A spectacular novel about a world where literacy has been decimated and a boy who does not believe in stories.
Thirteen-year-old orphaned Oboi has run away to find his former homestead. He ends up in a peculiar and disaster-stricken mountain city where no one knows how to read. People are led by the mysterious Wanda, who, via devices hooked up to one’s palm, says what everyone should know or do. At a flea market, Oboi meets a woman who gives him a book. According to her, this book can change everything and help find what Oboi thought was lost forever. Suddenly the story-averse Oboi notices that he has become the hero deemed to save the whole world. The story avoid being preachy and is a multi-layered, finely constructed fantasy novel and a fantastic tale of adventure.
Original title: Oboin kirja. Otava 2022, 304 pp.
Foreign rights: Elina Ahlback Literary Agency, ahlbackagency.com
