“Serves real purpose… written with furious energy. Bonnello is writing the books that teenagers might relate to.”
-The Guardian (full review here)
A near-future war series, where teenagers who escaped an attack on their special school become the last hope of freeing the British people. The Underdogs series by Chris Bonnello – hailed as “hugely popular” by The Guardian – is now drawing towards its conclusion with the publication of its final instalment. Here’s a brief introduction to book one.
“A singular achievement — a taut, thrilling, fully-rendered vision of dystopia. Bonnello’s pacing and action will keep you on the edge of your seat.”
Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes
Special education has never looked like this.
Ewan West has grown up being seen as nothing more than a defiant teenage screw-up, with learning difficulties and enormous personal issues. Thankfully, he’s smart as hell in the battlefield. And now that the British population depends on him, his life might finally mean something.
Britain has been conquered, its population imprisoned in giant walled citadels. They are guarded by an innumerable army of cloned soldiers, created by the biologists and military personnel who have seized power. The nation’s last hope are the Underdogs: a dozen fighters comprised largely of Ewan’s special school classmates, hidden in the abandoned countryside near the prison city of New London.
Ewan and his friends have much to fight against – inside and out – in order to free the British people. But their war is as complex as the characters who fight it. After all, how do you defeat a factory-grown army that outnumbers you by at least a million? The answer may lie in an impossible woman rescued by the Underdogs, who claims to know the secret to destroying New London’s clone factory.
“A fantastic twist on dystopia, with edge-of-your-seat thrills and unlikely heroes… I loved it.”
-Michael Grant, author of the Gone series
In an era when fictional representations of neurodiversity and disability are on the rise, Underdogs goes beyond mere tokenism and introduces a whole cast of teenagers who think differently, balancing their inbuilt advantages with their personal challenges. The novel blends increasingly relevant social issues with intense action, and the result is more than a typical underdog tale. It is a war story about vulnerable young people trying to be the best they can be, in a world that has never been on their side.
Read the opening chapter here.
“A filmic, page-turning, edge-of-the-seat dystopian masterpiece. Bonnello’s insights into his neurodivergent cast are especially acute.”
-Patience Agbabi, author of the Leap Cycle series, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
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