TYGER

In a 21st century in which slavery was never abolished and the British Empire still rules the world, a London boy gets caught up in a fantastical fight for the survival of all living things.

Adam Alhambra is a courier. His Middle Eastern Muslim immigrant parents have a Soho alterations shop, and Adam makes deliveries to the white patrons who live on the other side of the checkpoints that separate the Ghetto from wealthier parts of the city. While fleeing from a robber, Adam escapes through a hidden doorway and meets the immortal Tyger, one of many creatures who are extinct in his world. Adam agrees to help Tyger by finding the Guardians who can reopen the gateways between worlds and stop the hatred and oppression stoked by a maleficent immortal named Urizen. He’s assisted by new friend Scheherazade “Zadie” True, a Black Muslim girl whose parents came from Timbuktu. The fast-paced story, populated by a diverse cast and underpinned by a creative premise, will sustain the interest of fans of plot-driven narratives even as it delves into moral and philosophical questions of belonging, inequality, and unity in the face of efforts at divisive manipulation. The alternate-history worldbuilding, featuring lore that’s indebted to William Blake, is dramatically evoked by McKean’s monochrome art. The strength of this novel, which garnered multiple honors in the U.K., lies in its demonstration of the power of art and language as tools of resistance.

A vividly novelized parable that explores all-too-timely social themes.