It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide
The Seventh Son

The Seventh Son

Summary

'Genuinely thought-provoking’ THE TIMES

'Extraordinary' WILLIAM BOYD

‘Faulks is an enviably graceful and economical writer’ GUARDIAN


A CHILD WILL BE BORN WHO WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING

Tech billionaire Lukas Parn has an ambitious plan. Behind the doors of the IVF clinic in his London institute, a daring switch is made. Young academic Talissa Adam believes she is simply carrying a child for a grateful family, but the baby inside her is different from any living human. The boy, Seth, grows up unaware, though his parents not that he’s different: he can’t make plans, is unaware of danger and seems to have at least one extra sense. But as Seth becomes a man, the truth about him is revealed and the world starts to hunt him down.

‘ [An] unsettling book from one of our most popular novelists; it’s also one of his best’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘His greatest novel yet' ANTONY BEEVOR

'Profoundly moving . . . a wonderful and life-affirming love story' JAMES HOLLAND

'Original and enthralling' PETER JAMES

Reviews

  • This is a genuinely thought-provoking piece of fiction. You could devour it in a day and be wholly transported into the near future, then set it back down, dazed but enlightened, in the present day where you will see the world anew in all its wonders and frailties
    The Times

About the author

Sebastian Faulks

Sebastian Faulks has written nineteen books, of which A Week in December and The Fatal Englishman were number one in the Sunday Times bestseller lists. He is best known for Birdsong, part of his French trilogy, and Human Traces, the first in an ongoing Austrian trilogy. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked as a journalist on national papers. He has also written screenplays and has appeared in small roles on stage. He lives in London.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more