James Lei Brown is half-English, half-Chinese and, until recently, lived with his parents in Shanghai. But then both Dad and Māmā disappeared, leaving James and his sister, Emma, at their grandparents’ farm in Nanzhang. Soon, Emma vanishes, too, and his Chinese grandparents refuse to discuss it, behaving as though everything is normal.
Alone in the foggy, forgetful waters of his new surroundings, James Lei’s chance to hold onto his old life slips away with each passing day.
…..
Emma knows Yéyé and Nǎinai discarded her for being a girl. It’s for the best, anyway, since she wants to forget her mother’s murderous genes. Now, she’s living just outside London, with Nan and Grandad in a Hatfield council tower block.
Her new home is run down, the whole town is a dive. But Emma is smart and ruthless, just like her mother. In Shanghai, she saw a glimpse of the future. Emma has big plans to forge her own, brighter, path. One day, she’ll find her brother, and invite him into her brave new world.
…..
Billions and One follows James Lei and Emma as, separated, their lives go in ever more distant directions.
The near future looks tumultuous as nation states begin to crumble. One by one, countries fracture into billionaire-run sovereign states. The People’s Republic of China is the only institution too large to fail. But to maintain control, their grip on inhabitants’ every thought and belief must strain tighter, growing ever more intrusive. Can Emma reach James before he, too, vanishes into the behemoth system?
…..
More extracts and teasers will be available here soon.
…..