47North scoops Charnock's near-future novel

Amazon Publishing’s science fiction and fantasy imprint 47North has signed the recent winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award, Anne Charnock, for a further novel, set in the “disturbing, near-future” and following a young climate refugee who is trafficked into slavery.

Bridge 108 is a standalone novel set in the same world as her successful debut, A Calculated Life, a finalist for the Philip K Dick Award and The Kitschies and also published by the Amazon Publishing imprint.

47North’s senior editor, Jason Kirk, struck a world English language rights deal for Bridge 108 with Sarah Such at Sarah Such Literary Agency on the eve of Frankfurt Book Fair as Charnock landed back in the UK after extensive travels in Kazakhstan and China.

Publication in hardback and e-book is slated for early 2020.

Bridge 108 is a “disturbing, near-future novel” about a young climate refugee who is trafficked into slavery in the north of England. It is described by Such as “a warm yet deeply heart-rending story about a boy who is too trusting and inevitably falls prey to malevolent forces on his long trek”.

Charnock is a former journalist, whose reports appeared in the Guardian, New Scientist and Financial Times. She was born in Bolton and now lives on the Isle of Bute. She self-published her debut A Calculated Life (2013), before it was picked up by 47North which also published her Arthur C Clarke-winning third novel Dreams Before the Start of Time.

Charnock said: “Jason Kirk, my editor for my two previous novels, has always encouraged me to take risks with my writing. This approach has paid off, with Dreams Before the Start of Time winning the Arthur C Clarke Award this year. He's a dream editor, and I'm delighted to be working with him on Bridge 108.”

Kirk said: “In the wake of Anne’s winning the 2018 Arthur C Clarke Award, I could hardly be more excited to work with her on this new novel, which returns to the world of her Philip K Dick Award-nominated debut, A Calculated Life, and tackles screamingly urgent issues dealing with immigrants and refugees.”