Swedish Machines: Sunset At Zero Point

by Simon Stålenhag (Author/Illustrator)

Genres: Science Fiction, Art

Hardcover

Published May 1, 2025

About the author

Konstnären och författaren Simon Stålenhag är mest känd för sina digitala målningar som ofta visar vardagliga scener med fantastiska inslag. Efter sitt genombrott 2013 har Stålenhag publicerat två böcker om ett alternativt 1980- och 90-tal på Mälaröarna utanför Stockholm. Ur varselklotet (2014) och Flodskörden (2016) har hyllats både i Sverige och utomlands. Den ansedda tidningen The Guardian korade Ur varselklotet till en av tidernas bästa dystopier, i sällskap med Franz Kafkas Processen och Andrew Niccols Gattaca.

Simon Stålenhags evokativa och filmlika bildspråk har väckt uppmärksamhet även i film- och datorspelsvärlden. Han har verkat som konceptillustratör och manusförfattare i ett flertal projekt. Stålenhag har medverkat i Searching for Sugarman (regisserad av Malik Bendjeloull) och i datorspel så som Ripple Dot Zero (2013).

Reviews

[Owen]

Stålenhag's artwork is such a beautiful mix of nostalgic and fantastic that it sometimes takes a reader a little while to realize he's also a really skilled storyteller. This story is heartbreaking and sweet by turns, a peek into the rocky process of figuring out who we are and how we fit into a world that's always full of more mysteries than we can solve.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recent Reads: Swedish Machines. Simon Stälenhag's latest illustrated novel is a bittersweet love story set across over 20 years, and maybe more than one timeline. A mysterious disaster has closed off part of Sweden, obsession drives a man to explore its strange heart. Less hardware, more landscape.

[Christian Sorrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Stålenhag's best work yet and considerably more prose than his previous books (if memory serves). I loved the time period, the life-spanning stories, and the Exclusion Zone as backdrop for finding your place in our world, as boring and as difficult as it may be. There's no real escape for us, so we must find the happiness we can, where we can. Excellent.

[Pedro Plassen Lopes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one has more biographical undertones. The illustrations are amazing, as always. The storytelling is challenging sometimes, key information can easily escape your attention, and when you witness the perfect ending, you find out there are a couple more pages ahead. One a side note, I hope the author’s wife hasn’t read it yet, for everyone’s sake.

[Jukka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another "nice" slightly dystopic story wrapped in a love/friendship story, accompanied with beautiful imagery.
I love Simon's art and would be happy just staring at those all the way through.