Jason Heppenstall

Seat of Mars Jason Heppenstall

Hell-bent on preserving the privileges of the wealthy in the face of a looming resource crisis, the British government executes a false flag terrorist attack and shuts down the national electricity grid with the explicit goal of causing rapid population reduction. In the ensuing turmoil, a shadowy cabal of globalists watches with interest from a bunker buried deep beneath frozen Arctic wastes and readies to roll out "the experiment" across the world. Seat of Mars follows the fortunes of a handful of ordinary people flung into extraordinary times. These include Rose, a teenage astrophysics prodigy and a Goth, who finds herself pulled into a web of intrigue within a fortified and ethnically cleansed London; Jack and Cat, a city couple who find themselves stranded on a makeshift commune; and the resourceful, self-educated prepper Art Gwavas who sees the mayhem as a chance to take back what is rightfully his. The story poses the wider question of how well any of us would fare if the magic carpet of industrial civilisation were suddenly pulled out from under us, and whether something beautiful can emerge from the glowing embers of chaos.