Top

Sweet Harmony

On sale

22nd September 2020

Price: £3.99

Select a format

Selected: ebook / ISBN-13: 9780356514772

Disclosure: If you buy products using the retailer buttons above, we may earn a commission from the retailers you visit.

‘NORTH IS AN ORIGINAL AND EVEN DAZZLING WRITER’ Kirkus

From the award-winning, bestselling Claire North comes a brand new stand-alone novella – a clever and unnervingly plausible dystopian tale set five minutes into the future . . .

Harmony is tired. Tired of working so hard, tired of the way she looks, tired of being average. But all that changes when she decides to splash out and upgrade her nanos.

And why not? Everyone’s doing it now. With a simple in-app purchase, you can update the tech in your bloodstream to transform yourself – get enhanced brain power, the perfect body or a dazzling smile.

Suddenly, everything starts going right for Harmony. She’s finally becoming the person she always wanted to be. But when she ends up running too many upgrades on her body all at once, the effects will be more catastrophic than she could have imagined.

With Sweet Harmony, Claire North proves yet again that she is one of the most innovative and original voices in modern fiction.

Praise for Sweet Harmony:

Terrifying, plausible, and intelligent. An outstanding novella’ Fantasy Book Critic

Sweet Harmony doesn’t just deliver a scary and convincing near future but also glorious, on-point writing . . . Strongly recommended’ Blue Book Balloon

‘An unnerving, sharply observed and altogether too plausible novella’ Civilian Reader

BrilliantThe Digital Fix


Also by Claire North:
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
Touch
The Sudden Appearance of Hope
The End of the Day
84K
The Gameshouse
The Pursuit of William Abbey

Reviews

Cory Doctorow on 84K
An extraordinary novel that stands with the best of dystopian fiction, with echoes of The Handmaid's Tale
KIRKUS on 84K
North is an original and even dazzling writer, and fans of her work will enjoy this grim tale of capitalism taken to a terrifying extreme
RT BOOK REVIEWS on 84K
North demonstrates skill in creating a terrifying setting that feels rooted to the present day . . . Every aspect of life in Theo's Britain is imbued with a menace that feels both recognizable and urgent, and the decisions the characters make as a result feel uncomfortably real.
SFX (4 1/2 stars)
The truly scary thing about 84K is how convincing this dark, brutal class-divided Britain is
FANTASY BOOK CRITIC
North's take on nano-upgrades, a sense of identity, and addiction is terrifying, plausible, and intelligent. An outstanding novella
BOOKLIST on 84K
Another captivating novel from one of the most intriguing and genre-bending novelists
BOOKLIST
North's latest once again displays her mastery of lyrical prose . . . The author presents a fascinating testament to humanity's fallibility and tendency towards denial, merged with the potency of truth and the power of love
M. R. Carey, author of THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS
Mesmeric, terrifying and wonderful. North is practically her own genre at this point.
Patrick Ness
Claire North's writing is terrific, smart and entertaining
BLUE BOOK BALLOON
Sweet Harmony doesn't just deliver a scary and convincing near future but also glorious, on-point writing . . . Strongly recommended
CIVILIAN READER
An unnerving, sharply observed and altogether too plausible novella . . . Recommended
Alex Marwood, author of THE WICKED GIRLS
Claire North is a true original, a master of ingenious plotting and feats of imagination
SUNDAY TIMES
North's talent shines out
THE DIGITAL FIX
Claire North . . . successfully explores the human weaknesses that can be ruthlessly exploited by unscrupulous corporations in this brilliant SF novella