Writing | Daniel Vitale

Orphans of Canland

"A complicated, rich, and challenging work . . . An impressive debut that goes beneath surface issues of climate-apocalypse fiction."

-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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"Orphans of Canland is an elegant, poetic, sprawling dreamscape. Vitale has artfully constructed a whole other world, and the inner worlds of his characters are equally vast. Touching, frightening, painfully human."

-Elvia Wilk, author of Oval

"A richly imagined and deeply felt novel that steers unafraid into the Big Questions."

-Ben Loory, author of Tales of Falling and Flying

"Orphans of Canland is a rich and engaging tale of ecological disaster."

-Metastellar

"A deftly crafted work of dystopian literary fiction . . . An original and compelling novel."

-Midwest Book Review

Twelve-year-old eternal optimist, Tristan Weekes, born unable to feel physical pain comes of age in the aftermath of an ecological collapse. He lives in Canland, an environmental restoration community in the California desert. As Tristan seeks the approval of his brother, Dylan—a drug-addicted satellite hacker—and his mother, Helena—a powerful population control-extremist—he comes to understand the dichotomies and horrors of this seemingly idyllic new world.

Equal parts environmental warning, philosophical quest, and family saga, Orphans of Canland is a stunning debut by LA author Daniel Vitale, exploring some of the biggest questions in fiction today.

Orphans of Canland

About Daniel Vitale

Daniel Vitale is a graduate of Amherst College and recipient of a Lane Fellowship for Creative Arts. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and dog. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times. Orphans of Canland is his first novel.