The Past Is Red

Catherynne M. Valente is the New York Times bestselling author of over two dozen works of fiction and poetry, including Palimpsest, the Orphan's Tales series, Deathless, Radiance, and the crowdfunded phenomenon The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (and the four books that followed it). She is the winner of the Andre Norton, Tiptree, Sturgeon, Eugie Foster Memorial, Mythopoeic, Rhysling, Lambda, Locus, and Hugo awards, as well as the Prix Imaginales. Valente has also been a finalist for the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards. She lives on an island off the coast of Maine with a small but growing menagerie of beasts, some of which are human.

Find out more on her website and on Twitter!

A Hugo Award finalist!
An inaugural Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction finalist!
A Locus Award finalist!

Praise for The Past Is Red:

"The Past Is Red is magical realism meets the garbage patch. Every page is a new and surprising invention. It's hilarious and sad and filled with an inexcusable amount of wisdom."-New York Times bestselling author Hank Green

"A gorgeous, funny, melancholy, splendid romp through a post-apocalyptic wonderland in which hope and despair are indistinguishable, and the human spirit burns with the joy and rage of a thousand suns. The Candide of our #@$*%?! age."-award-winning author Ken Liu

"This story is about as close to perfect as it gets."-Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of the Wayward Children series

"Tetley's distinctive voice and cheerful resilience in the face of misfortune make her a delightful guide through this bleak future..."-Publishers Weekly

"[The Past Is Red] is a more hopeful story than we deserve, a story where hope survives despite its fragility, and there are beautiful moments in the most unexpected corners."-Booklist

"Valente's prose presents a stark image of humanity surviving climate ruin, corporate greed, and rich escapists. Tetley's voice is engrossing, creating a read that will make readers think about our possible future."-Library Journal

"The Past Is Red achieves a scope and emotional power that lifts the tale beyond the sometimes wacky catalogs of trash and pop-cultural nostalgia that made The Future Is Blue so entertaining."-Locus Magazine

"With her trademark lyrical prose, Catherynne M. Valente takes readers to a future where the remnants of humanity live on giant islands of garbage. This novella is a pointed critique of consumer culture and also a wildly inventive ride."-Buzzfeed

"Brings joy to a future that feels bleak, and grapples with how fragile hope is... perfectly balances wit and humor with lines that