Waking Romeo

This fast-paced, brilliantly futuristic Romeo and Juliet variation splits and swirls timelines, ecological collapse, and hope into a virtuoso five-act telling. In 2083, two years after Romeo and Jules attempted suicide in crumbling post-collapse London—a ruin once regularly raided by time travelers who can flee forward, but never back—lovesick Jules is left with a nerve-deadened arm and the blame for Romeo’s cerebral catatonia. Via specialized technology, 19-year-old Ellis, a Black 19th-century Englishman whisked to the end of time, offers Jules her heart’s desire—waking Romeo—secretly ensuring with a rare drug that Romeo and Jules’s son is born to invent Ellis’s AI friend and prevent humankind’s fall. But as an ominous enemy stalks them across time, and futures snarl, both Jules and the world might finally have a chance to change for the better. Packed with Shakespearean references both playful and somber, Barker’s (In the Skin of a Monster) eye for beauty, and perspectives on suicide and tragedy’s impacts never feel forced. This breathtaking, meticulously plotted adventure revitalizes a classic into a vital call to hope for the pandemic generation. Ages 12–up. Agent: Sara Burnes, the Gernert Co. (Jan.)