The Wakeful Wanderer's Guide
to New New England & Beyond
About the Book:
A captivating, fresh envisioning of a climate-changed future seen from two starkly different cultural perspectives, The Wakeful Wanderer’s Guide to New New England & Beyond follows the paths of a runaway aristocrat, a Luddite tyrant, a spy seeking retribution, and a wandering historian unicycling north along the crumbling Boston Post Road.
Marto Boxter is a plucky journalist with a head full of implants. He is planning a unicycle ride from his town of Reverside-on-Hudson through the climate-altered communities of New New England, posting his thoughts in real time for his interconnected followers via technological telepathy. Before he can go on tour, a wanderer named Helen arrives with secret information that throws Marto’s placid world into turmoil.
Miles to the south, Barnabas Yoniver IV, the leader of a Luddite town launches a plot to disrupt the life of all upgraded human beings and bring them back to the traditional economy of markets and governments. Meanwhile, rival Luddite families plot to prevent Barnabas from grabbing too much power for himself.
This darkly humorous reflection of our changing world is an exploration of what it means to be human as our relationships with technology become increasingly intimate.
Winner of the 2017 Wattys Newcomer's Award
Excerpt from the Foreword by Scott K. Andrews, author of the TimeBomb Trilogy:
Jim’s debut novel is as funny, thoughtful, surprising and well crafted as the songs I’ve been enjoying for 18 years. Its focus on community life and social interaction reminded me of the great Kim Stanley Robinson, especially the Three Californias trilogy. The examination of social structures and the tension between dystopian and utopian models brought to mind Iain M Banks’ politically charged Culture novels. Particularly impressive is his exploration of the interface between humanity and technology - it is timely, but nonetheless original enough to stand out in a field currently obsessed with the issue, and that’s no mean feat.
But although Jim’s book reminds me of some true greats, his unique voice shines through in the telling, making it far more than a collection of assembled themes and textures from other works. This delightful book is the creation of a huge talent and an important new voice in sci-fi. And there are sentences in here that made me grimace with envy, wishing I had written them.
I’m jealous that you have this terrific book ahead of you.