The Rouse: Winner of the Goldsmiths Prize

WINNER OF THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE 2026

Read by Colin Mace and Emma Spurgin Hussey, featuring the voice of the author, China Miéville.

From the bestselling, award-winning master of uncanny fiction comes a defining work, twenty years in the making – a deeply moving, decade- and continent-spanning epic of grief, global tumult, and grim conspiracy.

'Miéville’s command of his prose is phenomenal . . . This is a world that you can truly swim in, and few authors can achieve that' - The Times ‘Affecting, intelligent and, in more than one place, very, very frightening. This is a novel destined for a rich afterlife' - The Guardian 'An extraordinary tour de force' - Adrian Tchaikovsky 'A monster of a book in every sense' - Francis Spufford 'I felt it in my bones, the undeniable power of a jagged masterpiece' - The New York Times

Maur’s life has been shaped by an unbearable loss. But in the aftermath of what is an apparently ordinary tragedy, deeper, stranger questions arise . . . Their answers may lie within the dark heart and darker history of an old soldier who shares Maur’s obsessions – and is violently pursued by the same unknown, unquiet forces.

So begins The Rouse, a masterpiece unlike any other: at once a sprawling saga of the bloody twentieth century, and the intimate story of two lives, their loves, regrets and secrets – and a terrifying journey into infinite mystery.

Praise for China Miéville, author of The City & The City

‘You can’t talk about Miéville without using the word “brilliant”’ – Ursula K. Le Guin ‘One of the most interesting and freakishly gifted writers of his generation’ – The Daily Telegraph ‘As intelligent as he is original’ – The Guardian ‘The names of Kafka and Orwell tend to be invoked too easily for anything a bit out of the ordinary, but in this case they are worthy comparisons’ – The Times

© 2026 Picador (Lydbog): 9781509847433

Udgivelsesdato

Lydbog: 17. september 2026