Dwellers: A Novel - by Eliza Victoria (Hardcover)

About the Book

"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 there is no such thing as actions without 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!"--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

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!

Review Quotes

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..." --Manila Standard

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

"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." -- Jenny (Of Prose and Spells), bookstagram influencer

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

"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." --Christina Boswell, Manhattan Book Review

"This story was engaging and still managed to have the creepy haunting vibes going without being too gory..." --Angele Dominique (@adominiquereads), bookstagram influencer

"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." -- Justine, Novels and Panda Bookstagram

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.