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The Hunger of Those Who Built It
Not yet published
Expected 17 Sep 26- GenresScience Fiction
412 pages, Paperback
Expected publication September 17, 2026
About the author
Wendy Waring
12 books7 followersWendy Waring grew up within earshot of the steel mills of Hamilton, Canada, earned her BA in Translation from Queens and PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Toronto. She worked as an editor in feminist publishing, lived in Paris, moved to Australia, and has taught in universities worldwide. Her publications include academic works, criticism, and short fiction and translations in SFF and literary venues. The Hunger of Those Who Built It is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This was an incredible read, both because it is a wonderful story in its own right and because the issues and the quote from Ursula K. Le Guin's speech "Hunger" are dear to me. I feel confident I will not read anything better this year. It is the best novel of my year.
Le Guin begins with her own translation of Pablo Neruda's poem about Machu Picchu. Neruda questions who has truly paid for that glorious structure. The words came to me as I was reading this novel and then I pulled out my copy of Le Guin's fabulous essay collection, Dancing at the Edge the World, to verify: “No house worth living in has for its cornerstone the hunger of those who built it” (50). It is the source of the title.
American Diane Griffith is an engineer who is part of a team designing what is envisioned as an egalitarian Eden in the center of Paris in 2033. Their vision is that local residents have a completely self-sustaining urban environment with sewage treatment and clean water, crops in vertical and rooftop gardens. Paris will become a model for such development throughout an Earth struggling with global warming.
Meanwhile, her younger sister, Helen, has not spoken directly to Diane in a decade, and both their mother and most recently their father has died. Diane is worried about her politically provocative sister and her young niece and hopes to locate them while working on The Avenue. But something secret and odd is happening in Paris, something Diane doesn't want to face directly. The ultra rich who fund the project hold all the cards. The hand she's been dealt might be as dangerous as her sister Helen has always insisted it is.
The timeline shifts from the creation of Diane's vision in the 2030s, and her return years later to discover how Paris has used and abused her ideas, and to again find her family. I don't think this is a spoiler since early chapters reveal the tension between creative idealists and the selfishness of the rich and powerful. Thought in the future, this novel has a great deal to offer about our own time.
The Hunger of Those Who Built It reminds me that I know a millionaire who is building a private, secure paradise with other trust-fund on an island off Central America. Nothing about this novel is far fetched, the science already exists, and the will to exploit our world for personal advantage is in power. I am reminded that whatever they claim about fairness and democracy, there is a tiny element of humanity with an extraordinary sense of entitlement, and those people don't care who else gets hurt in pursuit of their comfort.
The thrust of this novel is all about "good trouble" and so is Wendy Waring. I will read anything and everything else she writes. I cried on the last pages, as much because it was ending as anything.
Now released, I thank the publisher, Stelliform Press, for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. The novel is over 400 pages and I am not a fast reader, but I barely put it down until I neared the end. I might have finished it last evening, but waited to the morning. This is a story of issues we are facing now, but explored through a narrative that is both very close to home for us in the U.S. but oddly hopeful. I can recommend this without reservation.
Le Guin begins with her own translation of Pablo Neruda's poem about Machu Picchu. Neruda questions who has truly paid for that glorious structure. The words came to me as I was reading this novel and then I pulled out my copy of Le Guin's fabulous essay collection, Dancing at the Edge the World, to verify: “No house worth living in has for its cornerstone the hunger of those who built it” (50). It is the source of the title.
American Diane Griffith is an engineer who is part of a team designing what is envisioned as an egalitarian Eden in the center of Paris in 2033. Their vision is that local residents have a completely self-sustaining urban environment with sewage treatment and clean water, crops in vertical and rooftop gardens. Paris will become a model for such development throughout an Earth struggling with global warming.
Meanwhile, her younger sister, Helen, has not spoken directly to Diane in a decade, and both their mother and most recently their father has died. Diane is worried about her politically provocative sister and her young niece and hopes to locate them while working on The Avenue. But something secret and odd is happening in Paris, something Diane doesn't want to face directly. The ultra rich who fund the project hold all the cards. The hand she's been dealt might be as dangerous as her sister Helen has always insisted it is.
The timeline shifts from the creation of Diane's vision in the 2030s, and her return years later to discover how Paris has used and abused her ideas, and to again find her family. I don't think this is a spoiler since early chapters reveal the tension between creative idealists and the selfishness of the rich and powerful. Thought in the future, this novel has a great deal to offer about our own time.
