A breathtakingly original debut about identity and humanity for anyone who loves Station Eleven and The Bees
Kit has been projecting into other species for seven years.
Longer than anyone else at ShenCorp.
Longer than any of the scientists thought possible.
But lately she has the feeling that when she jumps she isn't alone…
Since she was twelve, Kit has been a phenomenaut, her consciousness projected into the bodies of lab-grown animals for the purpose of research.
Kit experiences a multitude of other lives – fighting and fleeing, predator and prey – always hoping, but never quite believing, that her work will help humans better understand the other species living alongside them.
But after a jump as an urban fox ends in disaster, Kit begins to suspect that those she has trusted for her entire working life may be out to cause her harm. And, as she delves deeper into the events of that night, her world begins to shift in ways she had never thought possible.
About the Author
Emma Geen is a speculative thinker and writer whose fiction draws on her education in Psychology and Philosophy. She is studying for a PhD in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, where she won the 2012 Janklow & Nesbit Bath Spa Prize. This is her debut novel.
Industry Reviews
Startlingly fresh ... Along with the protagonist I became a tiger, an eagle, a whale. I hunted, flew and swam in this extraordinary book which goes to the heart of what it means to be alive in a shared universe * Jane Shemilt, author of Daughter *
A work of intelligent, thought-provoking, spine-chilling science fiction that will delight and terrify in equal measure ... Exciting, horrifying and compelling * Jack Wolf, author of The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones *
Mixing sci-fi and the natural world it promises to be original and thought-provoking for readers of many genres * Big Issue *
In this exhilarating metaphysical white-knuckle ride Geen takes us into the other worlds that crouch, slink and bark around us. It's an audacious tour de force that will leave you reeling with ontological vertigo * Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast *
A compulsively readable sci-fi thriller ... The Many Selves of Katherine North would be an accomplishment from any writer, but the fact that this book comes from a first-time novelist is simply astonishing. Emma Geen has built a vivid and wildly engaging world around an incredibly compelling protagonist, creating a piece of work that transcends genre. No qualifiers are needed; this is a great book, full stop * Maine Edge *
Flips between past and present, human and creature ... Geen's psychological approach to the empathy and disconnect constantly shedding identities causes in its human protagonist lifts The Many Selves into an engaging take on established tropes * Herald *
Reminiscent of The Matrix and KA Applegate's Animorphs series, Geen slips between past and present, human and creature to tell Kit's coming-of-age story, racking up suspense with a deftly handled environmental slant, while trying to describe radically different ways of experiencing the world * Western Daily Press *
This is a riveting read. Geen weaves together philosophy and science fiction to create a magical, intelligent and intense novel. This is real philosophy in action * Havi Carel, author of Illness *
Never anything less than magnificent ... One of the most exciting debut novels I have read in years. Full of scientific and psychological speculation and yet grounded in the world of material conditions and psychological consequences, the novel provides exactly what I want to see from twenty-first century science fiction * Interzone *
