Dreamsnake by Vonda N McIntyre (282 pages)

Meet us online, or in person at The Lass O'Gowrie (36 Charles St, Manchester M1 7DB), for this hybrid meetup. At the Lass, we will either be in the snug or the upstairs room - ask the bar staff where the book club is this time.

The award-winning, haunting story of an extraordinary woman and her dangerous quest to reclaim her healing powers

Snake travels the land with her serpents, the rattlesnake Sand, the cobra Mist and the rare alien dreamsnake called Grass, whose bite can ease the fear and pain of death. But the blasted landscape of a far-future post-holocaust Earth is a dangerous place, even for such a highly regarded elite healer . . . especially when an unexpected death sends her on a desperate quest to reclaim her healing powers.

A haunting story of an extraordinary woman on a dangerous quest in a far-future post-apocalyptic world.