Nothing has happened. Not yet, anyway. This is how all things begin.

Welcome to Apex City, formerly Bangalore, where everything is decided by the mathematically perfect Bell Curve.

With the right image, values and opinions, you can ascend to the glittering heights of the Twenty Percent - the Virtual elite - and have the world at your feet. Otherwise you risk falling to the precarious Ten Percent, and deportation to the ranks of the Analogs, with no access to electricity, running water or even humanity.

The system has no flaws. Until the elusive "Ten Percent Thief" steals a single jacaranda seed from the Virtual city and plants a revolution in the barren soil of the Analog world.

Previously published in South Asia only as Analog/Virtual, The Ten Percent Thief is a striking debut by a ferocious new talent.

A bold, bitingly satirical near-future mosaic novel about a city run along 'meritocratic' lines, the injustice it creates, and the revolution that will destroy it.

About the Author

Lavanya Lakshminarayan is the author of Analog/Virtual: And Other Simulations of Your Future. She is a Locus Award finalist and is the first science fiction writer to win the Times of India AutHer Award and the Valley of Words Award, both prestigious literary awards in India, and her work has been longlisted for a BSFA Award. She's occasionally a game designer, and has built worlds for Zynga Inc.'s FarmVille franchise, Mafia Wars, and other games. She lives in India, and is currently working on her next novel.

Reviews

"Lakshminarayan is a favourite... The Ten Percent Thief is an ambitious novel." -- The Washington Post

"Lakshminarayan's nuanced dystopian future will leave readers questioning their own relationship with technology and social media as they follow the cookie crumb trail of conformity and dissent through multiple character perspectives. The result is as satisfying as it is clever." -- Publishers Weekly

"Playful and crushing in equal measure." -- FanFiAddict

"A new masterpiece" -- SciFiNow

"Lakshminarayan uses her novel to flawlessly confront constructed binaries built into the very fabric of contemporary society" -- The Fantasy Hive

"The Ten Percent Thief is bold and creative, and Lakshminarayan expertly packages a warning that will only get more relevant with time" -- STARBURST Magazine

"There are wonders and gizmos within Apex City, but these are stories about people's lives. This is, punk-like, a collection of rebellions against, and reconsiderations of, the status quo. One of my favourite books of recent years." -- Jared Shurin, Raptor Velocity

"Impressive" -- SFX

"Stunning and thought-provoking" -- The British Fantasy Society

"Smart, vivid, engaging" -- The Guardian

"Lavanya Lakshminarayan breathes new life into dystopia" -- The Washington Post

"Deeply thought-provoking and timely" - Grimdark Magazine

Book Information
ISBN 9781786188533
Author Lavanya Lakshminarayan
Format Hardback
Page Count 368
Imprint Solaris
Publisher Rebellion Publishing Ltd.