Bold as Love Series by Gwyneth Jones, Mike Dringenberg

P. K. Dick and Triptree Award-winning author Gwyneth Jones delivers a rock-and-roll fable set in a dystopic near-future England. Dissolution Summer: the soon to-be former UK was desperate. The world was in the grip of a fearsome economic depression. The anti-globalization movement threatenedstability throughout Europe, supported by rioting youth, bitterly disaffected voters, and encroaching environmental doom... moreP. K. Dick and Triptree Award-winning author Gwyneth Jones delivers a rock-and-roll fable set in a dystopic near-future England. Dissolution Summer: the soon to-be former UK was desperate. The world was in the grip of a fearsome economic depression. The anti-globalization movement threatenedstability throughout Europe, supported by rioting youth, bitterly disaffected voters, and encroaching environmental doom. The Home Secretary decided to recruit a Countercultural Think Tank: pop stars would make the government look too cool to be overthrown. His girlfriend, club promoter and music biz socialite Allie Marlowe, filled his shopping cart for him with such indie notables as Ax Preston, the soft-spoken biracial guitar virtuoso; Aoxomoxoa (aka Sage Pender), techno-wizard king of the lads; and Fiorinda Slater, the baby punk-diva with a horrendous past. It was just another publicity stunt for the rockers, until the shooting began. Now Slater and her friends must find a way to stay alive and overthrow the dominant social order, while the UK disintegrates under their feet. Will rock-and-roll’s revolutionary promise finally deliver, or will ethnic violence drown hippie idealism in rivers of blood? Either way, the world will never be the same. less

Ax Preston, Sage Pender and Fiorinda have beaten the cascade of disasters that followed the collapse of the former UK. Now they've to find some resolution to the impossible dyanmics of their own relationship, while the world keeps getting stranger.

Scientific magic, werebears, environmental meltdown, and rockstars more famous than God: the Bold As Love adventure continues.

The riveting new instalment in Gwyneth Jones's award-winning 'Bold As Love' saga. Ax Preston, former dictator, returns to England; he's agreed to take up the job of Green President. At close quarters he finds some outrageous details in the contract, so the Triumvirate decamps for Paris, to sit out the first hard winter after the A team destroyed crude oil in ostentatious poverty. He's quite certain he can negotiate a better deal... moreThe riveting new instalment in Gwyneth Jones's award-winning 'Bold As Love' saga. Ax Preston, former dictator, returns to England; he's agreed to take up the job of Green President. At close quarters he finds some outrageous details in the contract, so the Triumvirate decamps for Paris, to sit out the first hard winter after the A team destroyed crude oil in ostentatious poverty. He's quite certain he can negotiate a better deal. But while Ax and Sage and Fiorinda are embarassing the English government, over conditions in the new slavery labour camps, bad things are happening for the President of the USA. Fred Eiffrich's enemies in Washington are about to drop a bombshell, one that will shatter any hope of a return to former realities, former certainties. What happened at Lavoisier is not over. It's coming back, it's never going to end. Not while Fiorinda lives ... or her child. less

It's the final curtain call for flame-haired rock princess Fiorinda and her comrades Ax Preston and Sage Pender—a 21st century Guinevere, King Arthur, and Sir Lancelot. Together, the Triumvirate have fought to save their Britain, and America—indeed, the whole world—from the depredations of a collapsed economy and environmental meltdown... moreIt's the final curtain call for flame-haired rock princess Fiorinda and her comrades Ax Preston and Sage Pender—a 21st century Guinevere, King Arthur, and Sir Lancelot. Together, the Triumvirate have fought to save their Britain, and America—indeed, the whole world—from the depredations of a collapsed economy and environmental meltdown. Together they have fought the evil magic of Fiorinda's wizard father; they have explored the depths and heights of ultimate consciousness, the fusion between mind and the world. And they have discovered a love that goes back centuries, and lives. But is all this enough to save a world that has fallen apart at the seams, a world that has given itself over to the dark side? less

Heidi's sweet, feckless father was deep in debt when he got murdered, and her mother's in a secure hospital, suspected of criminal insanity. She was Mum and Dad's carer, and life was hard but sweet. Now she's an Indentured Teen, amodern slave, which is totally legal in this future England. She's been sent from her home in the city to the desolate depths of the countryside, where people are practically starving, and anything can happen to you... moreHeidi's sweet, feckless father was deep in debt when he got murdered, and her mother's in a secure hospital, suspected of criminal insanity. She was Mum and Dad's carer, and life was hard but sweet. Now she's an Indentured Teen, amodern slave, which is totally legal in this future England. She's been sent from her home in the city to the desolate depths of the countryside, where people are practically starving, and anything can happen to you.Her owners are a weird old pair of crazies, she sleeps in a freezing attic, and she still has to turn up for Learning Sessions with the other Mehilhoc "Exempt Teens" (that's young people unfit for agricultural labour camp). To make matters worse, the kids know her whole shameful story, and are fascinated by the tag on her ankle. But it's okay. She has the Police Inspector's phone number, and the memory of his words: "if you recall anything, anything at all, please get in touch . . ." Somehow, someway, stuck out in the deepest sticks, she's going to prove that her Mum didn't kill her Dad. 

The Grasshopper's Child is an old-fashioned futuristic thriller, set in the same Post-Dissolution England as the legendary Bold As Love series, about young people taking the law into their own hands, and the savagery that hides behind wealth and power: featuring odd characters, atrocious secrets, lost illusions and true friends. And gardening tips. less