Neom: A Novel from the World of Central Station

(Paperback)

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Machines roam the desert in search of purpose; works of art can be deadlier than weapons, and improbable love transcends the sands of time. From the multiaward-winning universe of Central Station, a complex desert-city of the future's inhabitants rediscover passion while at the brink of revolution.

The city known as Neom is many things to many beings, human or otherwise. Neom is a tech wonderland for the rich and beautiful; an urban sprawl along the Red Sea; and a port of call between Earth and the stars.

In the desert, young orphan Elias has joined a caravan, hoping to earn his passage off-world from Central Station. But the desert is full of mechanical artefacts, some unexplained and some unexploded. Recently, a wry, unnamed robot has unearthed one of the regions biggest mysteries: the vestiges of a golden man.

In Neom, childhood affection is rekindling between loyal shurta-officer Nasir and hardworking flower-seller Mariam. But Nasu, a deadly terrorartist, has come to the city with missing memories and unfinished business.

Just one robot can change a citys destiny with a single rose especially when that robot is in search of lost love.

'This was superb and Im in awe of Tidhars vision.' The Speculative Shelf

'Lavie Tidhars Neom is a stunning return to his world of Central Station, twinning the fates of humans and robots alike at a futuristic city on the edge of the Red Sea.' Green Man Review

'Can we just all admit now that Lavie Tidhars a genius' Daryl Gregory, award-winning author of Spoonbenders

'This is Tidhar at his best: the crazily proliferating imagination, the textures, the ideas, the dazzling storytelling. A brilliant portrait of community and its possibilities.' Adam Roberts, author of Purgatory Mount

'Neom is a treasure, and Tidhar says that there are so many more stories from this complicated world. Every new one is a compelling chapter in this future history that reflects so much about who we are and the basic things we yearn for.' SciFi Mind

'World Fantasy Award winner Tidhar takes readers back to the fascinating far-future world of 2016s Central Station in this gentle narrative about self-fulfillment and one robots quest to reunite with a lost love. In Neom, a port city between Earth and space on the shores of the Red Sea, Mariam de la Cruz divides her days between several odd jobs while her nights are spent longing for quietude. Meanwhile, shurta officer Nasir questions the point of law enforcement as he spends most of his time handing out tickets for littering. An unnamed robot reunites these two childhood friends when Nasir and Mariam become entangled in the robots mission to resurrect a golden man of legend. These quiet personal stakes play out against a vividly imagined world where ancient war machines stalk the deserts and seas, terrorist art installations explode forever within stasis fields, and the human population in space tell stories of the eldritch creatures inhabiting the Oort clouds. Meanwhile, Tidhar offers a heartfelt exploration of artificially intelligent beings struggles to find existential meaning while being restrained by both coding and form. Fans of literary sci-fi are sure to be enchanted by the imaginative worldbuilding and tenderly wrought characters.' Publishers Weekly

'Lavie Tidhars Neom is a stunning return to his world of Central Station, twinning the fates of humans and robots alike at a futuristic city on the edge of the Red Sea.' Green Man Review

'This was superb and Im in awe of Tidhars vision. Hes conjured up a futuristic city that feels simultaneously ultramodern and also run down. The rich histories of the region and its cultures are seamlessly interwoven into the fabric of this fully-realized world.' The Speculative Shelf

'Yet again, Lavie Tidhars future world of Neom is exciting and distinctive, his characters complex and fascinating, and his themes powerful and thought-provoking. [Tidhar] is the best sort of science fiction.' Kij Johnson, author of The River Bank

'Always expect the unexpected with Lavie Tidhar, and this welcome return to the sprawling space-operatic world of Central Station delivers oodles of poetry, action, memorable characters, wonderfully bizarre landscapes and wild imagination. No two books by Tidhar are ever the same, but each is a revelation.' Maxim Jakubowski, author of The Pipers Dance

'Vivid and techno-mythological, Neom infects you with something special that transcends all the incidents and terrorsa shimmering current of guarded optimism.' David Brin, author of Existence, Earth and The Postman

Reviews

Gizmodo's Sparkling New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books
A Foreword Book of the Day
Antick Musings Best Books of 2022
The Speculative Shelf's Top 10 Books of 2022

