Venomous Lumpsucker
Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman, published by Soho Press on July 12, 2022, is a darkly humorous exploration of environmental collapse and the consequences of unchecked capitalism. Set in a near-future world where countless species are vanishing, the narrative follows Karin Resaint, an animal cognition scientist grappling with the impact of human actions on nature, and Mark Halyard, an executive entangled in the extinction industry. As a cyber-attack devastates biobanks that preserve the DNA of extinct species, the two characters embark on a quest to locate the venomous lumpsucker, the most intelligent fish on the planet, navigating dystopian landscapes filled with toxic waste and totalitarian regimes.
Readers will find a thought-provoking tale that delves into themes of loss and complicity, as Resaint and Halyard confront the implications of their actions and the broader environmental crisis. The story intertwines elements of fiction, nature, and dystopian humor, presenting a vivid commentary on the state of the world in the 2030s. With 336 pages of engaging prose, Venomous Lumpsucker invites reflection on the fragility of life and the ethical dilemmas surrounding conservation efforts.
Official synopsis Publisher
A dark and witty story of environmental collapse and runaway capitalism from the Booker-listed author of The Teleportation Accident.
The near future. Tens of thousands of species are going extinct every year. And a whole industry has sprung up around their extinctions, to help us preserve the remnants, or perhaps just assuage our guilt. For instance, the biobanks: secure archives of DNA samples, from which lost organisms might someday be resurrected . . . But then, one day, it’s all gone. A mysterious cyber-attack hits every biobank simultaneously, wiping out the last traces of the perished species. Now we’re never getting them back.
Karin Resaint and Mark Halyard are concerned with one species in particular: the venomous lumpsucker, a small, ugly bottom-feeder that happens to be the most intelligent fish on the planet. Resaint is an animal cognition scientist consumed with existential grief over what humans have done to nature. Halyard is an exec from the extinction industry, complicit in the mining operation that destroyed the lumpsucker’s last-known habitat.
Across the dystopian landscapes of the 2030s—a nature reserve full of toxic waste; a floating city on the ocean; the hinterlands of a totalitarian state—Resaint and Halyard hunt for a surviving lumpsucker. And the further they go, the deeper they’re drawn into the mystery of the attack on the biobanks. Who was really behind it? And why would anyone do such a thing?
Virtuosic and profound, witty and despairing, Venomous Lumpsucker is Ned Beauman at his very best.
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