This Kingdom of Dust

David Dyer

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English

Penguin
29 October 2024

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Australian Fiction

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- As the world watches two men moon step onto the moon for the first time something terrible is about to go wrong. Covering Buzz and Neil’s adventure is Life magazine journalist, Aquarius who spends more time focusing on Buzz’s wife Joan than he does on the astronauts.

Brilliantly mixing meticulous research with a creative alternate take on history, Dyer has written a suspenseful and thoughtful novel that deals with a world going through social and political upheavals as the astronauts must deal with both physical and metaphysical questions that desperately need to be answered. Greg

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Like the moon landing itself, a feat of enormous ingenuity imagining the lives of the Apollo mission heroes, and those on planet earth in the tumultuous 1960s.

You'll never look at the Moon in quite the same way ever again. - Ceridwen Dovey

The whole world has just watched Neil and Buzz

walk on the Moon. Now they are struck by terror- the lunar module's engine has failed. There is no back-up, no other way off the surface. If the astronauts can't fix the problem, they'll slowly run out of oxygen and die.

This Kingdom of Dust explores this harrowing scenario through the intertwined narratives of three distinct voices- Buzz on the Moon, his wife Joan back on Earth, and Aquarius, the journalist compelled to craft a story he doesn't want to write.

Marooned, Buzz confronts his fate with a mix of dread and awe. On Earth, Joan wrestles with grief and sacrifice against the backdrop of 1960s America - a nation riven by war and seismic social change.

Caught between professional duty and personal turmoil, Aquarius soon discovers that he will need all his skill to capture this unfolding drama, and all his courage to follow it through to its breathtaking conclusion.

With page-turning suspense and emotional heft, this reimagining of an epic moment in history combines public spectacle with private despair, reframing what the Moon landing has meant not only for the astronauts and those who loved them, but for all humankind.

By: David Dyer
Imprint: Penguin
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 154mm, Spine: 26mm
Weight: 436g
ISBN: 9781761343490
ISBN 10: 1761343491
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 29 October 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

David Dyer grew up in a coastal town in New South Wales. After leaving school, he trained as a deck officer at the Australian Maritime College and spent several years travelling the world in merchant ships. He then completed a combined arts/law degree at the University of Sydney and worked as a litigation lawyer, first in Sydney and then in London. Upon his return to Australia he began teaching and writing, and in 2016 published The Midnight Watch, a novel about the ship that saw the Titanic's distress rockets but didn't go to her rescue. His research for this novel took him to Liverpool, London, Boston, New York and - finally - to the site of the sinking itself in the North Atlantic Ocean. David currently lives in Sydney, where he teaches, writes and makes cocktails.