A bold and ingenious thriller where philosophical questions collide with technology on the question of what it means to be human

Set on a remote island in a post-apocalyptic, plague-ridden world, this electrifying novel seems destined to become a modern classic.

Anax thinks she knows her history. She'd better. She's now facing three Examiners and her grueling all-day Examination has just begun. If she passes, she'll be admitted into the Academy - the elite governing institution of her utopian society.

But Anax is about to discover that for all her learning, the history she's been taught isn't the whole story. And that the Academy isn't what she believes it to be.

The reader is about to discover a brilliant novel of dazzling ingenuity. Anax's examination leads us into a future where we are confronted with unresolved questions raised by science and philosophy. Centuries old, these questions have gained new urgency in the face of rapidly developing technology. What is consciousness? What makes us human? If artificial intelligence were developed to a high enough capability, what status could humanity still claim?

Outstanding and original, Beckett's dramatic narrative comes to a stunning close that will leave you reeling. This perfect combination of thrilling page-turner and provocative novel of ideas demands to be read again and again.