Out on 20 August 2026
Synopsis
WINNER of the VICTORIAN PREMIER AWARD and SHORTLISTED for the MILES FRANKIN AWARD
'An impressive, urgent novel by a talented and courageous writer' Mohsin Hamid
After many years abroad, Harun and Roz return to Malaysian Borneo for the funeral of their palm-oil baron father, Yusuf - and to reckon with their inheritance. Yusuf might be a hero to many, but his children know that not only has he built the family's immense wealth by destroying huge tracts of rainforest, but also that he was involved in the violent disappearance of a man who stood in his way.
Harun is a successful tech entrepreneur in Los Angeles while Roz is an artist struggling to stay afloat in Sydney, and both are determined to return something their father stole from the forests of their homeland. In their quest for redemption they grapple with the legacy of power and corruption and are haunted - by the ghosts of colonialism, the ghosts of family, the ghosts of language, and the ghosts of the forest itself.
A trailblazing journey across the globe, Fierceland is a language-bending story that weaves the past and the present into an emotionally powerful family saga that plays out at a mythical scale.
'The forest may be disappearing, but in Musa's words it still grows: fierce, alive, untameable' Guardian Australia
'An impressive, urgent novel by a talented and courageous writer' Mohsin Hamid
After many years abroad, Harun and Roz return to Malaysian Borneo for the funeral of their palm-oil baron father, Yusuf - and to reckon with their inheritance. Yusuf might be a hero to many, but his children know that not only has he built the family's immense wealth by destroying huge tracts of rainforest, but also that he was involved in the violent disappearance of a man who stood in his way.
Harun is a successful tech entrepreneur in Los Angeles while Roz is an artist struggling to stay afloat in Sydney, and both are determined to return something their father stole from the forests of their homeland. In their quest for redemption they grapple with the legacy of power and corruption and are haunted - by the ghosts of colonialism, the ghosts of family, the ghosts of language, and the ghosts of the forest itself.
A trailblazing journey across the globe, Fierceland is a language-bending story that weaves the past and the present into an emotionally powerful family saga that plays out at a mythical scale.
'The forest may be disappearing, but in Musa's words it still grows: fierce, alive, untameable' Guardian Australia
Details
20 August 2026
384 pages
9781804443675
Imprint: Footnote Press
Reviews
“An impressive, urgent novel by a talented and courageous writer”Mohsin Hamid, author of EXIT WEST
“Omar Musa writes with great energy, a poetic force. Fierceland is a time-travelling magical tale, a playful anti-colonial novel for our times . . . Do not sleep on the fierce talents of Omar Musa”Raymond Antrobus, author and poet
“Fierceland is a majestic piece of epic narrative work. Omar Musa skillfully weaves various scenes, lives, viewpoints and times, connects different continents to concentrate on the modern history of Malaysia . . . Fierceland shook me to the core as an Asian. It forced me to look at Malaysia and the world and ponder the future in ways I never have”Bora Chung, author of CURSED BUNNY
“Riveting and expansive, a profound yet intimate exploration of environmental catastrophe”Shannon Chakraborty, author of the Daevabad trilogy
