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The Hate Extractor
Will Atlas Brown go down in history as the man who saved the world or as the coward who broke it? Dr Brown is in trouble. He may be the scientist who discovered and trapped the airborne particle that spread hate like a virus, but that won’t help him now.
The utopia he hoped for hasn’t transpired. Freedom from hate means there’s no more war or violence, but humanity has lost the very passions and conflicts that bound it together. All that’s left is suspicion, disconnection and stagnation. Society is crumbling. Institutions have vanished, and governments have fallen. Every day, fresh borders appear, policed by a new generation of tyrants and henchmen.
And now Atlas is hiding out, living like a hermit next to a gas holder that contains all the hate in the world. Increasingly hungry and delusional, he ponders his fate. Consulting with his reflection, imaginary audiences, and a parliament of owls, he asks, what could he have done differently? And how long will it be before the local militia realise what he’s protecting?
"Black Mirror meets Kafka" – from a reader review.
Haunting and darkly funny, this speculative literary 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. Buy it today.
The utopia he hoped for hasn’t transpired. Freedom from hate means there’s no more war or violence, but humanity has lost the very passions and conflicts that bound it together. All that’s left is suspicion, disconnection and stagnation. Society is crumbling. Institutions have vanished, and governments have fallen. Every day, fresh borders appear, policed by a new generation of tyrants and henchmen.
And now Atlas is hiding out, living like a hermit next to a gas holder that contains all the hate in the world. Increasingly hungry and delusional, he ponders his fate. Consulting with his reflection, imaginary audiences, and a parliament of owls, he asks, what could he have done differently? And how long will it be before the local militia realise what he’s protecting?
"Black Mirror meets Kafka" – from a reader review.
Haunting and darkly funny, this speculative literary 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. Buy it today.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 17, 2025
1 person want to read
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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Displaying 1 of 1 review
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