Achievement

Congratulations to Ben Marshall, a Buzz Words reader who has won the 2019 Fantastica Prize with a publishing contract for his manuscript, The Last Circus on Earth. 

He’s now signed a contract with Brio Books and is looking forward to publication of his sci-fi novel for young readers. Well done, Ben!

Here is a summary of Ben’s book:

It’s 2070, and the post-collapse world is staggering toward another, perhaps final, destruction.  Blanco, a young albino, is reluctant member of the Magnifico Cirque de Curiosities. Travelling through dangerous lands, this heavily-armed band of freaks and circus performers survive by conning and killing, robbing and running – and putting on a show. 

But simple survival is not their real purpose. Their leader, seen only by his 'doctors', enforces brutal rule, and none are more harshly treated than Blanco, who becomes aware the circus is much more than it seems.  

Worse, something is growing inside him, something that is changing and killing him. From the ruins of London, across Europe and Asia Minor to the remote Tien Shan mountains, Blanco and the circus fight toward a final showdown, for Blanco's last chance of survival - and perhaps even for the entire human species. 

This page-turning ride through the near future will be out in 2020.