Slow Gods

North’s talent shines out – SUNDAY TIMESNorth goes from strength to strength – GUARDIANAn original and even dazzling writer – KIRKUSThe best kind of science fiction: mind-blowing and wildly thought-provoking * KIRKUS *An astonishing, thought-provoking and above all touching story of found meaning and lost humanity * Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of CHILDREN OF TIME *A riveting and complex story … One of the best science fiction books of 2025 * LOCUS *Deeply imaginative and achingly human, Slow Gods lures you gently into the dark between the stars * Megan E. O’Keefe, author of the Philip K. Dick award-nominated VELOCITY WEAPON *Epic and enthralling … North’s worldbuilding is dizzying and dazzling, full of fascinating and convincing characters (human, AI, and other), and thought-provoking meditations on destiny, duty, and power. Add in a doomed romance and stirring action, and this immersive, inventive space opera proves a sheer delight * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *This is a gloriously inventive story with a protagonist as unique and compelling as Martha Wells’ Murderbot or Anne Leckie’s Justice of Torrens, in a first-person narrative that spans centuries and covers star systems scattered by hundreds of light years … In Slow Gods, North gives us a wide-ranging enthralling, resonant and cathartic fable of our own world’s predicament but anchors it with individual characters, both participants and witnesses to events, that we can connect with * FANTASY HIVE *North’s talent shines out * SUNDAY TIMES *Claire North goes from strength to strength * GUARDIAN *North is an original and even dazzling writer * KIRKUS *Claire North’s writing is terrific, smart and entertaining * Patrick Ness *Claire North is a true original, a master of ingenious plotting and feats of imagination * Alex Marwood, author of THE WICKED GIRLS *One of the most intriguing and genre-bending novelists * BOOKLIST *

Claire North is a pseudonym for Catherine Webb, who wrote several novels in various genres before publishing their first major work as Claire North, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. It was a critically acclaimed success, receiving rave reviews and becoming a word-of-mouth bestseller. They have since published several hugely popular and critically acclaimed novels, won the World Fantasy Award and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and been shortlisted for the Sunday Times/PFD Young Writer of the Year Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Philip K. Dick Award. They live in London.