Dwellers: A Novel: Winner of the Philippine National Book Awar...

This dark fantasy is sure to take your breath away.The rules are strict and absolute:Rule No. 1: Don't kill the body you inhabit.Rule No. 2: Never mention your previous name again.Rule No. 3: Don't talk about your previous life. Ever.But what happens when, in escaping your old life by stealing a new one, you jump out of the frying pan and into the fire?Cousins from a clan of "dwellers"—people who inhabit the bodies and lives of others—become brothers when they take over the bodies of Jonah and Louis. An injury forces them to remain in the brothers' house, where they discover that the basement holds a dead body! As old and new secrets come to light, it becomes clear that every action always has consequences.Fans of Richard Morgan, Adam Silvera, and Blake Crouch's speculative fiction will adore Eliza Victoria's action-packed supernatural mystery. Winner of the Philippine National Book Award, Dwellers is the urban fantasy novel that you won't want to miss!Winner of the prestigious Philippine National Book Award!

Christina Boswell, Manhattan Book Review

"I really enjoyed this story. While I loved the story itself, another bonus is that it's short so it can easily be read in one sitting. Even in a short amount of time, this story packs a lot in. […] I have no idea how to classify this story, but I highly recommend you read it, no matter what genres you like."

Angele Dominique (@adominiquereads), bookstagram influencer

"This story was engaging and still managed to have the creepy haunting vibes going without being too gory…"

Publishers Weekly

"...a fast-paced page-turner. "

Justine, Novels and Panda Bookstagram

"What I love most about the novel is it is short yet it has woven all the threads perfectly in its place. It's watching a puzzle settles into its place, creating the clearer picture […] An understatement, I love it. Its parallelism to reality is what makes it haunting and sickening to the core. Silently rooting for justice to be served."

Jenny (Of Prose and Spells), bookstagram influencer

"Dwellers by Eliza Victoria is a daunting and engrossing dark fantasy and mystery novel that captures you right off the bat until the very last page. It was so good! […] The characters were remarkable. It was easy to sympathize with them and understand their own struggles and thoughts… Overall, Dwellers is an exceptional speculative fiction. It is a quick, thrilling, and thought-provoking story you don't want to miss."

Booklist

"Award-winning science fiction and fantasy author Victoria crafts a fascinating example of weird fiction and a mystery within a mystery."

Manila Standard BookRiot features Dwellers by Eliza Victoria on its list of Genre-Defining Fantasy Books You Won't Be Able To Put Down

"In Dwellers, Victoria shows her mastery over the spec-fic genre in this novel of entities who jump from body to body to experience different lives…[She] seamlessly blends her fluency in English with a Filipino sensibility…"

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Part One: A Strange House in a Strange CityChapter One:"The Holmes and Rahe stress scale lists 43 stressful life events that may lead to illness. I read this in a book—being wheelchair-bound and injured I can do mostly nothing but read. Every life event has corresponding Life Change Units. This is my list—Death of a close family member — 63Personal injury or illness — 53Change in living conditions — 25Revision of personal habits — 24Change in residence — 20Change in sleeping habits — 16Change in eating habits — 15 —for a whopping total of 216 Life Change Units. I don't know if I should add "Gaining a New Family Member" (39 points); I've known Louis (I should get used to calling him this name—Louis) all my life, but I've never shared a house with him. Does that count?He stresses me out because he looks stressed out with all the cuts on his face and arms. His constant attention is breaking my heart. Maybe he could add the 39 points to his own list.If I add that, I get 255 points, still 45 points short of the requisite 300, which means "at risk of illness". At this point, I'm still not at risk? "Risk of illness is moderate".This is bullshit.How many Life Change Units apply to a "Change in Body"? "Change in Residence is a mere 20 points. A change in body is a thousand—fold more disorienting.I don't know why I'm even bothering with this stress scale. It doesn't apply to Louis and me. Our collective stress is on a whole other planet.I should be doing something more productive.I wish I could walk.I wish I could just kill this body and inhabit another." —Victoria, Eliza. Dwellers: A Novel. (Tuttle Publishing, 2022) pg. 6-7

About the Author

Eliza Victoria is the author of several award-winning novels including the Philippine National Book Award-winner Dwellers (2014), Wounded Little Gods (2016), and her science fiction collection Nightfall (2018). Her fiction and poetry have appeared in online and print publications, including in LONTAR: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction,The Best Asian Speculative Fiction, The Dark Magazine, Dark Regions Press's Stranded: Lone Survivor Deserted Island Horror Stories and The Apex Book of World SF Volume 5.Her work has received top Philippine literary awards, including the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.She lives in Australia.Aldy Aguirre is a Manila-based illustrator and visual artist who specializes in watercolor and gouache, drawing inspiration from nature, memories, and dreams. He has contributed artwork to a number of children's books and is a member of Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan, a Philippine organization dedicated to the creation and promotion of children's literature.

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