Speculative FictionLiterary FictionArchitectureLVN Editorial Selection

Atlas of Quiet Cities

Dispatches from Unmapped Municipalities

Written by

Julian Thorne

Speculative Historian & Novelist

Author Profile

FormatPaperback

ISBN-13978-1-960421-14-2

Publisher / ImprintNorthlight Editions

Extent & Language296 pp. · English

Synopsis & Editorial Overview

Part speculative novel, part architectural mystery, Atlas of Quiet Cities follows an acoustic restorer hired to catalog the ambient soundscapes of seven civic buildings scheduled for demolition.

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From the Pages of Atlas of Quiet Cities

Featured Literary Excerpt

To measure the reverberation of an empty reading room, you must first wait for the heating pipes to forget the afternoon.

Excerpted with permission of Julian ThorneNorthlight Editions

Editorial Coverage, Reviews & Conversations

Listening to Vanishing Rooms: Julian Thorne’s ‘Atlas of Quiet Cities’

Book Reviews6 min read

Issue No. 13 — Cartographies of Voice

Listening to Vanishing Rooms: Julian Thorne’s ‘Atlas of Quiet Cities’

A review of Northlight Editions’ haunting novel of acoustic restoration and civic memory

Julian Thorne’s third novel turns architectural preservation into a metaphysical inquiry into how cities remember their inhabitants.

By Marcus Sterling

Oct 11, 2026