The Bees, Laline Paull, 2014, 4th Estate

Laline Paull enrolled in one of the first iterations of Writing a Novel back in 2012. Whilst on the course, she developed this completely unique and compelling novel. Written from the perspective of Flora 717, Paull takes us into the society of the hive, which is both strange and familiar. Flora 717 must navigate the rigid social structure of the bees, exceeding what’s expected of her and the role she was born into, and facing great tribulation on her journey. Like any great spec-fic novel should be, the politics, religion, and sociology of the bees in Paull’s book provide a foil for our own contemporary human society, and warn of the risks to come if we allow our world to become as ruthlessly authoritarian as that of the bees. It’s an enveloping and immersive novel that features both the fantastical and imaginative details you’d expect from an other-worldly science-fiction book, but grounded entirely here on planet earth, amongst our bees. Published by 4th Estate in 2014, The Bees was shortlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, and caught the attention of some of speculative fiction’s biggest names like Madeline Miller and Margaret Atwood herself. Laline Paull followed up The Bees with her cli-fi novel The Ice, and in 2023 published Pod, which was also nominated for that year’s Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Sockpuppet, Matthew Blakstad, 2016, Hodder & Stoughton

Enrolling in Writing a Novel the term before Laline Paull in the second half of 2011, but with his debut novel coming out a couple of years after, Matthew Blakstad’s Sockpuppet has become an increasingly prophetic book in the years following its release. A spec-fic thriller with overtones of William Gibson and Philip K. Dick, the book concerns itself with the very real threat of Cookies harvesting our personal information, a digital world that values data over the individual, and the rapid development of computer technology potentially spinning out of our control. Hodderscape, Hachette’s sci-fi, fantasy, and horror imprint, first published the book in 2016, and it is incredible to read how, in the nearly 10 years since its release, the prevalence of Twitter discourse as a means of information spread and online personalities dominating the space has become our reality. With a plot that follows a chatbot circulating secrets about a politician online and an unlikely partnership between a political advisor and a young software developer to hunt down the origins of the bot, Sockpuppet is a thrilling read perfect for the mid-2020s. Sockpuppet was the first in Blakstad’s Martingale Cycle, a series of standalone but interconnected novels about the impact of a visionary computer programmer. The second book, Lucky Ghost, was released in 2018, and we are looking forward to more Martingale novels in the future.

The Feed, Nick Clark Windo, 2018, Headline

Following on with another spec-fic thriller, but this time one infused with elements of post-apocalyptic dystopia (a staple of the genre), The Feed was developed by Nick Clark Windo whilst attending Writing a Novel in 2013. Like Matthew Blakstad, Clark Windo had also worked as an actor before becoming a novelist, and also composed a novel where the dangers of an advancing technology are at the forefront. In this depiction of the near future, we are all plugged into The Feed, an interconnected, augmented reality, which some humans are entirely dependent on, whilst others try to continue exercising their agency. At the outset of the novel, The Feed collapses, and the world is plunged into chaos. We follow a couple, Kate and Tom, who are living with a group of survivors of the collapse and trying to raise their daughter. When one day their daughter is stolen from them by raiders, Kate and Tom are forced to venture out into the hostile, post-collapse landscape to find her. The opening of Clark Windo’s novel was adapted into a 10-part television miniseries starring Michelle Fairley and David Thewlis, distributed by Amazon Prime Video in 2019. Whilst Nick hasn’t followed the book up with a second novel yet, he’s continued to work prolifically in the arts, producing a feature film in 2019, and we’re most looking forward to seeing what he does next.

This Fragile Earth, Susannah Wise, 2021, Gollancz

Susannah Wise graduated from our Writing a Novel course in June 2018, and her debut novel was published by Gollancz three years later. Fascinatingly, just like Matthew Blakstad and Nick Clark Windo, Wise had also worked as a professional actor before enrolling in the course, which gives us three actors turned novelists in this genre! This Fragile Earth combines elements of all three of the novels we’ve featured. The fate of our planet’s bees in the near future, an overdependence on advancing technology, and a dystopian adventure through an increasingly apocalyptic landscape. When an electricity grid failure takes out all the AI-powered services London has come to depend on, Signy, Matthew, and their six-year-old, Jed, are forced to decide whether to flee the city or hunker down until the catastrophe is restored to order. Ultimately, a decision is made to seek refuge in a small village, as London becomes increasingly overrun by soldiers and rampant disorder. The book offers a vision into what our cities might look like if we continue to automate services powered by electronic technology – and how helpless we’d be in the event of even a simple power outage. A year following This Fragile Earth, Wise’s second novel, Okay Then That’s Great, was published by Gollancz, and both were longlisted for the Mslexia Award. Wise continues to work in film and television whilst developing her literary career, and we’re certain her third book will be another great success. 

About the Author

Keir Batchelor joined Faber Academy in April 2022. He works directly with the tutors and students on the running of in-house courses and is always on the other end of the Academy email address to help out with enquiries. He has an undergraduate degree in English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing and enjoys reading a wide variety of poetry and fiction.