This is a genuinely thought-provoking piece of fiction. You could devour it in a day and be wholly transported into the near future, then set it back down, dazed but enlightened, in the present day where you will see the world anew in all its wonders and frailties
The Times
A stunning novel: profoundly moving, deeply unsettling, thought-provoking and prescient but also a wonderful and life-affirming love story too
James Holland Once I had started I literally could not stop. It really is his greatest novel yet, and of course beautifully written in that wonderful, understated style
Antony Beevor Faulks is one of the most original and compelling writers in the world. This enthralling novel is right up there among his very finest work
Peter James A completely fascinating and extraordinary novel. A profound and moving examination of our complex human nature
William Boyd A beautifully written novel. On the one hand you have love, kindness, responsibility; on the other monstrous arrogance and indifference to consequences
The Scotsman
Brilliant, original and unputdownable. An absolute cracker
Peter Frankopan Brilliant
Matthew Parker This elegant near-future novel about a daring scientific experiment explores the evolution of consciousness… Faulks is an enviably graceful and economical writer. The early chapters of the book rip along with clarity and elegance. He conjures up the various worlds, brings the central characters vividly to life and keeps the story moving intriguingly forward
Guardian
A high-concept page-turner… Pitched somewhere between Michael Crichton and Ian McEwan, it’s a timely meditation on the whims of rich tycoon
Mail on Sunday
Sebastian Faulks’s latest novel is a tender, haunting exploration of the power of technology to alter our understanding of what it means to be human.
Jane Shilling
Daily Mail
Engaging and thought-provoking … The Seventh Son straddles two worlds, encompassing the distant past as well as the future. In so doing, Faulks asks difficult questions about who and what we are, and whether we could ever justifiably alter our genes to remove the worst of our defects
Herald
Thought-provoking and chilling
I Paper
Fabulously compelling… a provocative, poignant and disturbing examination of what it is to be human… Who says a novel of ideas can’t be as thrilling as a holiday beach read? The Birdsong author’s novels invariably examine big, bold ideas yet are beautifully told with a gossamer light touch. The Seventh Son is no exception
Express
A resonant hint of Frankenstein’s wretched monster about Seth who, functional, capable and literate as he is, stands at the book’s emotional centre, desperate for a companionship he can never find
Daily Mail
Cutting-edge science and big, meaty ideas aside, it’s the minute details of everyday life and the bursting-from-the-page characters that make this thought-provoking novel come alive
Johanna Thomas-Corr
The Times
Sebastian Faulks has long been a novelist much occupied with ideas, especially scientific and medical ones, while contriving to marry this to a strong plot and credible characters . . . gripping, horribly persuasive and sad
Allan Massie
The Scotsman