[Complete][240k][Adult Literary Fiction] The Blight
Adult Literary Dystopian Fiction | Post-apocalyptic | Psychological | Triptych structure
Seeking 2–3 thoughtful beta readers for a completed manuscript (~240k words, three interlinked novellas).
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Blurb:
Three lives. Three systems. One dying world.
Twenty-two Sols after the Scorching, a false sun burns above an exhausted earth — and beneath it, three societies have grown into the shapes their survival required.
In the sealed dome of the Authority, a Cadet named Loki is too alive for his own good. His mentor sees it the moment he picks him from the nursery glass. He intends to shape the boy. The Authority intends to shape them both.
In the ash fields of the Rustborn Collective, a Tinker named Prometheus pulls a document from the slag and reads, in seven small numbers, that the world is ending faster than anyone has admitted. He builds a machine to understand it. His sister sets food at the edge of his bench — until the machine needs more than he can pay.
In the cultivated tunnels of the Verdant Kin, a Sporebearer named Frede sings the morning chant with the unmediated faith of a cat who has never needed his belief to be anything else. Then five new cats arrive from a Rustborn trader. Four root immediately. The fifth sits with her paws flat on the warm tunnel floor, and the Grove's language has no word for what she is.
No resistance. No awakening. No rescue. Just three cats living inside machines that were never built for them to flourish in.
<One grinds you down. One burns you out. One overgrows you.>
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What I'm looking for
Readers who can engage with slow, character-driven literary prose and sit with ambiguity. Pacing is deliberate. There are no heroes. No system is overthrown. If you need a redemption arc, this isn't your book. If you want to feel something quiet and devastating for weeks afterward — please apply.
To apply
DM with: a sentence about why this premise pulls you, your favourite dystopian or literary novel, and your realistic turnaround (4–6 weeks preferred). Feedback can be marginal notes, voice memos, or a final letter — whatever suits you.
To swap
I can read and review the following <Sci-Fi, Literary Fiction, Horror, Historical Fiction, Adult and NA fiction> and I don't accept <Romance, Fantasy, Children's books> and might be able to do <Mystery & Thrillers, True Crime, YA> based on context. As I read your manuscript with care and respect your work I expect you to do the same for mine.
Spots: 2–3. Closes when filled.