The Wakeful Wanderer's Guide

Book excerpt: 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.Winner of the Watty Award: Newcomer Category 2017Marto 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.