A thrilling and ominously prophetic debut set in a world when Earth and its resources have been pushed to breaking point, giving rise to a revolutionary—and highly controversial—procedure in which two people’s consciousness can be combined to exist in one body.
How far would you go to never say goodbye?
Laurie is sixty-five and living with Alzheimer’s. Her daughter Amelia, a once fiery and strong-willed activist, can’t bear to see her mother’s mind fade. Faced with the reality of losing her forever, Amelia signs them up to take part in the world’s first experimental merging process for Alzheimer’s patients, in which Laurie’s ailing mind will be transferred into Amelia’s healthy body and their consciousness will be blended as one.
Soon Amelia and Laurie join the opaque and mysterious group of other merge participants: teenage Lucas, who plans to merge with his terminally ill brother Noah; Ben, who will merge with his pregnant fiancée Annie; and Jay, whose merging partner is his addict daughter Lara. As they prepare to move to The Village, a luxurious rehabilitation center for those who have merged, they quickly begin to question whether everything is really as it seems.
An exhilarating, immersive debut from an astonishing new voice, The Merge is a personal story of love, family, and sacrifice, as well as a thought-provoking examination of the limits of control, resistance, and freedom in our modern world.
Genre: Science Fiction
How far would you go to never say goodbye?
Laurie is sixty-five and living with Alzheimer’s. Her daughter Amelia, a once fiery and strong-willed activist, can’t bear to see her mother’s mind fade. Faced with the reality of losing her forever, Amelia signs them up to take part in the world’s first experimental merging process for Alzheimer’s patients, in which Laurie’s ailing mind will be transferred into Amelia’s healthy body and their consciousness will be blended as one.
Soon Amelia and Laurie join the opaque and mysterious group of other merge participants: teenage Lucas, who plans to merge with his terminally ill brother Noah; Ben, who will merge with his pregnant fiancée Annie; and Jay, whose merging partner is his addict daughter Lara. As they prepare to move to The Village, a luxurious rehabilitation center for those who have merged, they quickly begin to question whether everything is really as it seems.
An exhilarating, immersive debut from an astonishing new voice, The Merge is a personal story of love, family, and sacrifice, as well as a thought-provoking examination of the limits of control, resistance, and freedom in our modern world.
Genre: Science Fiction
Praise for this book
"Chilling, claustrophobic and deeply unsettling, The Merge is a brilliant, unforgettable exploration of memory, control and freedom." - Carole Hailey
"A disturbing, heartbreaking and gripping read, which manages to explore capitalism, technology, personal identity, climate change, human rights and over-population without ever losing sight of its central characters and their vividly drawn lives." - Jo Harkin
"A heart-wrenching exploration of the struggle for autonomy amidst dwindling resources, The Merge perfectly captures a modern world obsessed with controversial solutions for problems it has created. Grace Walker depicts all too clearly the impossibility of aging with dignity in a society that doesn't value life, and I was riveted from the first page to the last." - Ling Ling Huang
"Grace Walker creates an uncanny world so rich and all-encompassing that it's hard to believe it's not real ... it's clear that Walker poured her all into this future classic of the genre.'" - Jodie Matthews
"With The Merge, Grace Walker takes a clever speculative premise, and creates a dystopian world that feels frighteningly plausible; filled with compelling characters struggling to come to terms with the new reality. Terrifying and fascinating." - Guy Morpuss
"I read The Merge in one frenzied weekend ... Walker has a frighteningly good imagination, but the most frightening thing of all is that the world she's created doesn't feel all that outlandish... This is a story that will stay with me. Timely, important, and beautifully written." - Silvia Saunders
"A disturbing, heartbreaking and gripping read, which manages to explore capitalism, technology, personal identity, climate change, human rights and over-population without ever losing sight of its central characters and their vividly drawn lives." - Jo Harkin
"A heart-wrenching exploration of the struggle for autonomy amidst dwindling resources, The Merge perfectly captures a modern world obsessed with controversial solutions for problems it has created. Grace Walker depicts all too clearly the impossibility of aging with dignity in a society that doesn't value life, and I was riveted from the first page to the last." - Ling Ling Huang
"Grace Walker creates an uncanny world so rich and all-encompassing that it's hard to believe it's not real ... it's clear that Walker poured her all into this future classic of the genre.'" - Jodie Matthews
"With The Merge, Grace Walker takes a clever speculative premise, and creates a dystopian world that feels frighteningly plausible; filled with compelling characters struggling to come to terms with the new reality. Terrifying and fascinating." - Guy Morpuss
"I read The Merge in one frenzied weekend ... Walker has a frighteningly good imagination, but the most frightening thing of all is that the world she's created doesn't feel all that outlandish... This is a story that will stay with me. Timely, important, and beautifully written." - Silvia Saunders
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