The Hunger of Those Who Built It reminds me that I know a millionaire who is building a private, secure paradise with other trust-fund on an island off Central America. Nothing about this novel is far fetched, the science already exists, and the will to exploit our world for personal advantage is in power. I am reminded that whatever they claim about fairness and democracy, there is a tiny element of humanity with an extraordinary sense of entitlement, and those people don't care who else gets hurt in pursuit of their comfort.
The thrust of this novel is all about "good trouble" and so is Wendy Waring. I will read anything and everything else she writes. I cried on the last pages, as much because it was ending as anything.
Now released, I thank the publisher, Stelliform Press, for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. The novel is over 400 pages and I am not a fast reader, but I barely put it down until I neared the end. I might have finished it last evening, but waited to the morning. This is a story of issues we are facing now, but explored through a narrative that is both very close to home for us in the U.S. but oddly hopeful. I can recommend this without reservation.
June 29, 2026
Read courtesy of the publisher, Stelliform Press. It's out in September.
Wendy Waring does an intriguing narrative thing in this novel. The first 60 or so pages alternate between Lou, who has managed to infiltrate The Oxbow - an exclusive and exclusionary colony, basically, set up in the middle of a crumbling Paris - and Diane, Lou's aunt, Green architect/designer and largely responsible for The Oxbow.
Then all of a sudden we get a timeshift: back 16 years, before The Oxbow exists. Diane is offered a job in Paris, creating vertical farms and helping to green part of the city, at the same time growing food for the inhabitants. It's a world where in theory, at least, technology is greening, and so some aspects of early-21st-century urban life can change - massive highways, for instance. But, as Diane slowly learns, there are still privileged groups seeking to keep all the good stuff to themselves.
Basically, the majority of the novel is following Diane as she learns how her dream gets turned into the gated community of The Oxbow.
So on one level, it's a story of a woman watching her dreams get manipulated and changed away from her vision. And it's powerful for that: how hopeful intentions can be subverted, how good plans can be made to go astray, and so on. How corporations can destroy individual hopes. And, as well, there are some intriguing ideas for how cities might indeed change - for good; this is being advertised as solarpunk, after all.
The novel is not only about ambition and technology and urban infrastructure, and the big picture, though. It's also focused squarely on the smaller picture: Diane wants to go to Paris because she is seeking reconnection with her sister, from whom she has been estranged for many years. There are many reasons for their separation; some familial, others political and philosophical. None of them have easy solutions, and Diane is frequently conflicted about her own as well as her sister's attitudes. What I liked about Waring's story is how very real it feels. Siblings are exactly those people who know how best to get under your skin, and who are also (often, not always) the people you want to be drawn back to.
I have one quibble with the story: an event in Diane's history turns out to be very different from how she understood it, which has serious ramifications, many of which are part of the point of the story. But one consequence, about the dating of other events, doesn't seem ever to be addressed, which is unfortunately something I really struggled to reconcile.
However! All up, I very much enjoyed this novel. It's well written - I devoured it - and Waring balances the macro, urban issues with the micro, personal issues beautifully. They each feel as important as the other.
As a debut, I am deeply impressed, and hope that we can expect more of the same in future from Waring.
Wendy Waring does an intriguing narrative thing in this novel. The first 60 or so pages alternate between Lou, who has managed to infiltrate The Oxbow - an exclusive and exclusionary colony, basically, set up in the middle of a crumbling Paris - and Diane, Lou's aunt, Green architect/designer and largely responsible for The Oxbow.
Then all of a sudden we get a timeshift: back 16 years, before The Oxbow exists. Diane is offered a job in Paris, creating vertical farms and helping to green part of the city, at the same time growing food for the inhabitants. It's a world where in theory, at least, technology is greening, and so some aspects of early-21st-century urban life can change - massive highways, for instance. But, as Diane slowly learns, there are still privileged groups seeking to keep all the good stuff to themselves.
Basically, the majority of the novel is following Diane as she learns how her dream gets turned into the gated community of The Oxbow.
So on one level, it's a story of a woman watching her dreams get manipulated and changed away from her vision. And it's powerful for that: how hopeful intentions can be subverted, how good plans can be made to go astray, and so on. How corporations can destroy individual hopes. And, as well, there are some intriguing ideas for how cities might indeed change - for good; this is being advertised as solarpunk, after all.
