
Fable For the End of the World
Ava Reid(Author)
Del Rey (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 4. March 2025
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-1-5299-4830-1 (ISBN)
Description
FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LADY MACBETH AND A STUDY IN DROWNING
'There's one thing about Ava Reid; she doesn't miss.' Sasha Peyton Smith
'You'll start saving space on your shelf for Ava Reid.' Kendare Blake
---------
The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes in this stand-alone dystopian romance about survival, sacrifice, and love that risks everything.
By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.
Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt-enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus's livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb's Gauntlet.
Melinoe is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.
When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs-the Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she's had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother, she might stand a chance of staying alive.
For Melinoe, this is a game she can't afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.
As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there's more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she's capable of more than killing.
And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.
'There's one thing about Ava Reid; she doesn't miss.' Sasha Peyton Smith
'You'll start saving space on your shelf for Ava Reid.' Kendare Blake
---------
The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes in this stand-alone dystopian romance about survival, sacrifice, and love that risks everything.
By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.
Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt-enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus's livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb's Gauntlet.
Melinoe is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.
When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs-the Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she's had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother, she might stand a chance of staying alive.
For Melinoe, this is a game she can't afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.
As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there's more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she's capable of more than killing.
And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.
Reviews / Votes
"Nobody balances sweetness with brutality, tenderness with violence, quite like Ava Reid. This hit all the nostalgic Hunger Games notes while bringing fresh sapphic blood to the dystopian genre - I inhaled it!" * L. K. Steven, author of Silvercloak and Our Infinite Fates * 'Brilliant and devastating, Fable for the End of the World will arm you with the strongest tools we have: both anger and hope. * Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of A Dark and Drowning Tide * Knife-edged and tender-hearted, I will be thinking of the final line for years to come. * Courtney Gould, author of The Dead and the Dark * Stunning . . . Among the dystopian greats. * Chloe Gong, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
592 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5299-4830-1 (9781529948301)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Ava Reid
Fable For the End of the World
Book
05/2026
Penguin (Cornerstone)
€13.00
Available immediately

Ava Reid
Fable For the End of the World
The dark Sunday Times bestseller and sapphic dystopia from the author of A Study in Drowning
E-Book
03/2025
Penguin (Cornerstone)
€3.99
Available for download

Person
Ava Reid is the Sunday Times and #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning, Lady Macbeth, Innamorata and more. Her books have been published in over fourteen territories. She lives in the New York area.