Speculative Fiction

Dysmas
Orbis

Robert John

Not all of London can be seen.

"His London is animate, alarming, astonishing."

— Iain Sinclair, author of London Orbital

Dysmas Orbis by Robert John

Sol has spent his life moving through the city unnoticed, keeping to its edges with the man who raised him. Amicus has always known where to go, when to leave, and what not to explain.

He calls it protection.

But when a sudden act of violence tears through the fragile life they've built, the rules that kept Sol safe begin to unravel. The city starts to change. And beneath the London Sol knows, something stranger begins to surface.

Because some things are not meant to be seen. Until they are.

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Signed first edition  ·  + postage & packaging  ·  Dispatched 28 August 2026
As an early supporter, your order will also include an exclusive double-sided A5 art print produced specially for the launch.

"Immersive, atmospheric and tense... richly and beautifully written"

Ivy Ngeow · Award-winning author of The American Boyfriend

"Prepare to step into a gritty and mythical version of London, with secret societies and spider trees. Robert John has created an alternate London that feels both familiar and fantastical."

Tabish Khan · Art Critic for Londonist

"A brooding tale of fissured reality where freedom is swallowed whole."

Sudhana Singh · Award-winning memoirist, journalist

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Inside the Book

A world built in words and ink

Interior illustration

The streets of the Below, where the city hides what it cannot face

Interior illustration — Spider Tree

The Singing Spider Tree and the world Sol cannot yet understand

About the Book

A London
hiding
in plain sight

Dysmas Orbis is the first book in a planned five-book speculative fiction series set in a hidden parallel London — a city beneath the city, shaped by memory, power, and everything the world above has chosen to forget.

At its heart is the relationship between Sol, a fifteen-year-old boy living on the streets, and Amicus, the mysterious man who raised him. When the fragile life they have built is torn apart, Sol is pulled into a world he has no way to understand — and discovers that who he thought he was may be the least of the things he has been kept from.

A story about identity, belonging, and the weight of protection. About the person who always kept you safe starting to need saving themselves. About inheriting a burden you never asked for — and finding the courage to carry it anyway.

ISBN: 978-1-0676901-0-6  ·  Publisher: Inayat Publishing  ·  Pages: 276

The Author

Robert
John

Robert John is a London-based author, artist and designer from Tooting, South London, of Pakistani descent. His work spans fiction, visual art and experiential design, rooted in a practice called What I See When — an exploration of surrealism, perception and the hidden layers of the world around us.

The idea was inspired by his late father, who lived with Parkinson's disease and Parkinson's dementia, and began perceiving things invisible to others. That experience became the foundation of Robert's artistic and literary world.

He has worked across iconic brands including the BBC, and his experiential design work includes major IP activations at the Design Museum and ExCeL London. His visual art book LDN Reimagined was traditionally published and earned an endorsement from writer Iain Sinclair. Dysmas Orbis won First Prize in the LONDNR Magazine Incomplete Writing Contest in partnership with Bloodhound Books in 2024.

Follow Robert's work →