The novel is not only about ambition and technology and urban infrastructure, and the big picture, though. It's also focused squarely on the smaller picture: Diane wants to go to Paris because she is seeking reconnection with her sister, from whom she has been estranged for many years. There are many reasons for their separation; some familial, others political and philosophical. None of them have easy solutions, and Diane is frequently conflicted about her own as well as her sister's attitudes. What I liked about Waring's story is how very real it feels. Siblings are exactly those people who know how best to get under your skin, and who are also (often, not always) the people you want to be drawn back to.
I have one quibble with the story: an event in Diane's history turns out to be very different from how she understood it, which has serious ramifications, many of which are part of the point of the story. But one consequence, about the dating of other events, doesn't seem ever to be addressed, which is unfortunately something I really struggled to reconcile.
However! All up, I very much enjoyed this novel. It's well written - I devoured it - and Waring balances the macro, urban issues with the micro, personal issues beautifully. They each feel as important as the other.
As a debut, I am deeply impressed, and hope that we can expect more of the same in future from Waring.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I really loved "The Hunger of Those Who Built It". This was one of those books that completely immersed me in its world, and I was genuinely surprised to realize it was over 400 pages because it never felt that long. It was engaging from beginning to end, with enough suspense and mystery that I was never quite sure where the story was going.
The speculative elements were especially well done. This future contains some genuinely exciting possibilities, including vertical gardens, innovative engineering, and AI integrated throughout the city. At the same time, there are much darker aspects to this world, particularly the enormous divide between the wealthy and everyone else. The idea of the rich living in their own protected enclave while certain foods and resources are kept out of reach of ordinary people was disturbing precisely because it didn't feel entirely impossible. The combination of technological optimism and social inequality gave me a lot to think about.
I also really enjoyed the strong female characters. They felt capable and complex, and the story never lost sight of them while exploring its much larger questions about climate, technology, wealth, food, and what a sustainable future might actually look like.
I saw a comparison to Kim Stanley Robinson in one of the blurbs, and having read quite a few of his books, I can understand the comparison. However, I actually think this novel may be more accessible to readers who don't want long stretches devoted to explaining the science or environmental issues. Robinson's books can sometimes meander into ecological teaching or preaching. I personally enjoy that, but I know it isn't for every reader. "The Hunger of Those Who Built It" never felt that way. The environmental and social messages are built naturally into the world and the story, allowing the ideas to emerge without interrupting the narrative.
And then there is the ending. I think one of the marks of a really good author is the ability to deliver an ending that feels earned rather than rushed or tacked on, and Wendy Waring absolutely delivered. The ending wrapped up the story beautifully without taking away the larger questions the book raises. I finished feeling completely satisfied while still thinking about the world and its implications afterward.
Five stars. Smart, suspenseful, thought-provoking speculative fiction with a fascinating future, strong female characters, and an ending that sticks the landing. I had a great time reading this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
The speculative elements were especially well done. This future contains some genuinely exciting possibilities, including vertical gardens, innovative engineering, and AI integrated throughout the city. At the same time, there are much darker aspects to this world, particularly the enormous divide between the wealthy and everyone else. The idea of the rich living in their own protected enclave while certain foods and resources are kept out of reach of ordinary people was disturbing precisely because it didn't feel entirely impossible. The combination of technological optimism and social inequality gave me a lot to think about.
I also really enjoyed the strong female characters. They felt capable and complex, and the story never lost sight of them while exploring its much larger questions about climate, technology, wealth, food, and what a sustainable future might actually look like.
I saw a comparison to Kim Stanley Robinson in one of the blurbs, and having read quite a few of his books, I can understand the comparison. However, I actually think this novel may be more accessible to readers who don't want long stretches devoted to explaining the science or environmental issues. Robinson's books can sometimes meander into ecological teaching or preaching. I personally enjoy that, but I know it isn't for every reader. "The Hunger of Those Who Built It" never felt that way. The environmental and social messages are built naturally into the world and the story, allowing the ideas to emerge without interrupting the narrative.
And then there is the ending. I think one of the marks of a really good author is the ability to deliver an ending that feels earned rather than rushed or tacked on, and Wendy Waring absolutely delivered. The ending wrapped up the story beautifully without taking away the larger questions the book raises. I finished feeling completely satisfied while still thinking about the world and its implications afterward.
Five stars. Smart, suspenseful, thought-provoking speculative fiction with a fascinating future, strong female characters, and an ending that sticks the landing. I had a great time reading this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
September 10, 2026
Review of an advanced copy received from Stelliform Press.
