A magisterial wonder' - Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World 'Every page feels alive' - Xiaolu Guo, author of Call Me Ishmaelle From the bestselling, award-winning master of uncanny fiction comes a defining work, twenty years in the making - a deeply moving, decade- and continent-spanning epic of grief, global tumult, and grim conspiracy. Maur's life has been shaped by an unbearable loss. But in the aftermath of what is an apparently ordinary tragedy, deeper, stranger questions arise . . . Their answers may lie within the dark heart and darker history of an old soldier who shares Maur's obsessions - and is violently pursued by the same unknown, unquiet forces. So begins The Rouse, a masterpiece unlike any other: at once a sprawling saga of the bloody twentieth century, and the intimate story of two lives, their loves, regrets and secrets - and a terrifying journey into infinite mystery. Praise for China Mieville, author of The City & The City 'You can't talk about Mieville without using the word 'brilliant'' - Ursula K. Le Guin 'One of the most interesting and freakishly gifted writers of his generation' - The Daily Telegraph 'As intelligent as he is original' - The Guardian 'The names of Kafka and Orwell tend to be invoked too easily for anything a bit out of the ordinary, but in this case they are worthy comparisons' - The Times