UnWorld

Memoirist Greene (Once More We Saw Stars) makes his fiction debut with this haunting and deeply introspective speculative exploration of grief, memory, and the nature of consciousness. In a near-future world shaped by AI technology with which people can upload their consciousnesses to the cloud, Anna struggles to process the death of her teen son, Alex. Meanwhile, her marriage to Rick crumbles under the weight of their shared loss. As she searches for answers about whether Alex took his own life, she crosses paths with Samantha, his troubled best friend, who hints at secrets surrounding his final days, and Cathy, a researcher entangled in the mysterious presence of Aviva, an AI modeled after Anna that may hold echoes of Alex’s consciousness. As the unsettling possibility that Alex still exists in some form becomes more apparent, the lines between life and digital afterlife blur. Anna, Cathy, and Samantha each confront the implications of memory and identity, forced to reconsider what it means to grieve—and what it means to let go. Greene crafts a stunning narrative that is as emotionally resonant as it is thought-provoking, weaving together mystery and philosophical speculation with graceful, evocative prose. The result is a mesmerizing meditation on loss, technology, and the enduring nature of human connection. Agent: Anna Sproul-Latimer, Neon Literary. (June)