What do you think?
Morpho
When the corpse on the mortuary slab sits up and speaks to Hayley, asking for her help, she thinks she’s losing her mind. If only it were that simple…
In this exhilarating novella, distinguished novelist, screenwriter, and radio dramatist Philip Palmer delivers a tense and fast-paced tale of a secret society through which the privileged govern from the shadows, of immortality bought at a horrific price, and of a rebellion that threatens to undermine the social order of our entire world.
The NewCon Press Novella Set 5 (The Alien Among Us) consists of four independent novellas by four outstanding authors, linked only by theme and their shared cover art.
In this exhilarating novella, distinguished novelist, screenwriter, and radio dramatist Philip Palmer delivers a tense and fast-paced tale of a secret society through which the privileged govern from the shadows, of immortality bought at a horrific price, and of a rebellion that threatens to undermine the social order of our entire world.
The NewCon Press Novella Set 5 (The Alien Among Us) consists of four independent novellas by four outstanding authors, linked only by theme and their shared cover art.
- GenresScience Fiction
114 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 9, 2019
About the author
Philip Palmer
51 books59 followersPhilip Palmer is a British science fiction and fantasy novelist and an award-winning screenwriter and radio dramatist whose credits include productions for the BBC starring Iain McDiarmid and Simon Russell Beale.
His novels blend dark humour, genre-bending world-building, and relentless plot momentum. Hell on Earth, his alternate-London crime thriller set in a world where Hell is literally a borough, was named a Finalist in the 2026 American Book Fest Legacy Book Awards. Lavie Tidhar (World Fantasy Award winner) calls his work 'magical madness', and agent and editor John Jarrold calls Hell on Earth 'brilliant: horrific, gripping and darkly humorous'.
His other books include the SF thriller Version 43, the space opera Hell Ship, the novella Morpho, the horror novella Murder of the Heart, and the magical realist thriller The Great West Wood.
Readers who love China Mieville, Ben Aaronovitch, or dark British urban fantasy will find a new favourite here.
His novels blend dark humour, genre-bending world-building, and relentless plot momentum. Hell on Earth, his alternate-London crime thriller set in a world where Hell is literally a borough, was named a Finalist in the 2026 American Book Fest Legacy Book Awards. Lavie Tidhar (World Fantasy Award winner) calls his work 'magical madness', and agent and editor John Jarrold calls Hell on Earth 'brilliant: horrific, gripping and darkly humorous'.
His other books include the SF thriller Version 43, the space opera Hell Ship, the novella Morpho, the horror novella Murder of the Heart, and the magical realist thriller The Great West Wood.
Readers who love China Mieville, Ben Aaronovitch, or dark British urban fantasy will find a new favourite here.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 17, 2021
I wasn't sure what to expect from this novella. I received it in a book pack bought from Ian Whates excellent website, NewCon Press, but had never heard of Philip Palmer or this book.
It fits a lot into it's 107 pages and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. The first half of the book reminded me of David Mitchell's Boneclocks and Slade House, which I'd read a year or so ago and highly rated. The second half goes off an a slightly different tangent than Mitchell's books, but not in a bad way. Whereas Mitchell's books tell how the privileged elite feed off (literally) the ordinary masses, Palmer takes this and adds an alien factor.
If anything, I felt that the end of the novella was a bit rushed, and the story could have been expanded, but I understand the constraints of writing a novella or short story. What I couldn't fault was how well the story flowed and how well written it was. I certainly would be interested in an expansion of this book or a continuance of the story, and will be checking out this author in the future.
It fits a lot into it's 107 pages and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. The first half of the book reminded me of David Mitchell's Boneclocks and Slade House, which I'd read a year or so ago and highly rated. The second half goes off an a slightly different tangent than Mitchell's books, but not in a bad way. Whereas Mitchell's books tell how the privileged elite feed off (literally) the ordinary masses, Palmer takes this and adds an alien factor.
If anything, I felt that the end of the novella was a bit rushed, and the story could have been expanded, but I understand the constraints of writing a novella or short story. What I couldn't fault was how well the story flowed and how well written it was. I certainly would be interested in an expansion of this book or a continuance of the story, and will be checking out this author in the future.
May 26, 2024
Morpho (NewCon Press Novellas Set 5 Book 2)
by Philip Palmer
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
I like the idea behind the NewCon Press Novella series. NewCon Press collects four novellas per series from different authors around a common idea. The novellas have no relationship to each other. They are just variations on a theme. For example, Set 5 explores “The Alien Among Us.”
Novellas are cool. Because they are shorter than novels, they have to cut out a lot of fat. But they are longer than short stories, so there is some room to explore character.
In this case, we spend the early parts of the book wondering what is going on. We seem to have two people who are really old and really hard to kill. We might be thinking “vampires,” but they walk in the daylight and don’t seem to be drinking blood.
We learn that these people are being hunted. They seem to be monitored by some government. Their blood has surprising life extension effects for humans.
One of them is “killed,” but wakes up in the morgue where she gives a kind of gift to surprised attendant. That starts the attendant’s introduction to this alien among us.
I didn’t find this NewCon Press novella to be as successful as the other novellas I’ve read. The perspective jumps were sometimes hard to follow. I am not sure that I approve of an alien invasive species being portrayed as a good thing. On the other hand, the author did provide us with a glimpse of the alien among us. The story read well, and the characters were interesting.
by Philip Palmer
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
I like the idea behind the NewCon Press Novella series. NewCon Press collects four novellas per series from different authors around a common idea. The novellas have no relationship to each other. They are just variations on a theme. For example, Set 5 explores “The Alien Among Us.”
Novellas are cool. Because they are shorter than novels, they have to cut out a lot of fat. But they are longer than short stories, so there is some room to explore character.
In this case, we spend the early parts of the book wondering what is going on. We seem to have two people who are really old and really hard to kill. We might be thinking “vampires,” but they walk in the daylight and don’t seem to be drinking blood.
We learn that these people are being hunted. They seem to be monitored by some government. Their blood has surprising life extension effects for humans.
One of them is “killed,” but wakes up in the morgue where she gives a kind of gift to surprised attendant. That starts the attendant’s introduction to this alien among us.
I didn’t find this NewCon Press novella to be as successful as the other novellas I’ve read. The perspective jumps were sometimes hard to follow. I am not sure that I approve of an alien invasive species being portrayed as a good thing. On the other hand, the author did provide us with a glimpse of the alien among us. The story read well, and the characters were interesting.
June 1, 2020
A brilliant piece of humanist music, rising to a proper crescendo at the end. Does this guy write screenplays? Yes, I thought so. Cinematic and beautiful. Will check his other work out necessarily.
August 18, 2025
Pretty crazy but nicely written
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews