the planet’s population, the survivors are rebuilding the country, split between self-governing cities, hippie communes and wasteland gangs.

In postapocalyptic San Francisco, former pop star Moira has created a new identity to finally escape her past—until her domineering father launches a sweeping public search to track her down. Desperate for a fresh start herself, jaded event planner Krista navigates the world on behalf of those too traumatized to go outside, determined to help everyone move on—even if they don’t want to. Rob survived the catastrophe with his daughter, Sunny, but lost his wife. When strict government rules threaten to separate parent and child, Rob needs to prove himself worthy in the city’s eyes by connecting with people again.

Krista, Moira, Rob and Sunny are brought together by circumstance, and their lives begin to twine together. But when reports of another outbreak throw the fragile society into panic, the friends are forced to finally face everything that came before—and everything they still stand to lose.

Because sometimes having one person is enough to keep the world going."

"On the first day of May, 100 teenage boys meet for a race known as "The Long Walk." If you break the rules, you get three warnings. If you exceed your limit, what happens is absolutely terrifying."

"No one remembers how the Divide was created. The miles-deep and miles-wide chasm has existed for hundreds of years, protecting what remains of humanity from the Golyat: a creature whose shadow moves across the horizon at sunset.

Davina, daughter of Jesse, is a shepherd. She spends her days guiding herds of deer through the forests of New Inglan, protecting them from predators, herding them away from the Divide, and ensuring the tribe of Essex has meat when needed. While many shepherds die in their first year--from the elements, from injury, or in the jaws of a wolf--Davina is resilient.

Having just slain a mountain lion, Davina returns to her village to discover a hunting party has been sent out in search of the Modernists, a group fascinated with the past, the technology that once filled the world, and what lies beyond the Divide. To keep the Modernists from reaching the Divide's far side, and revealing humanity's presence to the Golyat, the hunters will torture and kill them all. Including Davina's teenaged son.

Davina strikes out, intending to ensure her son's death will be quick and without torture. Reaching the island of Boston first, Davina confronts the Modernists and finds herself incapable of taking her son's life. Captured by the enemies of Essex, she is transported across the Divide, along with her son and the Modernists.

For the first time in five hundred years, humanity steps foot on the Divide's far side. Stranded with the enemy, Davina must fight to keep them all alive, herding people instead of deer, while uncovering the truth about humanity's past, and her connection to events that reshaped the world.

...THE GOLYAT WILL FEAST

"After the climate wars, a floating city is constructed in the Arctic Circle, a remarkable feat of mechanical and social engineering, complete with geothermal heating and sustainable energy. The city’s denizens have become accustomed to a roughshod new way of living, however, the city is starting to fray along the edges—crime and corruption have set in, the contradictions of incredible wealth alongside direst poverty are spawning unrest, and a new disease called “the breaks” is ravaging the population.

When a strange new visitor arrives—a woman riding an orca, with a polar bear at her side—the city is entranced. The “orcamancer,” as she’s known, very subtly brings together four people—each living on the periphery—to stage unprecedented acts of resistance. By banding together to save their city before it crumbles under the weight of its own decay, they will learn shocking truths about themselves.

Blackfish City is a remarkably urgent—and ultimately very hopeful—novel about political corruption, organized crime, technology run amok, the consequences of climate change, gender identity, and the unifying power of human connection."