Ragtag: City of Ash and Fire

by J.R. Potter

“A tour de force of world-building, part Hunger Games, part classic science fiction serial. RAGTAG: City of Ash and Fire has intrigue, peril, and humor at every turn.”
–Jude Atwood, award-winning author of Maybe There Are Witches

A cyberpunk fairytale. A different Alice in a wonderless land.

Seventeen-year-old Jezebel Winters has fallen from grace. Once a member of SkyApt, the elite housing complex that protects the one percent in the New Satellite Republic of America, formerly Boston, a political coup leads to the murder of Jezebel's parents and her brother's disappearance. Overnight Jezebel's status switches from citizen to illegal pariah.

The hunt is on.

Terrified and alone, Jezebel flees into the dangerous urban jungle of the N.S.R.A. where half-human, half-android creatures roam and vicious machines called Graph Angels target all illegals. Using a combination of gymnastic daring and survivor instincts, Jezebel makes contact with the fabled Ragtag Whirly Girlies, an all-female gang of thieves whose DIY tech includes wrist lasers and jet packs that allow them to evade capture by government forces. Can Jezebel cement her place among the Ragtags, harness their revolutionary tech, and locate her parents' killer before her luck runs out?

It's Alice in Wonderland meets Blade Runner in this high-octane dystopian adventure that explores what might happen if we lose empathy for each other and respect for our environment.

FINALIST 2020 ACHEVEN BOOK PRIZE
SHORTLISTED 2022 LEAP FROG GLOBAL FICTION PRIZE

211 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 2023

About the author

J.R. Potter is the author and illustrator of the critically-acclaimed THOMAS CREEPER series about a reluctant mortician's apprentice turned detective for the dead. Booklist calls Potter's debut THOMAS CREEPER AND THE GLOOMSBURY SECRET "marvelously macabre!" The novel won the 2019 Kraken Prize for Middle Grade Fiction and has become a staff pick at libraries across the world from San Jose to Saudi Arabia. The second Gloomsbury mystery THOMAS CREEPER AND THE PURPLE CORPSE hits shelves 6/15/23 from Black Rose Writing. Potter's graphic novel work has been published by Image Comics (THE GLIMMER SOCIETY, first appearance in Issues #2 and #3 of VOID TRIP), and his short fiction has been collected in various horror, steampunk, and sci-fi anthologies. Potter's groundbreaking YA dystopian thriller RAGTAG: City of Ash and Fire arrives 9/7/23. When not writing about ghosts with unfinished business or teenage heroines with jet packs, Potter writes and illustrates teen fiction for educational publishers Pioneer Valley Books and Heinemann Publishing, helping to boost literacy, empathy, and wonder in schools across the world.

For more information, head over to www.jamesrobertpotter.com

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Reviews

[Jude Atwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jezebel Winters loses her home, her parents, and her citizenship in one night, which means she’ll be hunted nonstop in the technological dystopia of the New Satellite Republic of America. Now, she has no idea who to trust, but if she wants to stay alive, she’ll have to learn to fly.

J.R. Potter’s new novel is a tour de force of world building. Part Hunger Games, part classic science fiction serial, RAGTAG: City of Ash and Fire has intrigue, peril, and humor at every turn. It's a smart sci-fi premise with a cool retro heart.

[Kimberly Kenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get comfy and buckle up. When you sign on to join Jezebel Winters on her quest to avenge her parents’ killer and locate her missing brother after a hostile takeover, your heart will heave, your palms will sweat, and you won’t be leaving your chair until you skid into the final scene. Potter’s characters are multi-faceted, emblazoned with high-tech quirks and raw human impulses. Tension deepens below the surface when Jezebel forms bonds amid the chaos and carnage, and emotions begin to simmer. The story is so well-crafted that the reader feels they are a part of it, the kind of storytelling that translates easily to the big screen.