York author and former Press columnist Tim Murgatroyd will be launching the second book in his epic Pilgrim trilogy - set in a dystopian future where humanity is dying out, York's a drowned ruin and Scarborough a town of ghosts - in a free online event with Explore York on Friday.
In Pilgrim Tale, the first volume of the trilogy published last year, Michael Pilgrim, the scarred veteran of a war to 'defend' Europe from refugees, is trying to build a life for himself and his family in Baytown, a remote community of survivors on the North Yorkshire coast.
It is 100 years or so from today. Much of humanity has been wiped out in a catastrophe known as the 'Great Dying', and a genetically-enhanced caste of immortal 'overlords' based in fortified citadels rules over the rest of humankind using murderous airborne drones.
After a fallout with the overlords' local representative leaves his family destitute, Michael sets off on an epic journey across a ruined North Yorkshire in search of provisions. He eventually reaches York: a drowned city ruled by the 'modified man', a genetically modified monstrosity with a trunk in the middle of his face.
A review in The Press described the first volume of the trilogy as 'Mad Max meets John Bunyan meets The Handmaid's Tale'.
In Pilgrim Lost, the second book in the trilogy which will be launched on Friday, Michael Pilgrim is lost, hundreds of miles from home. His only ally is a dangerous enemy that he doesn't know whether he can trust.
The book will be launched at a free Explore York online event at 6.30pm on Friday, in which Tim will chat with York Literature Festival chair Rob O'Connor about 'writing dystopian fiction in a time of dystopia'.
"Tim will explain how he came to set his trilogy in North Yorkshire and how the hope for a better future drives his characters and story forward," says York Explore.
Pilgrim Lost by Tim Murgatroyd is published by Cloud Lodge Books, priced £8.99, on Friday.
You can order the book from Fox Lane Books
Book a pace at the free online launch event here
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