{"product_id":"seven-endlessly-inventive-the-times-9780571338153","title":"Seven: 'Endlessly inventive' The Times","description":"\u003cp\u003eTimely and timeless - a literary quest novel about trying to stay hopeful in hopeless times.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'One of the most brilliant British writers working today.' \u003ci\u003eSpectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWho decides the rules of the games we play?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn August 2007, or thereabouts, a young philosopher leaves Oslo, heading for Greece, on a mission to find Theodoros Apostolakis, the head of the Society of Lost Things. Fortunately, Apostolakis isn't lost, but everything else is: ancient libraries, entire civilisations, priceless books and a beautiful box, once used to play the world-famous game of Seven. The hunt for this small thing, among the countless lost things, becomes an absurdist quest through time and space: from the earliest human societies to the advent of AI.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTold, shared and mythologised by our narrator, along with a wild cast of dreamers, philosophers, poets, rebels and optimists, Seven is an extraordinary, uplifting journey through an ever darkening world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9780571338153\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: Main\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: 21 Apr 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Faber \u0026amp; Faber\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: London, United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 21.6(H)x13.5(L)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003eJoanna Kavenna's novels include \u003ci\u003eInglorious, The Birth of Love, A Field Guide to Reality \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eZed\u003c\/i\u003e. Her writing has appeared in the \u003ci\u003eParis Review\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker, Esquire\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eZoetrope\u003c\/i\u003e, among other publications. She was named as one of \u003ci\u003eGranta\u003c\/i\u003e's Best of Young British Novelists in 2013.\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePraise for Joanna Kavenna\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Joanna Kavenna. What a writer.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Ali Smith, author of \u003cem\u003eAutumn\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"To surrender yourself to the revelations of life and then to come back with the assertions of prose: that is the new heroism of the woman writer, and Kavenna is in the vanguard of it.\"\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e--Rachel Cusk, author of\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003cem\u003eOutline\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Joanna Kavenna's two decades as a writer have seen her beat a gorgeously unconventional path through a plethora of subjects and genres, from polar exploration to motherhood to economic inequality, and from travelogue to academic satire to technological dystopia.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--A K Blakemore, \u003cem\u003ethe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePraise for \u003cem\u003eSeven\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Sparkling, audacious.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Nina Allan, \u003cem\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The most brilliant novel I've read in ages, part academic satire, part philosophy of AI and gaming, all hubris-puncturing wisdom worn with such levity that I was cackling from start to finish.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAdam Rutherford, author of \u003cem\u003eA Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[Kavenna] is a writer of genuine elegance, intelligence and understated emotions. It is encouraging that there are those who still follow the pellucid postmodernism of Italo Calvino.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Stuart Kelly, \u003cem\u003e Spectator\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Philosophical concepts and dizzying speculations on the nature of reality have always featured in Kavenna's novels, but here she ramps up the comedy, interleaving erudite playfulness with characters who are as believable as they are eccentric.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Suzi Feay, \u003cem\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Thoroughly pleasurable.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Camilla Grudova, \u003cem\u003ethe Telegraph\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Joanna Kavenna","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48717340639449,"sku":"9780571338153","price":36.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/8133H0bih6L._SL1500.jpg?v=1779027405","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/seven-endlessly-inventive-the-times-9780571338153","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}