The Ancients - by John Larison (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"This richly imagined journey into a dystopian future is at once cautionary and provocative, inviting us to heed the lessons of the Ancients."
--Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass

A richly imagined, sweeping novel of hope, love, and adventure set in the unforgiving world of our own descendants, by the acclaimed author of WHISKEY WHEN WE'RE DRY

A young boy and his older sisters find themselves suddenly and utterly alone, orphaned in an abandoned fishing village. Their food supplies dwindling, they set out across a breathtaking yet treacherous wilderness in search of the last of their people.

Down the coast, raiders deliver the children's mother, along with the rest of their human cargo, to the last port city of a waning empire. Determined to reunite with her family, she plots her escape--while her fellow captives plan open revolt.

At the center of power in this crumbling city, a young scholar inherits his father's business and position of privilege, along with the burden of his debts. As the empire's elite prepare to flee to new utopia across the sea, he must decide where his allegiance lies.

With a rapidly changing climate shifting the sands beneath their feet, these three paths converge in a struggle for the future of humanity--who will inherit what remains and who gets to tell its story. At once a sweeping survival story; an epic of the distant future; and a post-apocalyptic vision of hope and optimism, THE ANCIENTS weaves a multilayered narrative about human resilience, hope, and stewardship of our world for future generations.

Review Quotes

"This is a stunning, sweeping novel of humanity and hope."
--People

"A reminder . . . that hope is essential for survival."
--The Boston Globe

"The novel's imaginative sweep connects the ages of papyrus, pulp fiction and twentieth-century epic potboilers such as Leon Uris's Exodus. As survival fiction, the first chapters of The Ancients measure up to the work of Jack London and other greats of the genre... For all its warnings and violence, The Ancients still celebrates humanity's perseverance even as it asks what future societies that develop after ours might learn from the failings of our current one."
--Scientific American

"At its core, The Ancients is concerned with the enormity of time and how we have risen from disaster just as many times as we have descended into it. Civilizations rise and fall. Extinctions happen. We are left with a riddle. How can we move past apocalypse without laying the foundations for future catastrophe, without allowing the cycle to repeat?"
--Nautilus

"With some of the same storytelling brilliance of John Larison's 2018 tear-jerking Western Whiskey When We're Dry comes an epic novel . . . The rush and realizations do not stop until the very last page."
--Willamette Week

"A remarkable achievement--a novel that is both timely and timeless. With its compelling characters, masterful prose, and profound exploration of humanity's relationship with the natural world, it stands as one of the most thought-provoking works of dystopian fiction in recent years."
--The Bookish Elf

"This richly imagined journey into a dystopian future is at once cautionary and provocative, inviting us to heed the lessons of the Ancients."
--Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass

"In a sea of post-apocalyptic novels, John Larson's The Ancients stands apart for the audacity of his world-building; the vibrant humanity of his imperiled characters; the stark, insistent drumbeat of his storytelling; and the ultimate hopefulness of his vision for the intertwined fates of our species and our planet."
--Hillary Jordan, New York Times bestselling author of Mudbound and When She Woke

"This ambitious novel reaches far, far deeper than almost any post-apocalyptic tale to reframe the stakes of the climate crisis. This is a novel written by a deep soul whose commitment to the planet, his community, and his family is on display in these pages. Larison's knife-sharp prose cuts right to the bone. He is one of our best. A true literary and intellectual maverick."
--Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs and Godspeed

"This is a moving and expansive tale illuminating the emotional range of the human spirit. Larison's lyrical writing will hook readers of plot-driven literary fiction."
--Booklist (starred review)

"The spare writing style enhances the stark and bleak atmosphere, but it also richly captures both the bounty and brutality of the natural world and the hard lessons they learn from it. Fables are interwoven throughout the story until this novel itself becomes something of a cautionary tale, emphasizing how to learn from the past in order to create a better world for the future."
--Library Journal

About the Author

John Larison spent much of his childhood in remote regions of Australia, the Caribbean, Canada, the South Pacific, Alaska, and the American West. While learning to write, he worked as a fly-fishing and whitewater guide in the Pacific Northwest. His acclaimed, bestselling novel Whiskey When We're Dry was an Indie Next pick and was named a best book by O, The Oprah Magazine; Goodreads; Entertainment Weekly; Outside; Southern Living; Parade; The Times; and others. He teaches classical mythology and creative writing at Oregon State University.