Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.
Zilla: It sure feels like we’re approaching some kind of global tipping point, and dystopian fiction can give us a roadmap of how the story goes. Disco Barrington brings us his distinctly queer version of this apocalyptic story in This is How the World Ends. Disco, can you start us off with the the back-of-the-book blurb?
Disco: Run the race. Or die.
Britain is at war, isolated by a digital blockade.
Dissidents run a deadly race for the public’s entertainment, while the flood-ravaged country falls apart. The Cartwright family tries to soldier on, refusing to give in to fear. But when catastrophe looms, Emma Cartwright flees – only to find that life beyond the border is anything but safe.
The fight for survival has begun.
This is how the world ends.
Zilla: What inspired you to write this book?
Disco: I wrote the first chapter in April 2025, the day the UK Supreme Court ruled that the definition of a woman was based on biological sex. I was enraged. I opened my notes app and began to type furiously. That momentum carried me through the summer where I found myself feverishly writing chapters at 3 AM, haunted by the ever-worsening news cycle. By autumn I had a book about queer people fighting back against fascism during an apocalypse. I’m very proud of it.
Zilla: Your story sounds way too realistic, speaking as a queer person living through the rise of fascism during an apocalypse. Are there surprises in it?
Disco: The book opens in a broken Britain run by the right wing and devastated by climate change, so it may initially feel a little close to home. But humanity falls all too quickly, and what comes after is, I hope, wholly unexpected. The narrative hurtles into sci-fi chaos, as characters try to hang on for dear life.
Zilla: What drives you to write? You can’t say existential dread—that answer is mine.
Disco: This book was fuelled by a deep sense of defiance. I wanted to face my anxieties head-on. Also, I’m British-Trinidadian, and even though I love dystopian literature the most popular works tend to centre straight, white, European or US-based protagonists. I wanted to flip the script that Britain has dictated: that it is the centre of the world—the strongest and best, a paradise beset by less fortunate migrants. In the book, a British woman flees this so-called paradise, seeking asylum in Trinidad.
Britain is not invulnerable, not anymore. When the world ends, it ends for everyone.
Zilla: So what’s your next writing project?
Disco: I’m working on a transgender cannibal Regency romance, about a network of honourable cannibals in historical Britain, eating the rich and giving to the poor. It’s been a joy to write so far, especially the romance. What could be more romantic than dismembering your enemies and turning them into a nice Chateaubriand?
I’m hoping to have it ready for release in October 2027, for Halloween.
Zilla: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?
Disco:
Socials:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@discobooks
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/discobooks.bsky.social
Book links:
Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/07Zvt5NR
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/this-is-how-the-world-ends-1
Direct (signed copies, UK only): https://beventi.co/orderform/1silxumn3k
