Radiant State

Peter Higgins's superb and original creation, a perfect melding of fantasy, myth, SF and political thriller, reaches its extraordinary conclusion.

The Vlast stands two hundred feet tall, four thousand tons of steel ready to be flung upwards on the fire of atom bombs. Ready to take the dream of President-Commander of the New Vlast General, Osip Rizhin, beyond the bounds of this world.

But not everyone shares this vision. Vissarion Lom and Maroussia Shaumian have not reached the end of their story, and in Mirgorod a woman in a shabby dress carefully unwraps a sniper rifle. And all the while the Pollandore dreams its own dreams.

Peter Higgins read English at Oxford and was Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College before joining the Civil Service. He began writing fantasy and SF stories in 2006 and his work has appeared in Fantasy: Best of the Year 2007 and Best New Fantasy 2. He has been published by Asimov's Science Fiction, Fantasy Magazine, and Zahir. His short story "Listening for Submarines" was translated and published by the St. Petersburg-based literary magazine Esli. He is married with three children and lives in South Wales.