Hope Runners of Gridlock
I wrote a novel. It's about finding hope in a cyberpunk city with radical markets.
If you enjoy a story whose characters deal with issues of belonging, hope, truth, and choice that take place in a near-future city with novel economic systems of power, then you will enjoy this novel.
Reviews:
“It's quite the stunning book, I'll have to admit. There's something about the way hope can sneak up on you, and even more when it just whacks you in the back of the head and tells you to live. At least, that's what I got from this book. The characters are excellent, the plot superb. I think I'd read an entire saga in this world and about these characters if I could.”
Frederick Lutz (a good friend) on Goodreads:
“While the book is built around interesting and novel economic concepts, it remains a human story of hope, strife, family, and friendship. Fans of sci-fi will appreciate the unique world, but anyone will be able to enjoy the thrilling and sometimes emotional story.
A powerful debut by Simon de la Rouviere.”
Review by K.C. Finn on Reader’s Favorite:
“Author Simon de la Rouviere has crafted a highly engrossing, slick, and enjoyable science fiction read with a gorgeous balance of classic touches and modern thinking. One of the things which I particularly enjoyed about the work was the immense work put into the worldbuilding and atmosphere, from the relatable but interesting professions and situations of the lively ensemble cast, through to the ways in which the central mystery unfolds with clever exposition and plenty of plot twists. I felt like I was living in Gridlock from start to finish with clarity and a sweeping sense of time and place. I was right on Flora’s shoulder through every tense and triumphant moment.”
The blurb:
In the city of Gridlock, the cars don't move anymore. They've become homes, businesses, and the livelihood of many. Following a strange anomaly, the gridlock and the always-on-sale Public Car Markets were formalised as a compromise to fund Hope Runners: heroes sent into the anomaly to answer the questions about what happened to their world.
Living in a converted bus in a corner of the gridlock, Flora Kaigo had given up hope. Her father, like the other Hope Runners that had won their championships, had bravely disappeared into the strange anomaly that encased the city of Gridlock, only to never return with the answers to their questions. What happened to their world? What happened to her father?
When the first Hope Runner returns two decades after her father left, events are set into motion that not only gives Flora an unexpected opportunity to pursue the truth in her father’s footsteps, but also threatens to reveal the secrets that keep the delicate power balance and intricate car markets of the city of Gridlock alive.
With Palma, her friend from the Penthouses in the sky, and Esper, her friend from the cars in the Trunks, they adventure through a story of hope, belonging, intrigue, cryptography, and radical markets.
---
Buy:
Nov 2021 UPDATE: Now also available as audiobook. https://blog.simondlr.com/posts/hope-runners-of-gridlock-audiobook
You can find it on: Gumroad or Amazon.
Gumroad is pay-what-you-want for the ebook [epub, mobi] and has additional extras, including: a companion guide, a 12-track musical moodboard EP, and the early drafts (all 3).
Amazon has an e-book version ($2.99) and paperback print-to-order ($14.99).
---
I wrote this novel for three reasons:
- I enjoy interesting cities/systems in fiction.
- I wanted to explore themes of optimistic nihilism and metamodernism in character arcs.
- I wanted to learn.
Cities & Radical Markets
The fictional city has a static gridlock that functions on Common Ownership Self-Assessed Tax (COST). This provides rich, and emergent exploration of what a city with such a system would be like in practice.
Detailed here: https://blog.simondlr.com/posts/hrog-1-novel-cities-soft-city-and-radical-markets
Optimistic Nihilism & Metamodernism
Optimistic nihilism and metamodernism are both mental frameworks that allow us to find meaning when we either don't see any, or when we are overwhelmed by multiple, relativistic truths. It's something I've gravitated towards and I've used fiction to not only explain the ideas, but also to allow myself to keep thinking about it.
Detailed here: https://blog.simondlr.com/posts/hrog-2-exploring-metamodernism-amp-optimistic-nihilism-in-sci-fi
Storytelling & Learning
Creating anything, at its heart is about telling a story. I've tried my hand at coding, acting, music making, writing, speaking, and game developing. Throughout all of these disciplines is a thread: learning to show the world what you see. Writing a novel is just one such medium. And so, I wanted to learn what it takes to invent a world I'd want to explore, and to tell a story with themes that pre-occupy my mind.
Detailed here: https://blog.simondlr.com/posts/hrog-3-the-process-amp-learnings-of-writing-my-debut-novel.
I'm proud of the world I invented, and I'm proud of the story and characters. It took me a while for it to all fall into place, but it did. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it!
As part of this novel, I created some of the first literature NFTs. Explored in-depth here: https://blog.simondlr.com/posts/exploring-nft-collectibles-for-authors.
