{"product_id":"after-the-fall-9781250375650","title":"After the Fall","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart alien invasion story, part buddy comedy, and part workplace satire, \u003ci\u003eAfter The Fall\u003c\/i\u003e by Edward Ashton, author of \u003ci\u003eMickey7 \u003c\/i\u003e(inspiration for the film \u003ci\u003eMickey 17\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003easks an important question: would humans \u003ci\u003ereally\u003c\/i\u003e make great pets?\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHumans must be silent. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eHumans must be obedient. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eHumans must be good\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAll his life, John has tried to live by those rules. Most days, it's not too difficult. A hundred and twenty years after The Fall, and a hundred years after the grays swept in to pick the last dregs of humanity out of the wreckage of a ruined world, John has found himself bonded to Martok Barden nee Black Hand, one of the \"good\" grays. Sure, Martok is broke, homeless, and borderline manic, but he's always treated John like an actual person, and sometimes like a friend. It's a better deal than most humans get. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut when Martok puts John's bond up as collateral against an abandoned house in the woods that he hopes to turn into a wilderness retreat for wealthy grays, John learns that there are limits to Martok's friendship. Soon he finds himself caught between an underworld boss who thinks Martok is something that he very much is not, a girl who was raised by feral humans and has nothing but contempt for \u003ci\u003epets \u003c\/i\u003elike John, and Martok himself, whose delusions of grandeur seem to be finally catching up with him. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlso, not for nothing, something in the woods has been killing people. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJohn has sixty days before Martok's loan comes due to unravel the mystery of how humans wound up holding the wrong end of the domestication stick and find a way to turn Martok's half-baked plans into profit enough to buy back his life, all while avoiding getting butchered by feral humans or having his head crushed by an angry gray. Easy peasy, right?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEDWARD ASHTON is the author of the novels \u003ci\u003eThree Days in April, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe End of Ordinary, Mickey7, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e Antimatter Blues\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eMal Goes to War, \u003c\/i\u003eas well as of short stories which have appeared in venues ranging from the newsletter of an Italian sausage company to \u003ci\u003eEscape Pod, Analog, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eFireside Fiction. \u003c\/i\u003eHe lives in upstate New York in a cabin in the woods (not \u003ci\u003ethat \u003c\/i\u003ecabin in the woods) with his wife, a variable number of daughters, and an adorably mopey dog named Max.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"St. Martin's Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52039835222290,"sku":"9781250375650","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9bdae604-d571-47c8-805a-834541de776e.jpg?v=1771417162","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/after-the-fall-9781250375650","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}