"Tidhar (Central Station) writes another story that takes place within his Central Station universe. Neom is a future-oriented, techno city: a port of call to the stars for humans and a neighbor to the robots that roam the nearby desert searching for a purpose. Destinies will collide as a mechanical man initiates a robotic revolution, a former "terrorartist" seeks her buried memories, and three humans--Saleh, Mariam, and Nasir--have a chance to realize their dreams. Tidhar is a unique voice in science fiction and an author with many awards to his name. An enrapturing conglomeration of philosophy, psychology, and storytelling, the novel melds the what-ifs with a believable and relatable scenario. This is not a sequel so much as another saga in a well-developed and thought-out world. VERDICT Old and new fans alike will adore this fascinating new addition to Tidhar's future Earth universe, and science fiction buffs would do well to put Tidhar on their radar of must-read authors."
--Library Journal

"Yet again, Lavie Tidhar's future world of Neom is exciting and distinctive, his characters complex and fascinating, and his themes powerful and thought-provoking. [Tidhar] is the best sort of science fiction."
--Kij Johnson, author of The River Bank

[STARRED REVIEW] "In his signature style, Tidhar laces his future-set, fascinating tale with biblical references and nods to science fiction classics, here revitalized with added empathy.... Neom is an extraordinary and compassionate trek into the hearts of AI."
--Foreword

"Vivid and techno-mythological, Neom infects you with something special that transcends all the incidents and terrors--a shimmering current of guarded optimism."
--David Brin, author of Existence, Earth and The Postman

"This is Tidhar at his best: the crazily proliferating imagination, the textures, the ideas, the dazzling storytelling. A brilliant portrait of community and its possibilities."
--Adam Roberts, author of Purgatory Mount

"Neom is a treasure, and Tidhar says that there are so many more stories from this complicated world. Every new one is a compelling chapter in this future history that reflects so much about who we are and the basic things we yearn for."
--SciFi Mind

"Lavie Tidhar's Neom is a deliciously inventive wild ride through a future Middle East full of unexpected wonders: dutiful jackals, traumatized robots, terrifying terrorartists, caravans of elephants and great slinkying robotic khans, preserves for wild mechas and monasteries that are also singularities. But more than that, the world of Neom is deeply, richly lived in: the past and the present and the future are not just unevenly distributed, they are marbled together--tiny slithering tadpole robots adapted to the fused-glass desert around an ancient crash site, okra and tomatoes frying in a pan, rogue sandworms and grandmothers doing Tai Chi in an urban park, the Oort cloud and milkshakes, Martian soap opera Bedouin actors, a Bazaar of Rare and Exotic Machines equally excited by Atari Pac-Man cartridges and city-obliterating superweapons."
--Benjamin Rosenbaum, author of The Unraveling

"World Fantasy Award winner Tidhar takes readers back to the fascinating far-future world of 2016's Central Station in this gentle narrative about self-fulfillment and one robot's quest to reunite with a lost love. In Neom, a port city between Earth and space on the shores of the Red Sea, Mariam de la Cruz divides her days between several odd jobs while her nights are spent longing for quietude. Meanwhile, shurta officer Nasir questions the point of law enforcement as he spends most of his time handing out tickets for littering. An unnamed robot reunites these two childhood friends when Nasir and Mariam become entangled in the robot's mission to resurrect a 'golden man' of legend. These quiet personal stakes play out against a vividly imagined world where ancient war machines stalk the deserts and seas, terrorist 'art installations' explode forever within stasis fields, and the human population in space tell stories of the eldritch creatures inhabiting the Oort clouds. Meanwhile, Tidhar offers a heartfelt exploration of artificially intelligent beings' struggles to find existential meaning while being restrained by both coding and form. Fans of literary sci-fi are sure to be enchanted by the imaginative worldbuilding and tenderly wrought characters."
--Publishers Weekly

"Lavie Tidhar's Neom is a stunning return to his world of Central Station, twinning the fates of humans and robots alike at a futuristic city on the edge of the Red Sea."
--Green Man Review

"Lyrical, haunting and hopeful. . . . Neom is a thoughtful, beautifully written story about what we have, what we want, how we achieve our desires, and what, and whom, we are willing to risk for our own benefit."
--Los Angeles Public Library

