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Subject Twenty-One

Subject Twenty-One

Summary

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What if our future lies 40,000 years in our past? Subject Twenty-One is an astonishing debut novel in which a young woman's refusal to accept the status quo opens her eyes to the lies her society is built on.

Elise's world is forever changed when she is given the opportunity of a lifetime - to work at the Museum of Evolution and be a Companion to the Neanderthal, Subject Twenty-One.

As a Sapien, a member of the lowest order of humans, she and others like her are held responsible for the damages inflicted on the world by previous generations. This job may be Elise's only chance to escape a stagnating life in an ostracised and impoverished community.

But it doesn't take long for Elise to realise that, away from the familiarity and safety of her home, her own secrets are much harder to conceal.

And the longer she stays the more she comes to realise that little separates her from the exhibits . . . and a cage of her own.

© A.E. Warren 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Reviews

  • A stonking good sci-fi & coming-of-age story all wrapped into one . . . a book that tackles humanity, hardship, and classism at the deepest level.
    Magic Radio Book Club

About the author

A.E. Warren

A.E. Warren is the author of the Tomorrow's Ancestors series, which consists of Subject Twenty-One, The Hidden Base, The Fourth Species and The Final Rising.

After spending eight years working as a lawyer, she began to write in the evenings and early mornings as a form of escapism from life in a very small cubicle with lots of files. She self-published her first novels in her spare time, which were picked up by Del Rey UK which is the science fiction/fantasy imprint of Penguin Random House.

She is an avid reader, occasional gamer and fair-weather runner. She lives in the UK with her husband, daughter and hopefully, one day, a wise border terrier named Austen.
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