The Book of Strange New Things is, according to Canongate, Michel Faber’s first novel in fourteen years. This is not true – The Crimson Petal and the White was published in 2002, The Fire Gospel in 2008 – but, regardless, Faber’s reputation has only increased in the hiatus. The Crimson Petal and the White was adapted saucily by the BBC. Jonathan Glazer made a glacially impressive movie from Faber’s debut novel, Under the Skin.

The Book of Strange New Things recycles motifs used in that first book: extraterrestrial imperialism, a jaded portrait of corporate interests, nature on the verge of breakdown and erotic action in cars. Here this occurs immediately as our central protagonist, Peter Leigh, bids a rather clumsy sexual au revoir (or