Unnatural Selection

No one alive can remember seeing the sun, the sky or the stars. For centuries they've been hidden by an oily blanket of cloud that never breaks or disperses.

This is the city of Luxor. When the oceans flooded and fossil fuels ran out, Luxor rose out of the chaos, becoming the most powerful city in the world - thanks to its industries, fuelled by the fat of animals. As the fumes from burning tallow spread outward, so did Luxor's influence ...

Loki Blake has lived his whole life in Luxor and he knows nothing else. But now he's going to a place beyond the clouds -- a place where the sunshine will dazzle his eyes and the stars will scramble his brain. He's traveling to the faraway colony of Trasmundo to search for exotic and perhaps mythical animals, trying to save them from extinction before the smoke of Luxor's industry spreads further.

But there are people who badly want Loki to fail, and they're prepared to kill to make sure he does. Before he knows it, Loki is on the run in the cloudforests and marshes of Gondwana, his survival dependent on Mera Ness, his frustrating and elusive guide. He doesn't know who to trust or whether he'll make it home: all he knows is that he hasn't been told the full story ...