From the acclaimed Neal Stephenson, bestselling author of the multi-generational Cryptonomicon and the sweeping Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World), comes Polostan, the first engrossing installment in the new Bomb Light cycle of historical novels. Against a 1930s backdrop of Great Depression-era America and a paranoid, brutal Soviet Union, espionage and science interweave as each power seeks to birth the Atomic Age.

With consummate skill Stephenson traces the harrowing journey of Dawn Rae Bjornberg, a young woman from the Midwest who transforms into Aurora Maximovna Artemyeva, a survivor navigating the harsh realities of Stalinist Russia. As Aurora faces off revolutionaries and ruthless officials on the path to an uncertain future she is haunted by a complicated past, but vows to endure at any cost.

While working in Magnitogorsk, at the industrial heart of the Soviet Union, Aurora must endure grueling labor conditions, painful interrogations, and escalating loyalty tests. Groomed as a spy for The Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU), precursor to the KGB, Aurora is sent undercover as a translator to famine-stricken Ukraine, where the true cost of Soviet policies is made painfully clear. Stephenson’s narrative builds to an unforgettable crescendo culminating in a political and personal inflection point for Aurora. There will be no turning back for her–or history itself.

A wealth of real-world scientific, cultural and geopolitical knowledge informs Polostan’s every page. Stephenson’s seamless blend of meticulously researched historical fiction and complex psychological drama brings to life compelling fictional characters like Aurora, Shpak, and Bob Overstree, who interact with actual historical figures.

Polostan is a rivetingly structured page-turner dealing with the clash between idealism and reality, the dangers of ideology, and the deep power of personal connections in the face of accelerating scientific progress amid shifting global politics. Stephenson’s newest exploration of classic themes like personal sacrifice, political ambition, and the resilience of the human spirit, provides essential reading for fans of thought-provoking fiction. And so begins the Bomb Light series.