Dissolution

By Nicholas Binge

‘Old-school creepy… a five-star horror novel’ STEPHEN KING on Ascension

‘A vivid, unputdownable story, about love and loss and all it means to be human’ SUNYI DEAN, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book Eaters

‘An outstanding puzzle box of a novel … thrilling, intelligent sci-fi with a touch of horror’ GARETH BROWN, internationally bestselling author of The Book of Doors

In this staggeringly mind-bending speculative thriller for fans of Blake Crouch and Ted Chiang, a woman dives into her husband’s memories to uncover a decades-old threat to reality itself…

Maggie Webb has lived the last decade caring for her elderly husband, Stanley, as memory loss gradually erases all the beautiful moments they created together. It’s the loneliest she’s ever felt in her life.

When a mysterious stranger named Hassan appears at her door, he reveals a shocking truth: Stanley isn’t losing his memories. Someone is actively removing them to hide a long-buried secret from coming to light. If Maggie does what she’s told, she can reverse it. She can get her husband back.

Led by Hassan and his technological marvels, Maggie breaks into her husband’s mind, probing the depths of his memories in an effort to save him. The deeper she dives, the more she unravels a mystery spanning continents and centuries, each layer more complex than the last.

But Hassan cannot be trusted. Not just memories are disappearing, but pieces of reality itself. If Maggie cannot find out what Stanley did all those years ago, and what Hassan is after, she risks far more than her husband’s life. The very course of human history hangs in the balance.

‘A compelling narrative that takes the reader on a page-turning journey through both time and memory’ T.R. Napper, award-winning author of 36 Streets

‘A tender and compelling tale of love and memory across time and history. Thrilling, thought-provoking and melancholy. Superb’ David Wragg, author of The Black Hawks

Format: Hardback
Release Date: 27 Mar 2025
Pages: 384
ISBN: 978-0-00-866882-2
Nicholas Binge was born in Singapore and has since lived in Switzerland, Hong Kong, and the UK. He is an author of speculative fiction and his recent novel Professor Everywhere was shortlisted for the Proverse Prize for Literature in Hong Kong. He has a deep love for anything weird, anything that pushes boundaries, and anything that makes him cry.He lives and works in Edinburgh with his family, where he also teaches literature.www.nicholasbinge.com

PRAISE FOR NICHOLAS BINGE: -

‘An accomplished and clever speculative thriller that explores the limits of human knowledge’ -

THE TIMES -

‘Gripping and intriguing.’ -

DAILY MAIL -

‘Jaw-dropping’ -

COSMOPOLITAN -

‘Binge’s eerie speculative thriller looks both outward at the edges of scientific understanding, and inward at the meaning of responsibility, remorse and the human capacity for salvaging mercy from tragedy.’ -

THE WASHINGTON POST -

‘Myth, physics, religion and human nature…it’s all there in this brilliant, brain-twisting, high-concept tour-de-force that keeps you reading just as the scientists in the story are compelled to keep climbing.’ -

DAILY MAIL -

'Binge is an author to watch and if his subsequent novels are anything close to ASCENSION, I'll be reading every single one. A fantastic achievement that'll make me look at my beloved mountains twice.’ -

TJ Klune, New York Times bestselling author -

‘Binge has written a profound and elegiac story that examines science, faith and the concept of humanity itself… I will be thinking about this one for a long time!’ -

Sunyi Dean, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE BOOK EATERS -

‘A rollicking good read. Playful, inventive and vivid, with addictive narrative drive. Astonishingly accomplished.’ -

Lionel Shriver, bestselling author of WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN -

‘Both the science and the suspense are perfection, all held together by a robust emotional core. I enjoyed it immensely’ -

Tade Thompson, award-winning author of ROSEWATER and FAR FROM THE LIGHT OF HEAVEN -

‘A real page turner; Binge is an author to watch.’ -

Richard Swan, author of THE JUSTICE OF KINGS -

‘Ascension is a thrill ride of a novel that kept me reading well past my bedtime’ -

Michael Mammay, author of the PLANETSIDE SERIES -