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Some kind words for Signs of Life…

From authors and broadcasters

‘A fever dream for armchair travellers, a dizzying, headlong, hilarious grand tour of six years on two wheels … I lost a couple of days to it and on emerging from its pages the world had become richer and more marvellous … Signs of Life deserves to become a classic of the genre’
Gavin Francis, author of Adventures in Human Being

‘It’s so unusual … a helter-skelter, surgical circumnavigation…  so anatomical about places and people. It’s incredibly vivid. It’s such a treat, too, in the midst of this experiment in stasis, to be taken on a wildly energetic adventure to unreachable lands.’
Nicholas Crane

‘A hilarious and moving memoir of a cycling medic’s life on the road’
Xand van Tulleken


‘A charming, human story of resilience, adversity and compassion, all told with a good dose of dry British humour’
Lois Pryce, author of Revolutionary Ride

‘An inspirational journey of humanity and humility. Fabes has redefined the medical memoir’
Nathan Filer

‘Stephen has managed to beautifully combine travel, medicine, life and loss all in this epic tale of adventure. It made me smile, laugh, want and cry. Bloody brilliant’
Matt Morgan, author of Critical

‘I absolutely loved this book – a six-year, wheel-spinning, page-turning pedal around the world. Full of rich, vivid descriptions of people and landscapes, interwoven with wisdom, compassion, humanity and a playful Panglossian humour… he allows us to see how everything is connected. If Stephen is half as talented a doctor as he is a writer, then lucky patients I say. A worthy addition to the cycle-touring canon’
Mike Carter, author of One Man and His Bike

In the press

‘What begins as a journey of self-discovery becomes a thoughtful exploration of humanity … Fabes is great company and makes riding bicycles seem like the best way to see and understand the world’
Ben East, The Observer

‘A clever and entertaining book. Fabes has a gift for describing landscapes … but he isn’t afraid to share those lurid medical anecdotes we all crave’
Jonathan Drummond, The Times Literary Supplement

‘Signs of Life is a plucky memoir … Fabes is a winning storyteller.  During his journey, Fabes battled injuries, infestations, and Dengue fever.  Yet his travelogue retains its bighearted humor’
Kevin Canfield, The Star Tribune

‘Witty and wild, intrepid and inspirational, the book chronicles two parallel journeys: Fabes’ physical cycling tour of many countries and his look at health across the globe…an entertaining and epic chronicle of a journey of extremes’
Tony Miksanek, Booklist Reviews

‘I was smitten with this book. It was the world writ large, framed with self-deprecating, glorious humour. If, like me, you have a hankering to lose yourself in the wilderness, to race semi-naked into uncertainty, beating your soft city chest and howling at the moon, this book can let you imagine it. As Fabes put it, his rusty bicycle gave him a backstage pass to the world. By writing the book so marvellously, he gave us one as well.’
Michelle Johnston, Life In The Fast Lane

‘Signs of Life is the kind of book we need right now. It is heart-warming. It is hopeful. It shows us that despite all the guns and guerrillas the world is also full of people who press presents and hospitality on travellers. It is also a very readable travelogue, a thoughtful one.’
Lesley Mason, The Bookbag

From readers