The Upper World

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE 2022* 
 
'A superbly original debut' - Guardian 
 
'A time-twisting, mind-bending thrill ride . . . I loved it!' - Holly Jackson, author of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder 
 
'Impossible to put down' - The Independent 
 
ONE GLIMPSE OF A TERRIFYING FUTURE. 
ONE CHANCE TO CHANGE EVERYTHING. 
 
After suffering a knock to the head, 15-year-old Esso experiences a chilling vision: that night he will witness the violent deaths of everyone he knows. He writes off the out-of-body experience as a strange dream - until a series of frightening coincidences prove that the vision is just hours away from coming true. 
 
There is only one person who can help him rewrite the future. 
 
The trouble is, she hasn't been born yet . . . 
 
 
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOVIE STARRING ACADEMY AWARD WINNER DANIEL KALUUYA 
 
'A rollercoaster of a story . . . Orangeboy with an Inception-style twist.' - Kat Ellis 
 
'Ambitious and highly addictive' - The Bookseller 
 
'This is a book I will return to time and time again' - Caleb Femi 
 
'So happy this exists' - Daniel Kaluuya, Academy Award-winning actor

'A startlingly original thriller . . . one of the most compelling debuts of the year'

Wow! The Upper World is a time-twisting, mind-bending thrill ride. I raced through the pages trying to keep up with Esso and Rhia - if I could read at the speed of light, I would have! This south London epic will stay with you long after the final page.

Older teens will be blown away by The Upper World, Femi Fadugba's mind-bending sci-fi debut . . . the story brims with tension and emotion thanks to the authentic, relatable characters.

To have a book that marries real London life, time travel and relativity in an illuminating and entertaining way is stuff I used to dream about. I had The Upper World in my hands until I finished it. So happy this exists.

This compelling thriller is set on the streets of South East London, a place author Femi Fadugba knows very well . . . once Esso and Rhia's stories start to unfold, this book is impossible to put down. One to read before it's adapted into a Netflix film starring Daniel Kaluuya.

The Independent, Children's Book of the Week

Truly mind-bending, fiendishly clever, original and stylish - I was blown away by this novel. Philosophy meets physics meets Peckham . . . No doubt about it, The Upper World is destined to stand the test of time.

A superbly original debut, written with extraordinary ambition and panache . . . effortlessly blends theoretical physics with all-too-human tragedy.

A sci-fi drama that captures the value of self-belief . . . The voices of Esso and Rhia, both smart and curious, are rich in slang and details of the lives and friendships of black teenagers, and their tale unfolds suspensefully, with emotion and writerly skill

The Sunday Times, Children's Book of the Week

For days after reading [The Upper World], I was left with what I can only describe as an electricity surging through my spirit. Fadugba is an impeccable weaver of universes and this is a book I will return to time and time again.

[An] ambitious and highly addictive sci-fi thriller . . . The theory of relativity and time-travel science may drive the incredibly tense and compelling plot, but it is Fadugba's skill in weaving this around complex characters and a very powerful human story that makes The Upper World so special.

A thrilling, electric book - so sharp and quick, so witty and wise it leaves you gasping.

A rollercoaster of a story, like Patrice Lawrence's Orangeboy with an Inception-style twist. Exhilarating and exceptional!

The Upper World is an astoundingly impressive debut. Thought-provoking, thrilling, funny, and brilliant in every sense of the word.

The Upper World took everything I thought I knew about physics, time, space, and energy, and twisted it into a new, electrifying story that I couldn't put down!

I think what I love most about this brilliant book is how it creates a few mini worlds (Esso's, Rhia's, the Upper World) and brings them all together in a beautiful dance. The Upper World by Femi Fadugba made me laugh, made me feel. I loved Esso and Rhia's wry observations.

A mind-bending thriller that takes you to modern-day London and then twists reality back in on itself. Tenet has nothing on The Upper World.

Maureen Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of the Truly Devious series

An audacious blend of quantum physics, Ancient Greek philosophy and south London gang culture, The Upper World is a blistering, ferocious science fiction story that asks, what we would change if we could, and what would happen if we couldn't? Make some room at the table, Doctor Who - there's a new time-travelling hero in town.

