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The Hate Extractor
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?
The Hate Extractor by Sef Hughes is 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 The human spirit has been replaced by suspicion, disconnection and stagnation.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.
The Hate Extractor by Sef Hughes is 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 The human spirit has been replaced by suspicion, disconnection and stagnation.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.
398 pages, Paperback
Published October 12, 2025
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About the author
Sef Hughes
2 books31 followersSef Hughes was born in Stirling, Scotland, and has lived in Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Pittsburgh, Amsterdam and Eindhoven. He is currently hiding out in York.
A version of his short story Lost Cargo was published in Litro USA in 2015, and The Straw Hat appeared in the Dream Issue of Popshot Quarterly in 2018. Salt Water, his first collection of short stories, was published in 2019. The Hate Extractor is his debut novel.
A version of his short story Lost Cargo was published in Litro USA in 2015, and The Straw Hat appeared in the Dream Issue of Popshot Quarterly in 2018. Salt Water, his first collection of short stories, was published in 2019. The Hate Extractor is his debut novel.
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October 17, 2025
Really enjoyed this darkly humorous, dystopian novel. It feels like a timely lament on the divisive nature of western politics told through the flawed lens of the hapless Atlas, who I loved, pitied and disliked in equal measure. Definitely one for Atwood and Vonnegut fans.
Displaying 1 of 1 review