SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 AMAZON CANADA FIRST NOVEL AWARD "Like all good science fiction,
The Amateurs ably carries the weight of analogy: the grand themes of technology and what we've done to our planet and ourselves." –
Toronto Star "Harmer's description of the effects of the changed world, and how these characters perceive it, resonates deeply. . . . It's a metaphorically rich concept, and Harmer keeps a solid balance between the ambiguity and the world-building. . . . This novel weds a high concept to an abundance of heart; like the mysterious passages in it, it's hard to shake." –TOR.com
"Harmer takes cues from Margaret Atwood and Cormac McCarthy in this sharp debut, a cautionary tale of tech gone astray." –
Toronto Life "In her near perfect debut novel, Liz Harmer taps into current anxieties about technology to explore themes of transcendence, post-urbanity, and survival. . . . Harmer's prose and pacing are elegant and precise, her characters distinct and engaging. . . . The novel's dystopian setting is fully realized . . . nearly every conceivable question about the post-port world is addressed with grace and subtlety. . . . [
The Amaterus] captivates right up to its final page." –
Quill & Quire "[A] stunningly powerful work of post-apocalyptic fiction that examines our sense of reality and deals with the ultimate questions of where we came from and where we're headed." –
The Hamilton Spectator "Deeply original,
The Amateurs is tense and fast-paced, exploring what happens when technology and desire meet in a world that doesn't seem so different from ours." –
This Magazine "
The Amateurs is sly and smart, unsettled and unsettling, a bold probe into our age's grand seduction. An astonishing debut by a dazzling new voice." –Charles Foran, author of
Mordecai: The Life & Times
