Sef Hughes's Blog
October 28, 2025
OUT NOW: The Hate Extractor
It’s out. The Hate Extractor, the story of a man who tried and failed to save to world is now available.
“Hungry, delusional, and living like a hermit next to a gasholder that contains all humanity’s hate, Atlas Brown asks his reflection, imaginary academics, and a parliament of owls the only questions that matter anymore: will he go down in history as the scientist who sacrificed everything to save the world—or as the coward who broke it? And where the hell are his running shoes?”
It’s a speculative literary novel about the man who discovered and trapped an airborne particle that spread hate like a virus. However, the utopian future he hoped this would lead to has not transpired. Freedom from war and violence has come at a divesting cost: the world has lost the very passions and conflicts that, for better or worse, bound people together. The human spirit has been replaced by suspicion, disconnection and stagnation. And Atlas Brown finds himself ensnared in absurd isolation, his self-proclaimed brilliance curdling into regret.
Haunting and darkly funny, this novel is a meditation on arrogance, capitalism, and the bitter comedy of a man undone by his own solution. If you enjoyed Oryx and Crake, Cat’s Cradle, or Station Eleven, then you’ll love The Hate Extractor.
The Hate Extractor is available from www.sefhughes.com and Amazon.
“Hungry, delusional, and living like a hermit next to a gasholder that contains all humanity’s hate, Atlas Brown asks his reflection, imaginary academics, and a parliament of owls the only questions that matter anymore: will he go down in history as the scientist who sacrificed everything to save the world—or as the coward who broke it? And where the hell are his running shoes?”It’s a speculative literary novel about the man who discovered and trapped an airborne particle that spread hate like a virus. However, the utopian future he hoped this would lead to has not transpired. Freedom from war and violence has come at a divesting cost: the world has lost the very passions and conflicts that, for better or worse, bound people together. The human spirit has been replaced by suspicion, disconnection and stagnation. And Atlas Brown finds himself ensnared in absurd isolation, his self-proclaimed brilliance curdling into regret.
Haunting and darkly funny, this novel is a meditation on arrogance, capitalism, and the bitter comedy of a man undone by his own solution. If you enjoyed Oryx and Crake, Cat’s Cradle, or Station Eleven, then you’ll love The Hate Extractor.
The Hate Extractor is available from www.sefhughes.com and Amazon.
