Singular Dream serializes Quibble, a novel about transhumanism and disembodiment set on an otherworldly Earth in the far future, many millennia after a technological singularity.1 The novel probes the idea that “sufficiently advanced technology” can become the object of religious worship — and what that might entail. Quibble is also an adventure, a love story, and an inquiry into what makes us human.
Blurb: Quibble
49371. Long ago, the transhuman Infinite stripped Earth of resources to build arks for interstellar travel, leaving the planet ravaged. Now, cursed with longevity, unaware they’re enslaved to technology, and awaiting transcendence to the few remaining arks, transhuman Ones inhabit an underground night world ruled by the surreally powerful Zeros and the AI Unity, their god.
Clear-sighted, Quibble sees what no One should see — people’s shadows in the dark. Raised by heretics, she chafes at Unity’s religion. But now she doesn’t want any part of heresy or her preternatural gift. She only wants to find her mother Quiddity, vanished without a trace.
Venturing aboveground with the heretics’ help, Quibble discovers a bewildering new world. She falls in love with Definition, a fragile woman beset with grief. When her gift of sight ignites a war among the Zeros, Quibble is hounded by the phantom-like, similarly gifted Asuja, the messiah of a fascist vision for the Ones’ future. To prevail, she must find her own powers in her unique grasp of reality and human nature.
But when Asuja reveals what became of her mother, Quibble’s loyalties are confused as she struggles to learn the most elusive human trait — the ability to forgive.
To read a slightly longer book blurb, my thoughts on the genre, and some background about the writing of Quibble, see the About page.
Audiobook
If you prefer to listen, the first ten chapters appear in audiobook on the Podcast page. I may resume recording audiobook chapters at some future date, time permitting.
Contents
The Contents page has a table of contents with links to chapters and, further down, links to my reflections on the writing process, themes, and inspirational sources. The table of contents and its links are updated on a rolling basis.
Links in chapters and reflections
Button links to the previous chapter and the next chapter in the novel appear at the beginning and end of each chapter, respectively.
Also, if you click Quibble in the navigation bar, you will find a section page containing descriptions and links for only the novel chapters, starting with the most recent.
In a reflection, when I refer to ideas, themes, or sources treated in another reflection, I often provide a link.
Subscriptions
Through the end of the novel, a new chapter will be published each Thursday. A new reflection typically follows over the weekend. Subscribe to get these by email.
Chapters are published to a section of Singular Dream specifically for the novel, so if you wish, you can subscribe only to this section, reducing the emails you receive.
You can read 60% of the novel for free; after that, you can get the rest of the story with a paid subscription. About half of each reflection appears above a paywall, but you can read a few reflections in their entirety for free.
Paying subscribers can comment directly on chapters and reflections. Every so often, I post a call for feedback, and everyone can comment there.
Back matter
Helpful back matter includes a glossary defining the novel’s specialized language, an appendix containing explanations, and a bibliography listing sources. Links to back matter appear in the navigation bar.
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Thank you for reading!
If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of a technological singularity, Wikipedia has a fairly informative page about it. You might also read a landmark essay by Vernor Vinge.