Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory - by Yaroslav Barsukov (Paperback)

About the Book

"Refusing the queen's order to gas a crowd of protesters, Minister Shea Ashcroft is banished to the border to oversee the construction of the biggest defensive tower in history. However, the use of advanced technology taken from refugees makes the tower volatile and dangerous, becoming a threat to local interests. Shea has no choice but to fight the local hierarchy to ensure the construction succeeds-and to reclaim his own life. Surviving an assassination attempt, Shea confronts his inner demons, encounters an ancient legend, and discovers a portal to a dead world-all while struggling to stay true to his own principles and maintain his sanity. Fighting memories and hallucinations, he starts to question everything..."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

NOMINATED FOR THE NEBULA AWARD

"Mind-expanding" -Kirkus, starred review

"Dreamy and precise, huge in scope and very personal, this is a towering achievement and a genre-busting tour de force."--Daily Mail

Refusing the queen's order to gas a crowd of protesters, Minister Shea Ashcroft is banished to the border to oversee the construction of the biggest defensive tower in history. However, the use of advanced technology taken from refugees makes the tower volatile and dangerous, becoming a threat to local interests. Shea has no choice but to fight the local hierarchy to ensure the construction succeeds--and to reclaim his own life.

Surviving an assassination attempt, Shea confronts his inner demons, encounters an ancient legend, and discovers a portal to a dead world--all while struggling to stay true to his own principles and maintain his sanity. Fighting memories and hallucinations, he starts to question everything...

Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory is a thought-provoking meditation on the fragility of the human condition, our beliefs, the manipulation of propaganda for political gains, and our ability to distinguish the real from the unreal and our willingness to accept convenient "truths."  The novel is a compelling exploration of memory, its fragile nature, and its profound impact on our perception of identity, relationships, and facts themselves.

"Eloquent, moody, poetic. . . masterful."--Beth Cato (author of A Thousand Recipes for Revenge)

A note from the author: "A major theme of the book is how disinformation and propaganda can be used to justify violence, and how ignoring evil can lead people to accept atrocities. I was able to witness all this first-hand, having spent the first 21 years of my life in Russia and absorbing the recent events unfiltered and in my native tongue. Sleeping worlds are not only devoid of memories; they are also oblivious to the pain of others."

A unique blend of science fiction, fantasy and noir, with zeitgeist and prophetic qualities (the original novella anticipated the Russo-Ukrainian War), this is a must for fans of China Miéeacute;ville's Bas-Lag series, Ted Chiang's Tower of Babylon, and Robert Silverberg's Tower of Glass.

"An imaginative, heady clash of fantasy and science-fiction that delivers powerful messages"--FantasyBookCritic

"Triumphs in its emotional and unsettling storytelling" --The Fantasy Hive

Review Quotes

"Mind-expanding fantasy and SF"-Kirkus (starred review)

"Simply put, this is the most impressive debut novel I have encountered since Simon Jimenez's The Vanished Birds."--Locus Magazine

"Somewhere in the slipstream between science fiction and fantasy--a little to the left of early Chiang, a few degrees south of Miéeacute;ville--Yaroslav Barsukov has word-painted a world I can see when I close my eyes."--Peter Watts (Hugo Award-winning author of Blindsight)

"Masterful. It is action-packed and emotionally rich, delightfully grim and unsettling at times. At the end, I could only sit back and say, "Wow.""--Beth Cato (author of A Thousand Recipes for Revenge)

"Dreamy and precise, huge in scope and very personal, this is a towering achievement and a genre-busting tour de force."--Daily Mail

"A literary masterpiece"--Before We Go Blog

"Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory is a surreal and ambitious undertaking, surprising at every turn. From the moment the tower appears on the page, a steady sense of dread and wonder builds toward a staggering conclusion, one that may just change the way you think."--Andrea Stewart (bestselling author of The Bone Shard Daughter)

About the Author

Yaroslav Barsukov, an author with a unique background in physics and software engineering, has emerged as a distinctive voice in the realm of speculative fiction. Born in Cold War-era Moscow and educated at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute and Austria's Vienna University of Technology, Barsukov initially pursued a career in software engineering. His entry into the literary world was serendipitous, stemming from his involvement in game development where he translated a companion tale to a game's mythology. This experience marked the beginning of his journey as a writer, and he started crafting short stories in English around 2014.

Barsukov's work is celebrated for its innovative blend of fantasy and science fiction elements, diverging from the traditional hard-science SF model. His acclaimed novella "Tower of Mud and Straw" was shortlisted for the Nebula Award and received a Kirkus Star, demonstrating his prowess in weaving narratives that explore the human condition through a speculative lens. His stories, characterized by high-fantasy filigree and physics reminiscent of alchemy, have appeared in renowned publications such as Galaxy's Edge, Nature: Futures, and StarShipSofa. Barsukov's literary influences span from Russian maestros like Leo Tolstoy to American science fiction authors, shaping his unique storytelling style that transcends genre boundaries.