2026 Goldsmiths Prize (shortlist)
From the bestselling, award-winning master of uncanny fiction comes a defining work, twenty years in the making '' a deeply moving, decade and continent-spanning epic of grief, global tumult, and grim conspiracy.
Shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize 2026
'Miéville’s command of his prose is phenomenal . . . This is a world that you can truly swim in, and few authors can achieve that' – The Times
‘Affecting, intelligent and, in more than one place, very, very frightening. This is a novel destined for a rich afterlife' – The Guardian
'An extraordinary tour de force' – Adrian Tchaikovsky
'I felt it in my bones, the undeniable power of a jagged masterpiece' – The New York Times
'A landmark work . . . the genius that is China Miéville' – Daily Mail
Maur’s life has been shaped by an unbearable loss. But in the aftermath of what is an apparently ordinary tragedy, deeper, stranger questions arise . . . Their answers may lie within the dark heart and darker history of an old soldier who shares Maur’s obsessions – and is violently pursued by the same unknown, unquiet forces.
So begins The Rouse, a masterpiece unlike any other: at once a sprawling saga of the bloody twentieth century, and the intimate story of two lives, their loves, regrets and secrets – and a terrifying journey into infinite mystery.
Praise for China Miéville, The Rouse:
'Completely without parallel' Michael Moorcock
'A magisterial wonder' Paul Tremblay
'Every page feels alive' Xiaolu Guo
Genre: Literary Fiction
Shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize 2026
'Miéville’s command of his prose is phenomenal . . . This is a world that you can truly swim in, and few authors can achieve that' – The Times
‘Affecting, intelligent and, in more than one place, very, very frightening. This is a novel destined for a rich afterlife' – The Guardian
'An extraordinary tour de force' – Adrian Tchaikovsky
'I felt it in my bones, the undeniable power of a jagged masterpiece' – The New York Times
'A landmark work . . . the genius that is China Miéville' – Daily Mail
Maur’s life has been shaped by an unbearable loss. But in the aftermath of what is an apparently ordinary tragedy, deeper, stranger questions arise . . . Their answers may lie within the dark heart and darker history of an old soldier who shares Maur’s obsessions – and is violently pursued by the same unknown, unquiet forces.
So begins The Rouse, a masterpiece unlike any other: at once a sprawling saga of the bloody twentieth century, and the intimate story of two lives, their loves, regrets and secrets – and a terrifying journey into infinite mystery.
Praise for China Miéville, The Rouse:
'Completely without parallel' Michael Moorcock
'A magisterial wonder' Paul Tremblay
'Every page feels alive' Xiaolu Guo
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"The Rouse is Mieville's most completely realised imagining, an alchemical amalgamation of historical and meta-natural horror that like its characters strives to fathom that which surpasses all understanding." - Tariq Goddard
"Mieville's genre-busting secret history is epically ambitious, crammed with ideas and eyekicks, yet also profoundly humane. A true masterwork." - Paul McAuley
"I cannot say how much I love this book both for its humanity and its originality. The Rouse is a classic of modern weird literature . . . and goes beyond genre to put Mieville in the forefront of modern British novelists." - Michael Moorcock
"At once the most poetic horror and the most fearsome historical novel in contemporary letters. There is simply no equivalent to Mieville's achievement." - Jordy Rosenberg
"A monster of a book in every sense: a showing of the ghosts that haunt our real history, and of the power of the fantastic to explore with tender horror the twilight borderland where dogs turn into wolves, and back again." - Francis Spufford
"An extraordinary tour de force, poetic, complex and poignant. A true masterpiece of the weird." - Adrian Tchaikovsky
"The Rouse is a stirring, moving family saga and a dizzying exegesis of the violent and virulent second half of the twentieth century, as well a lament for the brutalist age it has spawned. Complex, consuming, thrilling, terrifying, a feast of language and ideas . . . I could go on and on. A magisterial wonder." - Paul Tremblay
"A richly immersive, sweeping vision of twentieth-century London, capturing the city in all its colours and sounds . . . Every page feels alive." - Xiaolu Guo
"Mieville's genre-busting secret history is epically ambitious, crammed with ideas and eyekicks, yet also profoundly humane. A true masterwork." - Paul McAuley
"I cannot say how much I love this book both for its humanity and its originality. The Rouse is a classic of modern weird literature . . . and goes beyond genre to put Mieville in the forefront of modern British novelists." - Michael Moorcock
"At once the most poetic horror and the most fearsome historical novel in contemporary letters. There is simply no equivalent to Mieville's achievement." - Jordy Rosenberg
"A monster of a book in every sense: a showing of the ghosts that haunt our real history, and of the power of the fantastic to explore with tender horror the twilight borderland where dogs turn into wolves, and back again." - Francis Spufford
"An extraordinary tour de force, poetic, complex and poignant. A true masterpiece of the weird." - Adrian Tchaikovsky
"The Rouse is a stirring, moving family saga and a dizzying exegesis of the violent and virulent second half of the twentieth century, as well a lament for the brutalist age it has spawned. Complex, consuming, thrilling, terrifying, a feast of language and ideas . . . I could go on and on. A magisterial wonder." - Paul Tremblay
"A richly immersive, sweeping vision of twentieth-century London, capturing the city in all its colours and sounds . . . Every page feels alive." - Xiaolu Guo
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