bridged Version

Can awakens in a rainforest hut to the sound of a howler monkey. Karla, his partner, is already working. She’s received a troubling alert: a loud underwater noise from sensors in a nearby tributary close to the Yanari tribe. Suspecting illegal mining activity, they set off immediately.

Using a small drone, they locate an illegal gold-mining raft spewing mercury into the river. Two miners lie dead, pierced by Yanari arrows. The danger is twofold—mercury contamination and potential violence.

On foot, Can and Karla reach the riverbank. The forest is unnaturally quiet. A Yanari youth appears and collapses, poisoned. Can and Karla don masks to prevent spreading disease. When more young warriors emerge, the tribe’s shaman intervenes, calming the scene.

Can offers an antidote. The shaman, after a tense exchange, grants permission. They administer the medicine, hoping to save the Yanari.

Back at camp, Professor Samuel has returned. After reviewing the drone footage, he agrees to alert authorities. But he also shares urgent news: Can’s mother is undergoing critical surgery in Istanbul. He must go.

Reluctantly, Can departs. Karla stays behind, ready to lead the rescue. As the helicopter lifts off, she whispers, “Mãe é mãe. A mother is a mother.”

A thrilling and compelling historical adventure story from one of Turkey’s boldest young writers
‘A splendid Jules Verne- esque novel’ Hurriyet

Translated from the Turkish by Mark David Wyers

Cover design by Leo Nickolls

We’ll create a machine. A peace machine that will put an end to all wars.

It is 1914 and the world stands on the brink of yet another bloody war. But what if con ict were not inevitable? What if a machine could exploit the latest developments in electro- magnetic science to in uence people’s minds? And what if such a machine could put an end to violence for ever?

The search for the answer to these ques- tions will lead our hero Celal away from his unassuming life as an Istanbul-based writer
of erotic ction, and on a quest across a con- tinent stumbling headlong towards disaster, from Istanbul to Paris and Belgrade, as he struggles to uncover the mystery of The Peace Machine before time runs out for humanity.

Özgür Mumcu is a Turkish author, free speech activist and journalist working
for the Cumhuriyet newspaper in Turkey. In 2016 he accepted a Right Livelihood award on the newspaper’s behalf for its ‘fearless investigative journalism and commitment to freedom of expression in the face of oppression, censorship, im- prisonment and death threats’. The Peace Machine is his first novel.