The Grand Dark
by Richard Kadrey

From the bestselling author of the Sandman Slim series, a lush, dark, subversive stand-alone fantasy that immerses us in a world where the extremes of bleakness and beauty exist together in dangerous harmony in a city on the edge of civility and chaos.

“Kadrey has written for us a beautiful nightmare—one that’s often eerily familiar—showing a theatrical world set on the edge of war, and losing itself in the shadows of brutality and oppression.”—Chuck Wendig, bestselling author of Wanderers

The Great War is over. The city of Lower Proszawa celebrates the peace with a decadence and carefree spirit as intense as the war’s horrifying despair. But this newfound hedonism distracts from the strange realities of everyday life: increasing inequality as intelligent automata takes human jobs; genetically engineered creatures that serve as pets and weapons; a theater where gruesome murders happen twice a day; and a new plague that even the ceaseless euphoria cannot mask.

A bike messenger who grew up in the city’s slums, Largo is an addict with ambitions and a contact among the elite who can help him leave his old life behind. But dreams can be dangerous in a city on the verge of chaos. Others have a vision of life very different from Largo’s, and they will use any method to secure control. And behind it all, beyond the frivolity and chaos, the threat of new war looms.