The Dark River by John Twelve Hawks
In 2005, an enigmatic author by the name of John Twelve Hawks — a writer who supposedly lives ‘off the grid’ — delivered one of the most hyped novels of the year, the critically-acclaimed, New York Times Bestselling debut The Traveler. In that book, readers were introduced to a chillingly familiar world ‘inspired by the modern technology that monitors our lives,’ where Travelers — individuals who possess the ability to send their conscious energy (“Light”) to other realms where they gain insights into transforming the world — and Harlequins (sworn to protect the lives of Travelers) oppose their mortal enemies the Brethren (also known as the Tabula) and their quest for a virtual Panopticon — an invisible prison where the population would assume that they were being watched at all times and therefore would automatically follow the rules.
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I might say "formulaic" actually.
Your review made me curious, so I looked this book up. Sure enough: Tor. Tor seems to specialize in these…
It's a tightrope act for sure.
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yes, I mean, there are certainly lots of good sci-fi/fantasy novellas out there, so they aren't impossible to do, but…