Ren Warom and Daniel Godfrey in Birmingham

Join REN WAROM and DANIEL GODFREY in conversation, and signing their titles ESCAPOLOGY and NEW POMPEII, at the Forbidden Planet Birmingham Megastore on Saturday 4th June 1 – 2pm

From Ren Warom comes a cyberpunk thriller for fans of Lauren Beukes and William Gibson...

After the world broke, Foon Gung was the only piece of habitable land left. Most of the earth’s population took to city hubs and land ships, leaving the inhabitants of the Gung to eke out an existence in its claustrophobic confines.

In this world Shock Pao is a Fail. He flunked his Psych eval and chose to try and make his fortunes in the Gung’s brutal underworld, rather than following the safe, dull life of a Pass. But things have not worked out as he planned and with no degree, no job and no affiliations, he has nothing to protect him from angry ex-customers. Of which he has quite a few, mostly violent crime lords.

In Daniel’s New Pompeii, energy giant NovusPart develops technology with an unexpected side-effect: it can transport objects and people from deep in the past to the present day.

For post-grad historian Nick Houghton, the controversy surrounding the programme matters less than the opportunity the company offers him. NovusPart’s executives reveal their biggest secret: they have saved most of the people from Pompeii, minutes before the volcanic eruption. Somewhere in central Asia, far from prying eyes, the company has built a replica of the city. In it are thousands of real Romans. And Nick has been chosen to study them.

But Nick soon realises that NovusPart are underestimating their captives. The Romans may be ignorant of modern technology – for now – but city boss Manius Barbatus wasn’t appointed by the emperor because he was soft. The stage is set for the ultimate clash of cultures in which time itself is a weapon...