Victoria Hetherington

As 2037 Canada is ravaged by illness, one woman and her AI companion enter a dangerous bubble of the superrich.Montreal, 2035: a fledging synthetic consciousness "wakes up" in a lab. Jenny, the lead developer, determined to nurture this synthetic being like a child, trains it for work with people at the border of the Canadian Protectorate. She names it Julian.Toronto, 2037: Canada has been annexed by a tightly conservative United States. Slaton, a therapist at a university, is framed by a student for arranging an illegal abortion. She follows the student to America and is detained at the border. In virtual space she meets Julian, and he becomes her constant companion. Meanwhile, a mysterious plague spreads across the world. Only the far seeing and well-connected Julian can protect Slaton from the impending societal collapse.Reminiscent of Don DeLillo's contemplative hyperrealities and Margaret Atwood's frightening future worlds, Autonomyis an ambitious philosophical novel about the possibilities for love in a world in which human bodies are either threatened or irrelevant.

Autonomy

Mooncalves follows the bloody implosion of a cult in Sainte-Pétronille, Quebec, understood through the urgent voices of the living and a ring of ghostly, shape-shifting watchers. Sensing the impending dissolution of society by technological progress, the charismatic, utterly unhinged Joseph Reiser forms "Walden", a collective of Luddite devotees--most still in their teens. A vicious act of sexual violence shatters the collective, and devotee Erica Strickland barely escapes with her life. Through its tale of buried crime in rural Quebec and the mechanism of cult leadership, Mooncalves explores the unshakable hold of first love, the warped influence of unchecked ambition and sexual obsession, and the uncomfortable gaze of the accumulating dead.

Mooncalves

I Have to Tell You

In a near future ravaged by illness, one woman and her AI companion enter a dangerous bubble of the superrich. It's 2035: a fledging synthetic consciousness “wakes up” in a lab. Jenny, the lead developer, determined to nurture this synthetic being like a child, trains it to work with people at the border of the American Protectorate of Canada. She names it Julian. Two years later, Slaton, a therapist at a university, is framed by a student for arranging an illegal abortion. She follows the student to America and is detained at the border, where she meets Julian in virtual space. After a week of interviewing, he decides to stay with her, learning about the world, the human condition, and what it means to fall in love. Meanwhile, a mysterious plague is spreading across the world. Only the far-seeing and well-connected Julian can protect Slaton from the impending societal collapse. Autonomy is an ambitious philosophical novel about the possibilities for love in a world in which human bodies are either threatened or irrelevant. A RARE MACHINES BOOK

Victoria Hetherington

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