Waking Ending Nominated Domicile
About this book
Henry Minotaur has died twice. Both times, he survived. When psychiatrist Dr Stephanie Reichbach is assigned to his case, he appears to be a medical anomaly. Then others begin surviving accidents and illnesses. They stop needing food or sleep. Their bodies change. They cannot die—and each shares the same eerie contentment.
Centuries later, Ludwig, Ayn and Orlando inhabit an island among the remnants—or recreations—of humanity. The island is a world transformed by the promise of a life freed from the biological mind and body, but beyond the mind and body, what remains authentically human?
Waking Ending Named Domicile is a work of unsettling speculative fiction about consciousness, mortality, technology and the stories that make reality feel real.
Feedback requested
The author would especially value feedback on:
- Pace
- Character
- Plot
- Writing quality
I don’t think someone coming back from death is anything particularly new. The idea makes me think of the film ‘Cocoon’ and via Steve Gutenberg the Police Academy films. From the description and the sample, I’m guessing there’s more to the whole book than resurrection. There’d have to be. There’s some narrative tension brought by what the cause of the resurrection might be, and there’s clearly some attempt at dealing with the concept if not humorously then perhaps sardonically.
Some elements feel ‘real’, such as the public institution/medical/public sector confusion and connected ineffectiveness, as well as some of the dialogue and characterisation around this. Through the main character, Dr. Reichbach, there is some attempt at giving the story a human centre, but it’ll likely be a bit whistlestop for some. The story moves quickly from Henry Minotaur’s resurrection and final death to the boardroom discussion and then into Reichbach’s life. I’d guess this is intentional – giving the writing the feel of the real confusion it describes, but if you like something slower and purely character driven (like an Austen) this might not be for you. It’s not Finnegan’s Wake either, so it’s relatively straightforward to follow. There are hints of originality here and it’d be interesting to see if that sustains or (as is common) wanes over the whole.
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