Number Games

In a future dominated by the Chinese and run by women, a promiscuous young man finds out that his whole life has been part of a gigantic experiment. In a war-torn America, will he carry out the mission which may be his destiny? Seattle, 2116. The world is divided into a network of vast corporations (Corpos), each controlled by a triumvirate of elderly Chinese. The masses are conditioned to extol the virtues of utilitarianism, with society dominated by the power of 'the numbers'. Men, who have previously caused the collapse of society, must stay at home and raise children while women rule - with dispassionate ruthlessness. Enter Li, a 'career boy' tele-sales manager in Ireland-corpo. After years of sleeping around and getting high - and into trouble - his life takes an unexpected turn when he meets a mysterious young woman, Tattoo. Are his troubles behind him - or only beginning?

Owen Dwyer is a prize-winning short-story writer who has won the Hennessy Emerging Ficton Prize, the Silver Quill (twice), the Smiling Politely Very Very Short Story competition, the South Tipperary County Council Short Story competition and the Biscuit Fiction Prize, and has had stories published in Whispers and Shouts magazine. Number Games is his third novel, following The Agitator and The Cherrypicker. Owen has a degreee in European Humanities. He lives in Dublin with his wife and their three children.