Swan Song

Johanna Sinisalo

Original title: Joutsenlaulu

Author: Johanna Sinisalo

Published: 2025

Publisher: Otava

Genres: Literary Fiction, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Pages: 440

Reading material:

English sample and synopsis, Finnish PDF

The internationally acclaimed author’s masterpiece about the relationships between species and the limits of our senses in a world of hidden secrets

Our near future is different than what we would have expected. When multibillionaires do what they want with their money, the world is changing.

Jane, born in Finland, lives in the United States of America and remotely rescues people from fires and avalanches. When she ends up with a dull-sounding scientific task and is introduced to an AI monitoring birds, she is caught up in an adventure that changes her life and, perhaps, the entire world.

Swan Song is a masterful story about language, consciousness, and how we choose not to see when our own interests and nature are pitted against each other.

“The novel unfolds pulsatingly, piece by piece. -- Sinisalo playfully tightens the bolts on the simulation spirals spun by The Matrix and The Truman Show, teasing out a cascade of clever and captivating ideas. Through this, she begins to define her own position within the literary landscape. Her work resonates with authors like Ursula Le Guin and Kurt Vonnegut, as well as contemporary Finnish writers such as Tiina Raevaara, Laura Gustafsson and Anni Kytömäki. [--] Johanna Sinisalo’s Swan Song is a passionate and beautiful deep dive into the life that surrounds us. It’s a reminder of how much of communication is about the effort to listen and understand one another—regardless of species.”

Arla Kanerva, Helsingin Sanomat newspaper

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Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

About author

Johanna Sinisalo

Johanna Sinisalo (b. 1958) is a Finlandia Prize-winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction. In addition to her ten novels, she has also written short fiction and film and television screenplays. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.

Sinisalo has won several literary prizes also abroad, such as the 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2017 Prometheus Award, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2008, the Prix Escapades in 2012, and the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017. In 2022, Johanna Sinisalo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal for services to Finnish literature.

Photo credit: Katri Kallio

Bibliography


2025, Literary Fiction, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Johanna Sinisalo

Swan Song


2021, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Johanna Sinisalo

The Storm Flute


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Johanna Sinisalo

Strangers Inside


2018, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Johanna Sinisalo

IRON SKY: RENATE'S STORY


2013, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Johanna Sinisalo

The Core of The Sun


2011, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Johanna Sinisalo

Blood of Angels


2010, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Johanna Sinisalo

The Möbius Twist


2008, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Johanna Sinisalo

Birdbrain


2000, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Johanna Sinisalo

Troll