
Fable For the End of the World
Ava Reid(Author)
Penguin (Cornerstone) (Publisher)
Published on 21. May 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-1-80495-379-2 (ISBN)
Description
The epic standalone dystopian romance from the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning and Lady Macbeth. Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and The Last of Us
SURVIVAL
SACRIFICE
A LOVE THAT RISKS EVERYTHING-----------------------------------------------------------------------
'Stunning . . . Among the dystopian greats.' Chloe Gong
'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
'Knife-edged and tender-hearted, I will be thinking of the final line for years to come' Courtney Gould
------------------------------------------------------
By encouraging massive accumulations of debt, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.
Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town, barely scraping a living from their taxidermy shop. But their mother has secretly accrued enormous debt - and the only way out is to offer her daughter up to be a sacrifice for Caerus's livestreamed assassination event: the Lamb's Gauntlet.
Melinoe is the assassin chosen for this spectacle. The product of years of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she's a living weapon, famous for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. But she's also haunted by her failure in the last gauntlet, when she broke down live on screen.
But as Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, each determined to claim victory, they begin to question what they've been taught. Could there be more to life than survival? Could they be capable of more than death?
Could they, against all the odds, be falling in love?
----------------------------------
PRAISE FOR AVA REID
'A gargantuan hit . . . Dark and brooding, skillful storytelling and intricate character development breathe new life into literature. Dripping in atmosphere . . . One to order immediately.' Glamour
'A bewitching read with prose like gold.' Tasha Suri
'A knife of a book: blood-stained, sharply beautiful, and necessary . . . I couldn't look away' Alix E. Harrow
'I was spellbound from the very first page.' Freya Marske
SURVIVAL
SACRIFICE
A LOVE THAT RISKS EVERYTHING-----------------------------------------------------------------------
'Stunning . . . Among the dystopian greats.' Chloe Gong
'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
'Knife-edged and tender-hearted, I will be thinking of the final line for years to come' Courtney Gould
------------------------------------------------------
By encouraging massive accumulations of debt, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.
Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town, barely scraping a living from their taxidermy shop. But their mother has secretly accrued enormous debt - and the only way out is to offer her daughter up to be a sacrifice for Caerus's livestreamed assassination event: the Lamb's Gauntlet.
Melinoe is the assassin chosen for this spectacle. The product of years of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she's a living weapon, famous for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. But she's also haunted by her failure in the last gauntlet, when she broke down live on screen.
But as Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, each determined to claim victory, they begin to question what they've been taught. Could there be more to life than survival? Could they be capable of more than death?
Could they, against all the odds, be falling in love?
----------------------------------
PRAISE FOR AVA REID
'A gargantuan hit . . . Dark and brooding, skillful storytelling and intricate character development breathe new life into literature. Dripping in atmosphere . . . One to order immediately.' Glamour
'A bewitching read with prose like gold.' Tasha Suri
'A knife of a book: blood-stained, sharply beautiful, and necessary . . . I couldn't look away' Alix E. Harrow
'I was spellbound from the very first page.' Freya Marske
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
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
270 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80495-379-2 (9781804953792)
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
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

Ava Reid
Fable For the End of the World
Book
03/2025
Del Rey
€24.00
Article not available at the moment

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.