Chittin

by Derek White

Gene Masons have created a utopia based on genetic manipulation where even the buildings are living organisms, and harmful metal based technologies are banned. The Masons have constructed a vast city tower on a desolate desert plain surrounded by a great protective wall, and ruled from above by supposedly benign Olympian Gods.Yet all is not as it should be in this utopia. Aris, a genetically modified sea creature with mysterious powers, searches for her identity as she serves both a capricious God and a monstrous squid intent on fermenting revolution. A group of schoolboys are framed for a gruesome murder carried out by a serial killer, and Makdonna, a low ranking police officer, tries to save the boys and catch the real killer. Slaves and impoverished workers toil in the lower levels of the city in appalling conditions with no hope of a better life, while below them in the dark underworld of the city goblins and demons lurk, the rejects of the Gene Masons' genetic experiments.As the city begins to fail, its inhabitants are forced to flee into the unknown world outside its walls. Some use ropes to go over the impossibly high wall, some cave dive deep beneath the city, and some ride their skateboards at great speed along secret tunnels.

404 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2023