by Hal Duncan
First published 2017
The Waiftaker General snatches children from workhouses and streets, hauling them to the Institute where they receive the Stamp. This process makes them Fixed: ageless and indestructible, trapped forever as child workers. But some escape. Flashjack leads a band of rebel Scruffians including Puckerscruff, Squirlet Nicely, and Vermintrude Toerag. Yapper speaks the language of dogs while Whelp, a dog transformed into a scruff, bridges two worlds. Their ally Rake Jake Scallion fights alongside them though he bears no Stamp himself. These fugitive children must learn survival skills and the art of resistance. They discover how to turn their curse into power, using their Fixed nature as a weapon against those who enslaved them. The story reveals how children stripped of childhood and humanity find ways to reclaim their freedom and strike back at the system that stole their lives.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, adventure, fantasy
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, reclaiming-humanity
Setting: Institute, Workhouses
Period: 19th-century, 20th-century
106 pages · Paperback · New Sodom Press
Content warnings: child-abuse, slavery