Hedon
by Jason Werbeloff
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GENRE: Dystopian Science
Fiction
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BLURB:
What if your thoughts
were not your own?
Plunge into HEDON for
soul-twisting sci-fi.
In 2051, the
Bhutanese Empire rules post-apocalyptic Shangri with iron-fisted Buddhist
compassion. Happiness is compulsory, but making everyone happy isn’t easy in an
overpopulated world. Breeders are ghettoed, homosexuality is mandatory, and
Shangrians’ happiness levels are strictly monitored by hedometers implanted in
their heads. Become depressed, or feel too happy without helping others feel
the same, and The Tax Man will get angry. Very angry.
Gemini and Cyan,
winners of the pregnancy lottery, are on the run. Cyan can’t fall pregnant, and
Gemini is addicted to the Experience Machine. Will they evade The Tax Man, and
find a way to end the brutal pleasures of Shangri?
The lovechild of
Brave New World and The Handmaid’s Tale, HEDON is gritty satire on a dystopia
drunk with bigotry and positive thinking.
“A one of a kind
dystopian novel.”
“As politically
depraved as anyone could desire.”
“This is storytelling
at its best”.
– ReadersFavorite.com
5 star review of HEDON
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
The day before his father died, Gemini had carried the old,
old man to the summit of the district heap. Cardboard boxes, plastic packets,
clothes hangers, rags, and a thousand other remnants of the past had sagged,
crunched and scratched beneath Gemini’s bare feet. By the time he’d reached the
top, he was out of breath. But it wasn’t the weight of his father in his arms,
clinging to his neck. His father weighed less than a memory. No, it was the
thought that this would be the last time they would share the view together.
The heap was higher than the ghetto Wall, higher than the
Devas. From the top, they could see it all. Rows and rows, and rows, of tin
shacks stretched behind them. And before them, a mile away, was the great Wall,
brown as the earth. Beyond was the city, its brown-white spires shrouded in
fog. Brown fog.
His father had looked at Gemini then. Really looked. Looked
at him, his son, not as a war veteran. Not as someone from the past. “Boy,” his
father’s voice was hollow, soaked up by the heap, “are you happy?”
The breath in Gemini had caught. Of course he was happy.
Everyone was happy. It was Shangri. But his lips formed a different reply.
“No,” he said, and stared out beyond the Wall. His cheeks burned.
“That’s okay, boy. They say they’re happy. But they’re not.
Nobody is.”
Gemini swung his head to study his father’s eyes. The blasphemy. Sure, there was unrest here, in the ghetto. Sure, there was discontent. But few spoke such … such blatant heresy. Such negativity.
“Find a girl,” his father said, placing a veined hand on his
son’s. “Be happy with her, but not too much. Never forget …” His head twitched.
“Never forget that there is more.”
His father fell silent. Gemini scooped together a pillow of
detritus so the dying man could lie comfortably as he stared out at the city.
The city the old man had fought for, and lost.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Human. Male.
From an obscure planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. Sci-fi novelist with a PhD in
philosophy. Likes chocolates, Labradors, and zombies (not necessarily in that
order). Werbeloff spends his days constructing thought experiments, while
trying to muster enough guilt to go to the gym.
He's written
two novels, Hedon and The Solace Pill, and the short story anthology, Obsidian
Worlds. His books will make your brain hurt. And you'll come back for more.
Subscribe to
his newsletter to receive a free novel, and a lifetime of free and discounted
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Purchase link
for Hedon: PLEASE NOTE YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THIS FOR F R E E today!
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
Jason will be awarding a $15 Amazon or
B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway