The Unmapping - by Denise S Robbins (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

4 a.m., New York City. A silent disaster.

There is no flash of light, no crumbling, no quaking. Each person in New York wakes up on an unfamiliar block when the buildings all switch locations overnight. The power grid has snapped, thousands of residents are missing, and the Empire State Building is on Coney Island--for now. The next night, it happens again.

Esme Green and Arjun Varma work for the City of New York's Emergency Management team and are tasked with disaster response for the Unmapping. As Esme tries to wade through the bureaucratic nightmare of an endlessly shuffling city, she's distracted by the ongoing search for her missing fiancé. Meanwhile, Arjun focuses on the ground-level rescue of disoriented New Yorkers, hoping to become the hero the city needs.

While scientists scramble to find a solution--or at least a means to cope--and mysterious "red cloak" cults crop up in the disaster's wake, New York begins to reckon with a new reality no one recognizes. For Esme and Arjun, the fight to hold the city together will mean tackling questions about themselves that they were too afraid to ask--and facing answers they never expected. With themes of climate change, political unrest, and life in a state of emergency, The Unmapping is a timely and captivating debut.

Review Quotes

"An extremely pacy, suspenseful cli-fi novel that--in its central conceit--finds an apt, hard-hitting metaphor for the uncanny and disorienting reality of our times, and follows through on it with courage." --Caoilinn Hughes, author of The Alternatives

"Bold, inventive, and genre-defying, The Unmapping is a thrilling exploration of human nature, survival, and the unknown forces that shape our world. At once surreal and eerily prescient, the book deftly conjures the disorientation of a city upended and rearranged by a mysterious phenomenon, and the fragility of the systems that underpin our lives. I was in Robbins's thrall from page one." --Nada Alic, author of Bad Thoughts

"What a powerful way to get at the essential fact of our time--that the world we've always known is now shifting around us, and we must come together to confront that reality." --Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

"The Unmapping is a madcap adventure--a big concept novel with a lot of heart--and most importantly, it's great fun." --Bud Smith, author

"The Unmapping is a timely and original novel that reads like a satisfying twenty-first century rendering of The Twilight Zone. Fans of China Miéville will delight in this quickly paced narrative that is unafraid to tackle the most pressing issues of our time. Robbins has a dazzling imagination matched by sparkling prose and a nose for plot. A great read." --Nickolas Butler, internationally bestselling author of Shotgun Lovesongs and A Forty Year Kiss

"The Unmapping is a deeply imaginative novel about the Anthropocene: the impermanence of our cities, the ubiquitousness of emergency, and the hope that can still be found in the grassroots. How will the world look when all our homes leave us--and how will we rebuild when we wake up and find them gone? A jolting debut from a veteran climate activist with much to offer the world of fiction." --Johannes Lichtman, National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree and author of Such Good Work and Calling Ukraine

"A tour de force, The Unmapping is an allegory for this moment of disorientation, when climate change, predatory capitalism, and hubristic technology have left us unsure of our place and path. Yet Robbins weaves a thread of warm humanity through the book, hinting at how we may find our way again." --Marcia Bjornerud, author of Turning to Stone and Timefulness

"The Unmapping is a wildly imaginative and thought-provoking novel that feels urgently, almost painfully, relevant. Yet it radiates a constant warmth, a testament to Robbins's unique voice. This novel will make you think, but it will also make you dream." --David Yoo, author of The Choke Artist

"What a fun, mind-bending read! In the vein of Peng Shepherd, The Unmapping gives the reader an utterly original concept, a multilayered speculative puzzle, and a plot that unfolds at breakneck speed. In a world where we're all feeling a bit lost, I'm glad I found The Unmapping." --Mark Cecil, author of Bunyan and Henry; Or, the Beautiful Destiny

"Robbins has crafted a resolute thrill ride, with a tender heart, that depicts an unravelling world frighteningly like our own." --Max Hipp, author of What Doesn't Kill You Opens Your Heart

"The Unmapping is an ambitious and masterful exploration into the apogee and folly of human endeavor, and our inexorable talent for delusion. Robbins's themes and storytelling speaks to my adult fears and anxieties the way Stephen King did in my youth. In The Unmapping, nothing is safe. Not the characters, not their perceptions and beliefs, not even the ground beneath their feet." --Alan ten-Hoeve, author of Notes from a Wood-Paneled Basement, editor at Farewell Transmission Lit