Polostan (preorder)

(preorder—to be published in October/November)

Dust jacket and interior illustrations by Ricardo Martinez.

From the acclaimed Neal Stephenson, bestselling author of the multi-generational Cryptonomicon and the sweeping Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World), comes Polostan, the first engrossing installment in the new Bomb Light cycle of historical novels. Against a 1930s backdrop of Great Depression-era America and a paranoid, brutal Soviet Union, espionage and science interweave as each power seeks to birth the Atomic Age. 

With consummate skill Stephenson traces the harrowing journey of Dawn Rae Bjornberg, a young woman from the Midwest who transforms into Aurora Maximovna Artemyeva, a survivor navigating the harsh realities of Stalinist Russia. As Aurora faces off revolutionaries and ruthless officials on the path to an uncertain future she is haunted by a complicated past, but vows to endure at any cost.

While working in Magnitogorsk, at the industrial heart of the Soviet Union, Aurora must endure grueling labor conditions, painful interrogations, and escalating loyalty tests. Groomed as a spy for The Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU), precursor to the KGB, Aurora is sent undercover as a translator to famine-stricken Ukraine, where the true cost of Soviet policies is made painfully clear. Stephenson’s narrative builds to an unforgettable crescendo culminating in a political and personal inflection point for Aurora. There will be no turning back for her–or history itself. 

A wealth of real-world scientific, cultural and geopolitical knowledge informs Polostan’s every page. Stephenson’s seamless blend of meticulously researched historical fiction and complex psychological drama brings to life compelling fictional characters like Aurora, Shpak, and Bob Overstree, who interact with actual historical figures.

Polostan is a rivetingly structured page-turner dealing with the clash between idealism and reality, the dangers of ideology, and the deep power of personal connections in the face of accelerating scientific progress amid shifting global politics. Stephenson’s newest exploration of classic themes like personal sacrifice, political ambition, and the resilience of the human spirit, provides essential reading for fans of thought-provoking fiction. And so begins the Bomb Light series.

Both editions will be:

• Printed offset in two colors (black and Pantone®) on 60# archival quality paper
• Signed by Neal Stephenson
• Art by Ricardo Martinez
• Four full-page full-color interior plates
• Illustrated Endpapers
• Three Separate Chapter Head Illustrations
• Smyth-sewn binding

The limited edition will be casebound in cloth, with foil stamping on the spine of the book. It includes a full color dust jacket.

The lettered edition will be handbound with a custom traycase, and include an extra piece of art housed in the case.

Limited: 400 signed numbered hardcover copies

Lettered: 26 signed, specially bound copies, housed in a custom traycase

From Booklist:

“Stephenson, the author of Cryptonomicon (1999), Anathem (2008), and the Baroque Cycle, launches a new series with this tremendously entertaining novel… It would be foolish to speculate whether this is one of his best novels, since everything he writes is different from everything else, but one thing is sure: once you turn Polostan’s first page, you won’t look up from the book until you’ve turned its last. A glorious achievement from a unique and compelling writer.”

From Library Journal:

“Stephenson (Termination Shock) is a towering talent whose discursive writing style meshes smoothly with the complexity of this plot and its characters.”

From Kirkus (Starred Review):

“An adventurous young woman makes her way into the Soviet Union’s intelligence service in the first volume of Stephenson’s new Bomb Light series… The first installment in Stephenson’s historical epic paints an engrossing picture of the United States during the Great Depression, the Soviet Union in its tumultuous and violent early years, and the looming threat of the technological advancements that will soon lead to the atomic bomb and the space race. Dawn/Aurora’s early life is captivating on its own, but Stephenson manages to set her up with a brilliant cliffhanger that will have readers begging for the next volume.”

From The Guardian (UK):

“Polostan looks like a change of direction: a brisk 320 pages of sharply plotted, quick-moving historical adventure, set in the 1920s and 30s…But mostly Polostan keeps the story moving along: the jazz age US, hobos riding the rails, poshos playing polo, the Chicago World’s Fair, high-altitude balloon rides, massacres, flight and adventure.”

From The Washington Post:

“Neal Stephenson’s enthralling new novel, Polostan, drops readers into a bloody, inspiring, conflict-ridden, and pivotal period of the early 20^th century. . . With its flair for characterization, precision of language, witty apercus, and fecundity of events, the novel delivers what we’ve come to expect from the author of such fantastical classics as The Diamond Age, Snow Crash, and Cryptonomicon.”

From Parade:

“The work is deeply convincing, from polo playing out West to a meeting of varied officials in Russia that is so engrossing in the subtle dynamics at play (despite being a scene of only minor importance) that I’m reminded of John Le Carré. . . Wildly, almost shamelessly entertaining.”

From Book and Film Guide:

“Polostan is by far the most engaging book I have read this year… Stephenson has said that his superpower is writing novels and he may well be right.”