About this site
This is a #Solarpunk novel.
According to the Solarpunk Manifesto - “Solarpunk is a movement in speculative fiction, art, fashion, and activism that seeks to answer and embody the question “what does a sustainable civilization look like, and how can we get there?” The aesthetics of Solarpunk merge the practical with the beautiful, the well-designed with the green and wild, the bright and colorful with the earthy and solid. Solarpunk can be utopian, just optimistic, or concerned with the struggles en route to a better world — but never dystopian. As our world roils with calamity, we need solutions, not warnings. Solutions to live comfortably without fossil fuels, to equitably manage scarcity and share abundance, to be kinder to each other and to the planet we share. At once a vision of the future, a thoughtful provocation, and an achievable lifestyle.”
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The novel will be published in a serialized manner. I shall upload the latest chapter(s) on this website every week starting 1 April 2025. You will also get the latest chapter(s) in your inbox. Each week's chapter(s) would be about 2,000-4,000 words (~6-12 pages) long. Since, the first novel is about 150,000 words (~500 pages) long, it will be released over the course of a year.
I am self-publishing it because I don’t have the patience to deal with the book publishing industry. I would rather write.
It is published under a pseudonym because my identity is irrelevant. All that matters is the story. If you are really persistent, you can probably find me. But, I request that you engage with the story instead of who wrote it and why.
If you would like to discuss the story, feel free to do so with other readers. The nice thing about the platform I am using - Ghost - is that it is “federating over ActivityPub to become part of the world’s largest publishing network.”
With respect to copyright, I am the sole author of this novel. However, if you would like to take a character or a scene or plot-line or the whole thing and make something new with it (e.g. graphic book, audio book, sitcom, show, movie, etc.), feel free to boldly go where no human has gone before. You don’t need to ask for my permission. Heck, you don’t even have to acknowledge me. But it would be nice if you did. I shall be most happy to point to your work if you bring it to my attention.
It will only be available online because I would like to save some trees. But, I also have a couple of ulterior motives -
1. At least for now, I don’t have the resources to bring in a professional editor. Editing my own work is quite tedious. I would rather write new material. The online-only model gives me a chance to go back and fix errors. Hopefully, there are not that many. Please be gentle when pointing them out to me.
2. When I was getting feedback on the earlier drafts, I realized that some of the material that I had left out was of interest to a few of my readers. With an online-only existence, I can add links to the material that is not included in the main narrative. Examples include backstories of characters, incidents referred to but not described, descriptions of places, illustrations, and rabbit-holes that I would like to dive into.
Speaking of rabbit-holes, I am working on another novel that is set in the same universe as this one. I have also sketched out plots for a few more stories in that same universe. I propose to build out this universe over the course of the next few years. You are most welcome to explore it with me and/or join me in building it out.
May the force be with you!
Live long and prosper!
Or whatever floats your boat…