i’m happy to announce we are making tom buckner’s novel blues for robots. a literary act of sabotage available for online reading. as of today the first fifteen chapters are online with the rest to come shortly. there are plans to make the novel available in pdf format for you to download in the future as well as possibly making hard copies available to those of you are interested. tom was kind enough to send me a copy of his book some months ago and having read it i’m sure many of you will enjoy it as much as i did. see below for more info.

the book was written in 1999 though much of it takes place in what was then the near future and what is for today’s readers the very near future. a lot has happened in the years in between both technologically and politically, two aspects the book focuses on. in as much some of themes and details will seem oddly familiar while others will seem oddly foreign, like glimpsing the reality quantum forces did not deposit you in, but which branched away from you ever so slightly. 

by way of introduction to the book let me just say this: it’s a story of crimes unpunished and punishments unwarranted, of drugs, religious and political fervor, of sex and sects, of revolutionaries, of terrorism, of assassinations both state sanctioned and otherwise, of bioengineers and hackers, of desperation, anger, and unexpected kindness. in the simplest sense it’s a story of the search, its small precious rewards and it’s crushing disappointments. in a larger sense it’s a story of battling ideologies, the theme which just so happens to make this book a fantasy as well, in that peppered throughout are liberal resistance groups and erudite lefties working below the radar to change the world for the better.

chapters 1-15 which we’ve made available so far are little more than a introduction to what lay ahead but if you decide to dive in they ought to keep you busy for a while. check back for additional chapters and look out for the pdf coming soon. (i’ve added a link to the projects section of the sidebar.)

i hope you enjoy and even though he’s moved on to his new book already i’m sure tom hopes so too.