Local Heavens
14 October 2025Imprint: Zaffre
Synopsis
A speculative romance reimagining of The Great Gatsby set in 2075 New York, perfect for fans of Emily St John Mandel, Natasha Pulley's The Mars House and Chain-Gang All-Stars.
'Not just a cyberpunk reinvention of The Great Gatsby, but a singular revelation in its own right' OLIVIE BLAKE
'Luring us in with glitz and glamour, neon and chrome ... A stunning retelling of The Great Gatsby' K. M. ENRIGHT
A corporate hacker. An elusive billionaire. A society trying to survive the American Nightmare.
New York City, 2075. Filipino-American Nick Carraway has just moved to the heart of the fractured New Americas, where he's struck by the city's contradictions - shining corporate towers casting bleak shadows over the slums of a crumbling middle class.
When Nick meets alluring new-money Jay Gatsby, he falls for Gatsby's frank charm and confident aura. But in a city where the wealthy flaunt tech-enhanced bodies to cheat death, surfaces aren't all they seem - and as a corporate-sanctioned cyberspace hacker, Nick knows that no secret can stay buried forever. He's the reason they don't. And his latest assignment? Investigate Gatsby himself.
As Nick becomes entangled in the dark affairs of the elite - and the devastating fallout of their actions on the city's most vulnerable - he must reckon with the limits of compassion and accountability across class and status. What takes precedence: Love, or truth? Heart, or soul?
A brilliant reimagining of Fitzgerald's classic tale of glamour, desire, and desperation, Local Heavens examines the guardrails of morality ... and the price of desire.
'Local Heavens pierces to the core of an American classic' CHLOE GONG
'Beautiful, intelligent, timely ... A phenomenal new talent' ESMIE JIKIEMI-PEARSON
'Not just a cyberpunk reinvention of The Great Gatsby, but a singular revelation in its own right' OLIVIE BLAKE
'Luring us in with glitz and glamour, neon and chrome ... A stunning retelling of The Great Gatsby' K. M. ENRIGHT
A corporate hacker. An elusive billionaire. A society trying to survive the American Nightmare.
New York City, 2075. Filipino-American Nick Carraway has just moved to the heart of the fractured New Americas, where he's struck by the city's contradictions - shining corporate towers casting bleak shadows over the slums of a crumbling middle class.
When Nick meets alluring new-money Jay Gatsby, he falls for Gatsby's frank charm and confident aura. But in a city where the wealthy flaunt tech-enhanced bodies to cheat death, surfaces aren't all they seem - and as a corporate-sanctioned cyberspace hacker, Nick knows that no secret can stay buried forever. He's the reason they don't. And his latest assignment? Investigate Gatsby himself.
As Nick becomes entangled in the dark affairs of the elite - and the devastating fallout of their actions on the city's most vulnerable - he must reckon with the limits of compassion and accountability across class and status. What takes precedence: Love, or truth? Heart, or soul?
A brilliant reimagining of Fitzgerald's classic tale of glamour, desire, and desperation, Local Heavens examines the guardrails of morality ... and the price of desire.
'Local Heavens pierces to the core of an American classic' CHLOE GONG
'Beautiful, intelligent, timely ... A phenomenal new talent' ESMIE JIKIEMI-PEARSON
Details
14 October 2025400 pages
9781785128431Imprint: Zaffre
Reviews
Easily one of my favorite books of the year. Fajardo's Local Heavens is not just a cyberpunk reinvention of The Great Gatsby, but a singular revelation in its own right. Creative, incisive, and elegantly crafted, this one will wow you even as it wrecks you-you'll be holding your breath to the endOlivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six
Gorgeous, decadent atmosphere. Local Heavens pierces to the core of an American classic, transforming the original Gatsby's prosperity and prohibition into an era of technological dominance and the consequences therein. An exemplary execution of the cyberpunk genreChloe Gong, New York Times bestselling author of Immortal Longings
Beautiful, intelligent, timely, and so much fun, Fajardo's darkly futuristic re-imagining of The Great Gatsby is imbued with a powerful appreciation for humanity and all of its flaws, whilst also maintaining an electric sense of building dread. In true sci-fi fashion, moral questions hover around the characters like vultures, and absolutely nothing is as it seems. I could not look away. A phenomenal new talent has entered the SFF spaceEsmie Jikiemi-Pearson, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Principle of Moments
Luring us in with glitz and glamor, neon and chrome, Fajardo dazzles readers with a stunning retelling of The Great Gatsby, peeling away the layers till all that remains is the painfully human, flawed story of a man caught in the unforgiving space between the harsh reality and the seductive lies of the American Dream-and how it destroys everything it touchesK. M. Enright, Sunday Times bestselling author of Mistress of Lies