Sunset At Zero Point by Simon Stålenhag

Being a dyed-in-the-wool nerd, I first learned of Simon Stålenhag from the role-playing game adaptation of his first book, Tales From The Loop (still haven’t played it tho, as is tradition.) I also haven’t had a chance to watch the TV version despite having a crush on Rebecca Ferguson, and will likely never choose to watch the Netflix version of Mr Stålenhag’s The Electric State, due to my aversion to the current incarnation of Crisp Rat.

So it was a bit of a surprise to learn that the latest art book from Mr Stålenhag is actually his wordiest yet. I still haven’t been able to read any of the earlier volumes but between the comments and, perhaps more quantitatively, the audiobook run times, Sunset At Zero Point would seem to have a lot more story than prior books, which were primarily art with snippets of narrative. The reason why becomes clear the further along you go in the story.

Let’s talk about the art first tho! Mr Stålenhag’s impressive photorealistic style features an alternate universe Sweden where developments strange to our reality are commonplace. He juxtaposes the surreal with the bucolic and the exotic with the everyday, for a vibe that’s only mildly unsettling due to its Uncanny Valley-ness. There is a bit of repetitiveness in some of the paintings depicting winter highways and abandoned machinery in the barrens, but that only serves to underscore the cyclical nature of the story.

As to that story! In SaZP, a collaboration between the US and Swedish militaries resulted in a catastrophic accident in the 1980s. A powerful explosion created an exclusion zone in a sparsely inhabited region of Sweden. The negative effects seem to be gradually wearing off with time, so that when the narrative picks up at the turn of the century, the existence of the EZ outside the small town of Torsvik is commonplace, even if it’s certainly extracted its toll on the residents there already.

Linus is ready to get the hell out of Torsvik as an adolescent, but after suffering a depressive episode while living with his mother in the city, is sent back to stay with his father for a summer. There he reconnects with his childhood best friend Valter, who’s dropped out of secondary school and taken a job as security guard on the EZ perimeter. The job lets Valter indulge his fascination for the area, as the relaxing of regulations over the years have allowed him not only to explore but map what’s also referred to as a Non-Euclidean Zone, as the rules of time and space no longer seem to apply to the EZ.

As the young men begin exploring the EZ together, their complicated feelings for one another — confounded further by life in rural Sweden at the turn of the century — begin to take precedence in the narrative. Eventually, Linus leaves again, hoping to build his idea of a normal life in Stockholm. He tries to persuade Valter to leave Torsvik and come with him but Valter refuses. While their parting this time doesn’t result in the same sort of estrangement as when they’d been younger, it still cools their relationship… until a grown-up Linus in 2025 realizes the importance of an impending date and begins his long trek home.

It isn’t much of a spoiler to say that the duo’s journeys through the EZ serve as a stand-in for their sexuality. Linus and Valter’s tale is touching and occasionally traumatic, as the two bisexual men learn how to accept their feelings, both for one another and for the difficult situations in which they find themselves. As someone who’s been spending a lot of time recently providing sympathy to baby gays, this was a very affirming book — I can only imagine how much more impactful it would be for young people struggling with their sexualities.

Sunset At Zero Point by Simon Stålenhag was published yesterday December 9 2025 by Saga Press and is available from all good booksellers, including