The Dead Lands
A Novel by Benjamin Percy
Published April 14, 2015
Order from your local bookseller or Powell’s, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Indiebound.
In Benjamin Percy’s new thriller, a post-apocalyptic reimagining of the Lewis and Clark saga, a super flu and nuclear fallout have made a husk of the world we know. A few humans carry on, living in outposts such as the Sanctuary-the remains of St. Louis-a shielded community that owes its survival to its militant defense and fear-mongering leaders.
Then a rider comes from the wasteland beyond its walls. She reports on the outside world: west of the Cascades, rain falls, crops grow, civilization thrives. But there is danger too: the rising power of an army that pillages and enslaves every community they happen upon.
Against the wishes of the Sanctuary, a small group sets out in secrecy. Led by Lewis Meriwether and Mina Clark, they hope to expand their infant nation, and to reunite the States. But the Sanctuary will not allow them to escape without a fight.
Click here to read more about The Dead Lands.
Recent News
Here is some early praise for Ben’s next novel, The Dark Net (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017) from Dean Koontz: “Written in vivid, often lyrical prose, but with exhilarating comic-book energy, THE DARK NET is a megawatt defibrillator to the reader’s heart. Quirky but very human characters confront an explosive emergence of the supernatural into our world, in this imaginative, spooky, swiftly paced tale threaded through with dark humor.”
Green Arrow Rebirth and Green Arrow Issue #1 have both gone into a second printing. Thank you, retailers and readers. Read more here.
Ben has followed his longtime editor Helen Atsma to a new publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. In 2017, they will publish his next novel, The Dark Net.
Ben’s story “Refresh, Refresh” (originally published in The Paris Review, later anthologized in Best American Short Stories 2006) is one of forty stories collected in 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories (edited by Lorrie Moore).
Ben is taking over the Green Arrow series at DC Comics, teamed with the insanely talented artist Patrick Zircher. The primer issue will release in June, and Issue #1 will drop in July.
The Starz network is developing a series created by Ben called Black Gold, a crime drama that revolves around the North Dakota oil boom. Director James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now) is attached to direct the pilot. Read more about it in this Hollywood Reporter article.
“Benjamin Percy’s THE DEAD LANDS is a case of wonderful writing and compulsive reading. You will not come across a finer work of sustained imagination this year. Good God, what a tale. Don’t miss it.”—Stephen King. Pre-order it here.
Ben now writes for Detective Comics and his first Batman storyline will appear this fall. The two-issue arc (#35 and 36) — called “Terminal” — with art by JP Leon.
Ben is adapting Red Moon as a series for FOX TV with Oscar-winner Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind, I am Legend, Winter’s Tale) and producer Ilene Staple.
NPR, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly have all listed Red Moon as one of the best books of 2013.
