Question 7
Question 7 by Richard Flanagan is one of 2026's most credible books, appearing on 2 of the year's most respected lists, including The Guardian, Bloomberg, for a Consensus Score of 28 out of 100.
Appears on these lists
Our take
AI-draftedFlanagan's genre-defying book chains together his father's survival of a Japanese POW camp, the physics that led to the atomic bomb, and an improbable detour through H.G. Wells's affair with Rebecca West, on the premise that none of it — including Flanagan's own existence — happens without the others. Critics were divided on whether the connective tissue holds up as argument, but nearly unanimous that the prose achieves something rare.
In the press
“Richard Flanagan's Question 7 is a book itching to be quoted and underlined.”
Peter Frankopan, The Guardian“So very personal and so very universal that it's hard to shake.”
Sian Cain, The Guardian
How the Consensus Score is calculated
Our Consensus Score is our own transparent editorial metric — not a user rating. It weighs each list by the credibility of its source, how recent the listing is, and any award status. Here is the full breakdown.
| Source | Authority | Recency | Award | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloomberg | 0.80 | 0.85 | 1.00× | 0.68 |
| The Guardian | 0.85 | 0.70 | 1.00× | 0.59 |
| Weighted sum → Score | 1.27 → 28 | |||
Similar consensus books
Because they appear on some of the same lists.
Frequently asked
What lists is Question 7 on?
Question 7 appears on 2 lists in our 2026 corpus, including The Guardian, Bloomberg.
What is its Consensus Score?
Question 7 has a Consensus Score of 28 out of 100, our transparent editorial measure of how many credible lists agree on it.