"At times Tidhar's narrative takes on a gentle, ruminative air, and while that helps establish the atmosphere of a convincing, lived-in city, veteran SF readers will also find plenty of playful and affectionate Easter eggs. . . . For all its fearsome ancient ordnance, its economic disparity, and its looming threats, Neom easily joins the list of SF cities we'd like to visit."
--Locus

"This was superb and I'm in awe of Tidhar's vision. He's conjured up a futuristic city that feels simultaneously ultramodern and also run down. The rich histories of the region and its cultures are seamlessly interwoven into the fabric of this fully-realized world."
--The Speculative Shelf

"Always expect the unexpected with Lavie Tidhar, and this welcome return to the sprawling space-operatic world of Central Station delivers oodles of poetry, action, memorable characters, wonderfully bizarre landscapes and wild imagination."
--Maxim Jakubowski, author of The Piper's Dance

"Richly built without being overwhelming, and the narrative moves quickly even while juggling several moving parts and mysteries."
--Booklist

"Lavie Tidhar, standing on the shoulders of Vance, Smith, and Ballard and others, imagines stories set in that place, a city in a wasteland near the Gulf of Suez, in a future filled with robots and AI and terrorartists and young boys and talking jackals and a wonderful, terrible solar system packed with life."
--Jonathan Strahan

"If you haven't read Neom or its sister book Central Station, you're missing out. The count of ideas per page, the number of striking images, the beauty of the prose. . . ."
--Daryl Gregory, author of Revelator

"This is a smart, open-hearted, short SF novel deeply steeped in the history of the robot and mechanical man in SF, and that has plenty of its own changes to ring on those ideas, set, as I said, in a deep, complex, interesting universe of its own."
--Andrew Wheeler, Antick Musings

"With beautiful precision, the author gathers up the pieces, towards an event bringing the assemblage in futuristic city Neom of ancient warrior machines. Neom is a brilliant feat of imagination and writing that grips from the first page."
--Watch

"Science fictional ideas and references spin off this in giddy profusion. If you want your fix of the strange and wonderful, even the downright odd, get it right here."
--ParSec

"Neom is a wonderful addition to the field, and it should be read by all."
--MT Void

"Neom, in Tidhar's eponymous book, isn't a plan for a cutting-edge city in Saudi Arabia that has appalled many, but a fait accompli that is the backdrop of a beautiful and far more interesting story.
--New Scientist

"This is great! Like Central Station, a fascinating blend of huge and tiny ideas; quiet and believable, shot through with vivid oddness, and chock-full of allusion to other works. Highly recommended."
--Jake Casella Brookins, 2022 Bookish Wrap-up

On Central Station

John W. Campbell Award Winner
Neukom Literary Arts Award Winner
Arthur C. Clarke Award Finalist
NPR Best Books
Barnes and Noble Best Science Fiction and Fantasy
Locus Recommended Reading List

"Beautiful, original, a shimmering tapestry of connections and images."
--Alastair Reynolds, author of the Revelation Space series

"A dazzling tale of complicated politics and even more complicated souls. Beautiful."
--Ken Liu, author of The Paper Menagerie and The Grace of Kings

[STARRED REVIEW] "Readers of all persuasions will be entranced."
--Publishers Weekly

[STARRED REVIEW] "A fascinating future glimpsed through the lens of a tight-knit community."
--Library Journal

"If Nalo Hopkinson and William Gibson held a sance to channel the spirit of Ray Bradbury, they might be inspired to produce a work as grimy, as gorgeous, and as downright sensual as Central Station."
--Peter Watts, author of Blindsight and The Freeze-Frame Revolution

Author Bio

British Science Fiction, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy Award winning author Lavie Tidhar (A Man Lies Dreaming, The Escapement, Unholy Land, The Hood) is an acclaimed author of literature, science fiction, fantasy, graphic novels, and middle grade fiction. Tidhar received the Campbell, Xingyun, and Neukom awards for the novel Central Station. In addition to his fiction and nonfiction, Tidhar is the editor of the Apex Best of World Science Fiction series and a columnist for the Washington Post. His speaking appearances include Cambridge University, PEN, and the Singapore Writers Festival. He has been a Guest of Honour at book conventions in Japan, Poland, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, China, and elsewhere; he is currently a visiting professor and writer in residence at the American International University. Tidhar currently resides with his family in London.