Project Hanuman

Blending Indian mythology and classic space opera, Project Hanuman is a bold new science-fiction novel from Stewart Hotston, perfect for fans of Adrian Tchaikovsky. The Arcology is a pan galactic utopia whose people live entirely online. Tired of paradise, Praveenthi ‘Prab’ Saal had herself printed into the physical world of Sirajah’s Reach, working as an Interlocutor – a go-between for the Arcology and the cultures it meets in flesh and blood. One evening after a call with her family – who are pressuring her to abandon her body and rejoin the Arcology – the city stops completely. Nothing electronic works anymore. Terrified that the Arcology has just up and disappeared, she receives a call for help from a ship in dock whose pilot, Kercher, is a prisoner printed into a body to serve out his sentence in the physical world. Between them they discover it’s not just her planet, but the entire Arcology that’s gone missing. If they don’t find out what’s going on it could be the end of everyone and everything that calls the Arcology home. Their only resource is their living ship, into which all the knowledge and culture of the Arcology has been downloaded. Asked to be a life raft for the Arcology, the ship, a frigate without a name, is dying – slowly being swallowed whole by the literal universe of information it’s been asked to carry. Prab and Kercher will need to put aside their dislike of each other and the Arcology if they’re to help their ship and save anything at all. Can they restore the possibility of hope to their lives?

Who might be interested in reading?

• Fans of science fiction and space opera with a mythological twist
• Readers interested in stories about digital utopias and existential threats
• Those who enjoy character-driven narratives with complex relationships
• Individuals fascinated by the blending of cultural mythologies with futuristic settings