The Comfort of Distant Stars

ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION FINALIST 2026
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST NEW DEBUT

'Echeruo’s dazzling bildungsroman throws out ideas like firecrackers. . . It’s quite a ride’ Financial Times
'Echeruo proves a hypnotic, mind-bending talent in this extraordinary novel' AFUA HIRSCH
'A breathtaking meditation on time and memory' STEPHEN BUORO

Ezeani is no ordinary child. He sees things others don’t.

Despite the burden of these visions, his precocious nature blossoms into genius and Ezeani grows up to be a gifted mathematician and physicist. When he leaves Nigeria and his adoring family behind to study at Cornell in the US, he remains haunted by his most persistent vision, Anyanwu, the Sun God. While Ezeani is adjusting to his new life in America, Anyanwu’s presence takes on an increasingly sinister and malevolent form – and chaos reigns. It’s enough to make anyone lose their grip on reality.

The Comfort of Distant Stars is a bold coming-of-age tale blending physics, philosophy and Igbo cosmology, examining how we understand our place in the universe. It ponders the big questions we all ask ourselves about the nature of time and of being – ultimately revealing the startling vulnerability of the human mind.