Cynan Jones Book order

An astonishingly realised dystopian world from a master storyteller, first heard on BBC Radio 4.

These three beautifully written and highly original fables - in which a giant becomes too big for his boots, a left hand falls out with a right hand, and a scarecrow reassures a lost doll - are treats of the imagination for child and adult alike. - Malachy Doyle -- Gwasg Gomer

“To read Cove is to take a masterclass in taking out everything but the essentials. This is writing stripped back to the bone, and storytelling that gets under the skin. Powerful, terrifying, brilliantly done.”—Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13 Out at sea, in a sudden storm, a man is struck by lightning. When he wakes, injured and adrift on a kayak, his memory of who he is and how he came to be here is all but shattered. He will need to rely on his instincts, resilience, and imagination to get safely back to the woman he dimly senses is waiting for his return. This is an extraordinary, visceral portrait of a man locked in a struggle with the forces of nature.

Set in rural Wales, the narrative unfolds a poignant clash between a badger-baiter and a grieving farmer. The story weaves together themes of loss and the harsh realities of rural life, echoing the styles of Cormac McCarthy and Marilynne Robinson. As their lives intersect, the characters face moral dilemmas and personal struggles, exploring the complexities of human nature against a backdrop of the Welsh landscape.

A potent, prize-winning novel of rural life and familial loss - and an unforgettable introduction to one of the most distinctive new voices in British fiction

From the acclaimed author of The Dig, a tautly-crafted novel that packs the tension of a thriller and the emotional heft of a tragedy

This is a searing short novel, built of the interlocking fates of a badger-baiter and a disconsolate farmer, unfolding in a stark rural setting where man, animal, land and weather are at loggerheads. Their two paths converge with tragic inevitability. Jones writes of the physiology of grief and the isolation of loss with brilliance, and about the simple rawness of animal existence with a naturalist's unblinking eye. His is a pared-down prose of resonant simplicity and occasional lushness. His writing about ducks and dogs and cows is axe-sharp. There is not a whiff of the bucolic pastoral or the romanticized sod here. This is a real rural ride. It is short, but crackles with latent compressed energy that makes it swell to fill more space than at first glance it occupies.

This tale transforms the Arthurian legend of Peredur into a quixotic romp through a contemporary Welsh school of hard knocks. The original Peredur tale recounts the adventures of a youth bent on recognition as a knight in King Arthur's court. In true questing fashion, he defends maidens, defeats giants, and eventually overcomes the witches who have cursed him.