A spotlight on This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada
This Mortal Coil is one of the six books shortlisted for this year’s Readings Young Adult Book Prize.
My stomach lurches. Depending on which way the wind is blowing, this distant cloud just might kill me. One breath is all it takes. One lungful of swirling, airborne virus particles that will swarm through every cell in your body. You’ll get a fever; you’ll incubate; then two weeks later you’ll go off like a grenade, infecting everyone in a mile-wide radius.
– Emily Suvada, This Mortal Coil
Here’s what the judges said…
‘A devastating virus has overtaken the world, and Catarina is on her own, struggling to survive. To say any more about the plot of this book would potentially spoil the many twists and turns of the story, and the pleasure in discovering Emily Suvada’s brilliantly detailed, fascinating world.
This Mortal Coil is the best kind of sci-fi: thrilling, tense, incredibly smart, and bursting with ideas. One of the book’s particular strengths is Suvada’s deft and imaginative handling of technology, and her love of science shines through on every page. The novel expertly balances action sequences with character revelations and complex plot detail, and pulls everything together into an exciting romp.’
–
Nina Kenwood, Chair of the judging panel
Meet the author…
Emily Suvada was born in Australia, where she spent her childhood reading, writing, and watching Star Trek. In college, she studied math and astrophysics. Today, Emily lives in the USA, and her interests include AI, nanotech, virtual worlds, space travel, and genetic engineering. This Mortal Coil is her first novel, and the sequel This Cruel Design will be published in late 2018.
