This is the new novel from the international bestselling author of the Wool trilogy. The old world is buried. A new one has been forged atop the shifting dunes. Here in this land of howling wind and infernal sand, four siblings find themselves scattered and lost. Palmer has never been the same since his father walked out twelve years ago. His elder sister, Vic, is trying to run away from the past; his younger brothers, Connor and Rob, are risking their lives to embrace it. His mother, left with nothing but anger, is just trying to forget. Palmer wants to prove his worth, not only to his family, but to himself. And in the barren, dune-covered landscape of his home, there is only one way to earn respect: sand-diving. Plunging deep below the desert floor in search of relics and scraps of the old world. He is about to embark on the most dangerous dive of his young life, aiming to become the first to discover the rumoured city below. Deep within the sand lies the key to bringing his family together - and tearing their world apart.

休豪伊　Hugh Howey

一九七五年生於美國,深愛海洋。高中畢業後開始替人維修電腦,累積資金,後來,他到南卡羅萊納州唸大學時,買了一艘破舊的小帆船,就住在船上。大三那一年,他忽然輟學,獨自駕船往南方航行,徜徉於加勒比海群島之間,途中並遭遇兩次颶風。回國後,他開始擔任遊艇船長,繼續展開長達七年的海上冒險生涯。第七年,他認識了一個女人。為了她,他終於離開海洋,回到陸地,買了一棟房子,從此有了一個家。

除了海洋,唯一能夠激起他熱情的,就是讀書和寫作。他開始到書店擔任店員,同時每天都利用早上和中午午休的時間寫作,持續不斷。沒想到,這股寫作的熱情,卻為他創造出比海上冒險更驚人的生命旅程。

二○一一年夏天,為了悼念一個朋友,他寫了《羊毛記》,並自費出版為電子書,沒想到這個故事竟然就此引爆狂熱口碑,開始在網路上瘋狂流傳,很快就竄上亞馬遜電子書總榜＃１,而這股狂潮也迅速蔓延全球各國。「異形」大導演雷利史考特也深受震撼,迅速搶下電影版權,準備和「辛德勒的名單」編劇史蒂夫柴里安聯手打造下一部年度大片。