Femi Fadugba is an EdTech CEO, sci-fi writer and Dummett Fellow at New College, Oxford. He has given talks to over 10,000 students on topics ranging from time travel physics to the process of writing his debut novel, The Upper World (coming to Netflix soon!). In prior lives, Femi worked as a science tutor, management consultant and solar salesman, having studied at UPenn and Oxford, where he published in the field of Quantum Computing.

A game-changing thriller about two teenagers a generation apart, connected by one bullet with the power to devastate both of their lives. Get ready to reconsider everything you thought you knew about time . . . 
 
Esso is a teenager running out of time and into trouble. Accidentally caught up in a gang war, he receives an unexpected gift: access to a world where he can see glimpses of the past and future. But now Esso has the devastating knowledge that the road he is on will eventually lead to the deaths of the people he loves most. 
A generation later, football prodigy Rhia is about to lose everything. When a man comes into her life claiming to know the key to time travel and asking for her help, she becomes obsessed with finding a way back to the past to save the parents she never got to meet . . . 
 
Two teenagers. Fifteen years. One chance to stop a bullet.

Femi Fadugba

'A startlingly original thriller . . . one of the most compelling debuts of the year'

'[An] ambitious and highly addictive sci-fi thriller . . . incredibly tense and compelling'

'An astoundingly impressive debut. Thought-provoking, thrilling, funny, and brilliant in every sense of the word'

Katherine Webber, co-author of Twin Crowns

'A time-twisting, mind-bending thrill ride . . . I loved it!

Holly Jackson, author of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

'A thrilling, electric book - so sharp and quick, so witty and wise it leaves you gasping.'

Katherine Rundell, author of Impossible Creatures

'I couldn't put this book down. So happy this exists.'

Daniel Kaluuya, Academy Award-winning actor

'This is a book I will return to time and time again'

'A rollercoaster of a story . . . Orangeboy with an Inception-style twist.'

The electrifying sequel to the bestselling, critically acclaimed, page-turning thriller, The Upper World, soon to be a major movie starring Academy Award Winner Daniel Kaluuya. 
 
With her mentor, Dr Esso, by her side, Peckham born and bred Rhia is beginning her first week at the University of Oxford. She’s determined to have a fresh start and put the Upper World behind her. But fitting into the hallowed halls of Oxford proves more difficult than she thought when she struggles to find her people. 
 
That’s until Rhia receives a mysterious invite under her door to a secret and exclusive society called the Ravens. The Ravens are part of the 1% and being a member of the cult-like group guarantees students a life of wealth and success. But is Rhia really willing to sell out to secure her future? 
 
And, more pressingly, with increasingly strange goings-on happening around her, could joining the group mean opening Pandora’s box – and uncovering something even more mind-bending than the Upper World? Rhia is about to find out . . . 
 
PRAISE FOR THE UPPER WORLD: 
 
'A superbly original debut' - Guardian 
 
'Impossible to put down' - The Independent 
 
'A time-twisting, mind-bending thrill ride . . . I loved it!' - Holly Jackson, author of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder 
 
'A thrilling, electric book - so sharp and quick, so witty and wise it leaves you gasping.' - Katherine Rundell, author of Impossible Creatures 
 
'I couldn't put this book down' - Daniel Kaluuya, Academy Award-winning actor

Femi Fadugba

Praise for The Mirror World

'A startlingly original thriller . . . one of the most compelling debuts of the year'

**'[An] ambitious and highly addictive sci-fi thriller . . . incredibly tense and compelling'**

'An astoundingly impressive debut. Thought-provoking, thrilling, funny, and brilliant in every sense of the word'

'A startlingly original thriller . . . one of the most compelling debuts of the year'

**'[An] ambitious and highly addictive sci-fi thriller . . . incredibly tense and compelling'**

'An astoundingly impressive debut. Thought-provoking, thrilling, funny, and brilliant in every sense of the word'

'A startlingly original thriller . . . one of the most compelling debuts of the year'

**'[An] ambitious and highly addictive sci-fi thriller . . . incredibly tense and compelling'**

'An astoundingly impressive debut. Thought-provoking, thrilling, funny, and brilliant in every sense of the word'

Books by Femi Fadugba

Series by Femi Fadugba

The Upper World

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