The Hunger of Those Who Built It is a whip-smart and complicated meditation on complicity and change. Lou infiltrates a walled surveillance neighbourhood inside Paris on a work crew. maintaining an ecological paradise while the masses starve outside. Sixteen years earlier, her aunt Diane, who engineered the enclave, builds the vertical gardens and sewage treatment that will make the city both sustainable and grimly exclusive.
The emotional weight of the story is in the latter narrative, where Diane gradually loses the gee-whizz cool of green technologies to the bleak pragmatism of surviving the cruel ecosystem of the super-wealthy. Meanwhile, she searches for her idealistic sister, Helen, who has gone off grid and is living somewhere in the city, and who may be right in her critiques of Diane's life and career after all.
This book grapples with the ways in which even technologies that are positive and sustainable can be manipulated to serve the ends of the elite despite the good intentions of their designers. There is no solving the climate crisis without also solving social inequality. Ursula K. LeGuin would be proud.
The Hunger of Those Who Built It is a whip-smart and complicated meditation on complicity and change. Lou infiltrates a walled surveillance neighbourhood inside Paris on a work crew. maintaining an ecological paradise while the masses starve outside. Sixteen years earlier, her aunt Diane, who engineered the enclave, builds the vertical gardens and sewage treatment that will make the city both sustainable and grimly exclusive.
The emotional weight of the story is in the latter narrative, where Diane gradually loses the gee-whizz cool of green technologies to the bleak pragmatism of surviving the cruel ecosystem of the super-wealthy. Meanwhile, she searches for her idealistic sister, Helen, who has gone off grid and is living somewhere in the city, and who may be right in her critiques of Diane's life and career after all.
This book grapples with the ways in which even technologies that are positive and sustainable can be manipulated to serve the ends of the elite despite the good intentions of their designers. There is no solving the climate crisis without also solving social inequality. Ursula K. LeGuin would be proud.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Interesting premise: few books have environmental engineers as their main characters. I was excited to read this debut novel with themes of cli-fi and sisterhood/aunthood, set in Paris in the 2030s-2060s. This was listed under Literary Fiction and Sci-Fi & Fantasy in NetGalley, but I wouldn't categorize it as literary fiction, or particularly sci-fi except for the brief bits. After reading it, I would place it in Women's Fiction category. The book focuses on Dianne Griffith, a landscape architect/environmental engineer who has been commissioned to work on a vertical garden project in Paris in the 2030s. I was expecting the book to be about the project and life in this future Paris, but instead it's mostly about Dianne's issues with her father and sister, and also her colleagues and romances in Paris. Some interesting allusions to seed vaults, despite overuse of Persephone-pomegranate metaphor. Overall, interesting premise, didn't quite hit the mark for me, but I look forward to seeing what the author writes next.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read the eARC.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read the eARC.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This absolutely incredible sci-fi tale of brilliant women in near-future Paris had be hooked from start to finish.
The richness of the story, the raw emotion of the characters, and the all too familiar eco-disasters we are facing, made for an entertaining and timely read.
I loved Diane, all her flaws and rigidity, and without spoiling the story, wished for so much more for her.
This is a must read for fans of Ursula K. LeGuin (the title is a dead giveaway). Really if you love stories about what people can accomplish in the face of adversity, with a basis in our current climate-horror reality, you will love this book.
Thank you so much to Stelliform Press for an early copy in exchange for an honest review. You never disappoint! Wendy Waring is going on my auto buy list. 💓
The richness of the story, the raw emotion of the characters, and the all too familiar eco-disasters we are facing, made for an entertaining and timely read.
I loved Diane, all her flaws and rigidity, and without spoiling the story, wished for so much more for her.
This is a must read for fans of Ursula K. LeGuin (the title is a dead giveaway). Really if you love stories about what people can accomplish in the face of adversity, with a basis in our current climate-horror reality, you will love this book.
Thank you so much to Stelliform Press for an early copy in exchange for an honest review. You never disappoint! Wendy Waring is going on my auto buy list. 💓
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
A satisfying eco-thriller that centered complicated family relationships, and the moral ambiguity of even the best-intentioned technologies.
Did Not Finish
September 13, 2026Normally, this kind of story is something I enjoy a lot. However, the story just wasn’t keeping me engaged and interested to keep going, I don’t know why! I’ll have to come back to this I think.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews