I wrote a hard sci-fi novel about teleportation
June 3, 2017 7:17 AM Subscribe
I wrote a hard sci-fi novel about teleportation
I didn't want to post about it earlier because it might have been construed as crowdfunding. I wrote a hard science fiction novel about a man who inadvertently gets duplicated while teleporting (the en vogue method of transport in the mid-22nd century). The book is called The Punch Escrow, and it won the Geek & Sundry hard sci-fi contest on Inkshares. It's getting published July 25 and the movie rights have been optioned by Lionsgate.
I'd love to have some fellow mefites read an advance e-reader copy gratis because I love yous. Let me know if interested.
I didn't want to post about it earlier because it might have been construed as crowdfunding. I wrote a hard science fiction novel about a man who inadvertently gets duplicated while teleporting (the en vogue method of transport in the mid-22nd century). The book is called The Punch Escrow, and it won the Geek & Sundry hard sci-fi contest on Inkshares. It's getting published July 25 and the movie rights have been optioned by Lionsgate.
I'd love to have some fellow mefites read an advance e-reader copy gratis because I love yous. Let me know if interested.
Role: author
This project was posted to MetaFilter by bitterkitten on July 25, 2017: The Transported Man
Also, let me you know if you'd prefer epub, mobi, or pdf.
posted by analogue at 11:07 AM on June 3, 2017
posted by analogue at 11:07 AM on June 3, 2017
Hi analogue, I'd love to read a copy (pdf). Great hard sci-fi is rare and escrow sounds really intriguing.
posted by unearthed at 1:05 AM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by unearthed at 1:05 AM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
Unearthed - a link has been delivered to your mefi inbox!
posted by analogue at 7:27 AM on June 4, 2017
posted by analogue at 7:27 AM on June 4, 2017
Oh wow this sounds great. I would love to read it too if possible (epub).
posted by Literaryhero at 9:28 AM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Literaryhero at 9:28 AM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
I would love to read it. Any mobi or epub suit me fine!
posted by conifer at 11:14 AM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by conifer at 11:14 AM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
conifer and Literaryhero, check your mefi mail, for you have both "been served" :)
posted by analogue at 11:29 AM on June 4, 2017
posted by analogue at 11:29 AM on June 4, 2017
I, too, would like to read this. epub preferred.
posted by Tabitha Someday at 12:31 PM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Tabitha Someday at 12:31 PM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wow, congrats. I'd love to read it. Thanks!
posted by askmehow at 6:38 PM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by askmehow at 6:38 PM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
Sign me up for an epub too, please. Congratulations.
posted by roue at 8:07 PM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by roue at 8:07 PM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
Good gracious. Published, prize-winning and optioned! I would love an epub so I can say that I was in on it before it was...well, it's already cool, but you know what I mean.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 9:46 PM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by obiwanwasabi at 9:46 PM on June 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
Burhanistan, obiwanwasabi, Gotanda, roue, Tabitha Someday, and askmehow - you are all sorted! Check your mefi mail.
posted by analogue at 5:13 AM on June 5, 2017
posted by analogue at 5:13 AM on June 5, 2017
Excited to read this! (no need to send me a link, I ordered a copy :D )
posted by solotoro at 9:43 AM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by solotoro at 9:43 AM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Congratulations! The description on IndieBound sounds amazing. I would love a mobi copy if you're still offering. If it's good enough for the Marketplace/Codebreaker guy then it's good enough for me.
posted by Flannery Culp at 3:46 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Flannery Culp at 3:46 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Thank you solotoro! If you'd like to read it before it's published on the 25th, I'd still be happy to send you the e-galley.
Flannery Culp: Check your mefi mail!
posted by analogue at 4:18 AM on June 6, 2017
Flannery Culp: Check your mefi mail!
posted by analogue at 4:18 AM on June 6, 2017
Yes, congrats! I'd love a pdf, if the offer's still open.
posted by XMLicious at 4:01 PM on June 6, 2017
posted by XMLicious at 4:01 PM on June 6, 2017
I too would love to read (an epub version) this. My wife (a philosopher) and I have a long running dispute re: teleportation.
It's a slight twist on the classic argument (which you'll no doubt have heard).
She argues that if a teleporter takes you apart atom by atom and then reassembles you at the other end indistinguishable from before that means you have been killed and something else has taken your place.
I argue that the something else is in actual fact you, so you have not been killed.
So far so standard.
The twist is that I would argue that her position means she is arguing for some kind of incorporeal "stuff" that means that you are no longer actually you. (i.e. her position presupposes a soul) She argues that it does not. That the noncontinuity of your form, (no matter how infinitesimal) is enough to render the teleported you a different entity.
It tends to get into the weeds a bit from there on. Ships are theseus-ed, cognitos are ergo summed etc.
I think it's so far our only non resolved disagreement. (though she may disagree with me about that)
In summary, can I read your cool book please.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 6:40 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's a slight twist on the classic argument (which you'll no doubt have heard).
She argues that if a teleporter takes you apart atom by atom and then reassembles you at the other end indistinguishable from before that means you have been killed and something else has taken your place.
I argue that the something else is in actual fact you, so you have not been killed.
So far so standard.
The twist is that I would argue that her position means she is arguing for some kind of incorporeal "stuff" that means that you are no longer actually you. (i.e. her position presupposes a soul) She argues that it does not. That the noncontinuity of your form, (no matter how infinitesimal) is enough to render the teleported you a different entity.
It tends to get into the weeds a bit from there on. Ships are theseus-ed, cognitos are ergo summed etc.
I think it's so far our only non resolved disagreement. (though she may disagree with me about that)
In summary, can I read your cool book please.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 6:40 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wow, that is incredible news, analogue--congratulations! If you are still giving away copies, I would love a mobi version!
posted by Defying Gravity at 6:51 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Defying Gravity at 6:51 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
Whoa, I should check Projects more often. Congrats! Super-congrats, even. I'd love a mobi copy if you're still feeling magnanimous.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:33 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by uncleozzy at 11:33 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
Just this guy, y'know: Boy is this book ideal for you and your wife. It definitely delves very, very deeply into your debate. Please share the book with her. I'd love to have a skype chat with you both after you've read the book to see where you'd landed and whether either of your positions had changed. Without risking any spoilers, if you ask me to explore the philosophical answer to your question, I believe in "Cogito ergo sum" Descartes meant "we think therefore we are" not "I think therefore I am." The reason that's an important distinction — provided we solve for the scientific hurdles of teleportation such that the person who comes out is the molecularly the same as the person who went in — is because it becomes an anthropological thesis rather than a philosophical one. What I mean is that the existence of any one is the onus of the many. One example that comes to mind is of a person in jail who did not commit a crime. Despite her innocence (which she knows), she remains a criminal until society deems her innocent. Thus it stands to reason (IMHO) that the person who came out of the teleporter is the same so far as society deems them to be the same.
That said, the book is now in your mefi inbox. Same goes for you, Defying Gravity and uncleozzy.
posted by analogue at 8:33 AM on June 8, 2017 [3 favorites]
That said, the book is now in your mefi inbox. Same goes for you, Defying Gravity and uncleozzy.
posted by analogue at 8:33 AM on June 8, 2017 [3 favorites]
oh! Congratulations!
Can I read it in mobi?
Awesome!
posted by dreamling at 11:36 AM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
Can I read it in mobi?
Awesome!
posted by dreamling at 11:36 AM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
Okay dreamling, en route to your mefi inbox! If anyone else wants a copy please send me mefi mail (vs asking in the comments), just easier to manage that way.
posted by analogue at 4:58 AM on June 9, 2017
posted by analogue at 4:58 AM on June 9, 2017
This discussion has slightly reignited the argument, it has so far culminated in one or other of the parties declaring..
"That's not how soup works!"
So you can see it's a convoluted and spirited discussion.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 3:40 PM on June 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
"That's not how soup works!"
So you can see it's a convoluted and spirited discussion.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 3:40 PM on June 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
That's why I want you and her to read the book and for us three to then debate it :)
posted by analogue at 4:33 AM on June 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by analogue at 4:33 AM on June 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'd love an advance copy. How cool! Mobi is best for me.
posted by joannemerriam at 11:03 AM on June 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by joannemerriam at 11:03 AM on June 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
I will totally mobi it. : )
posted by bitterkitten at 1:03 PM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by bitterkitten at 1:03 PM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Just this guy, y'know: "She argues that if a teleporter takes you apart atom by atom and then reassembles you at the other end indistinguishable from before that means you have been killed and something else has taken your place."
Of course, the question is what if you choose not to reassemble yourself indistinguishable from yourself?
Perhaps you'll edit out that cancer, maybe erase a few wrinkles, etc.
And why stop at just recreating one copy?After all if you're re-assembled with raw materials at the end spot surely there would be enough for multiple copies?
A horrific form of slavery?
I imagine in a world with teleportation there would be an underground trade in teleport "recipes" for lack a better term. Some celebrity gets teleported. The recipe to recreate them is saved and sold to people who want to create their own fantasy.
I imagine a world with teleportation could be scary without severe limitations.
That being said I look forward to the book's release
posted by 2manyusernames at 8:37 PM on June 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Of course, the question is what if you choose not to reassemble yourself indistinguishable from yourself?
Perhaps you'll edit out that cancer, maybe erase a few wrinkles, etc.
And why stop at just recreating one copy?After all if you're re-assembled with raw materials at the end spot surely there would be enough for multiple copies?
A horrific form of slavery?
I imagine in a world with teleportation there would be an underground trade in teleport "recipes" for lack a better term. Some celebrity gets teleported. The recipe to recreate them is saved and sold to people who want to create their own fantasy.
I imagine a world with teleportation could be scary without severe limitations.
That being said I look forward to the book's release
posted by 2manyusernames at 8:37 PM on June 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
The terms of our argument are quite deliberately more specific than that (Arguments with Philosophers tend to be), and those scenarios would not be possible within those terms.
A world where teleportation allowed those things would be very interesting though. Unscrupulous scientists could solve the nurture\nature debate pretty quickly. Also, I'm sure that someone narcissistic enough would be enjoying a 20-way orgy with themselves. (Is that an orgy or just an incredible accomplishment in the field of masturbating?)
I'm in progress with this book and enjoying it very much so far.
I've not made it very far in yet, mainly due to a toddler who is not at all interested in the concept of bedtime and a huge workload, but what I have read I am very much enjoying.
The writing is sharp and engaging. The ebook conversion is challenging (dem footnotes tho!) but not impossibly so. There's a very early on thing about ensuring the scarcity of gold which is not where I'd have gone, but I suspect was necessary to establish the rules of the world.
I'll make a note to load it onto a spare Kindle for the resident philosopher.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:44 PM on July 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
A world where teleportation allowed those things would be very interesting though. Unscrupulous scientists could solve the nurture\nature debate pretty quickly. Also, I'm sure that someone narcissistic enough would be enjoying a 20-way orgy with themselves. (Is that an orgy or just an incredible accomplishment in the field of masturbating?)
I'm in progress with this book and enjoying it very much so far.
I've not made it very far in yet, mainly due to a toddler who is not at all interested in the concept of bedtime and a huge workload, but what I have read I am very much enjoying.
The writing is sharp and engaging. The ebook conversion is challenging (dem footnotes tho!) but not impossibly so. There's a very early on thing about ensuring the scarcity of gold which is not where I'd have gone, but I suspect was necessary to establish the rules of the world.
I'll make a note to load it onto a spare Kindle for the resident philosopher.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:44 PM on July 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's funny you mention the footnotes as I'm in the midst of writing an article on footnotes in literature for a periodical. I've been working with the publisher on the Kindle/MOBI conversion and it's going to be awesome. The footnotes will be much easier to access. However, the best way to read the book will be in the physical form ;)
posted by analogue at 6:34 AM on July 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by analogue at 6:34 AM on July 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Just a heads up that my publisher has officially put the kibosh on me giving away any more advance copies. Shelf Awareness is still giving away some advance copies here, and there's a Goodreads giveaway raffle that ends in a couple of days here. If you've scored one, I can't wait to hear your thoughts. If you haven't then I hope you consider picking a copy up at your local indie bookstore.
posted by analogue at 9:26 PM on July 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by analogue at 9:26 PM on July 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
Finished! Super work from mr. analogue. I will tell all my minions about it when it is available. : )
posted by bitterkitten at 10:21 AM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by bitterkitten at 10:21 AM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Finished, moments ago. Tight, well paced, thoughtful, with occasional writerly flourishes that don't get in the way of the plot, but still give us some color and freshness. I had some concerns here and there about POV, but those were mostly addressed late in the work. And I wanted to see Joel do more "salting" in the course of the adventure -- those scenes were clever and fun!
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Good luck the rest of the way!
posted by notyou at 10:29 AM on July 8, 2017 [2 favorites]
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Good luck the rest of the way!
posted by notyou at 10:29 AM on July 8, 2017 [2 favorites]
bitterkitten: So glad you enjoyed it! I hope your minions do too!
notyou: Very pleased you liked it! The POV thing cost me a very important endorsement from an author I respect dearly ("It's just not done!") but I hope you understand why I stuck to my guns. And yes, salting, there will be more in the next book ;)
posted by analogue at 11:38 PM on July 9, 2017
notyou: Very pleased you liked it! The POV thing cost me a very important endorsement from an author I respect dearly ("It's just not done!") but I hope you understand why I stuck to my guns. And yes, salting, there will be more in the next book ;)
posted by analogue at 11:38 PM on July 9, 2017
I haven't quite finished yet, but I already know that my favorite line of the book is without a doubt "He had more creases on his forehead than I had metaphors to describe them." Brilliantly self-aware nod to noir. Just one example of how great fun this book is to read.
posted by solotoro at 6:23 AM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by solotoro at 6:23 AM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
Ars Technica / Conde Nast: Teleportation is murder: Old trope gets new twist in The Punch Escrow
posted by XMLicious at 12:15 AM on July 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by XMLicious at 12:15 AM on July 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wish i’d seen this post in June! Congrats!
I’d recently heard about the book elsewhere with no idea there was a MeFi connection and it is already on my Goodreads «to read» list.
posted by D.C. at 7:31 PM on July 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
I’d recently heard about the book elsewhere with no idea there was a MeFi connection and it is already on my Goodreads «to read» list.
posted by D.C. at 7:31 PM on July 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
I also missed the post in June. So I had to settle for buying a copy. Sorry analogue, I know you wanted to give it away, but please accept my payment instead. :)
posted by caution live frogs at 6:56 AM on September 24, 2017
posted by caution live frogs at 6:56 AM on September 24, 2017
So, hey, my book club is reading The Punch Escrow right now. Sadly it's a really tiny book club containing four people.
posted by puddledork at 11:12 AM on September 24, 2017
posted by puddledork at 11:12 AM on September 24, 2017
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