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Almost a month ago now, I posted a teaser post for my newest book, coming out on Kickstarter, with those cruel words “You’ll hear more soon”.

Well, in the classic style of the way I seem to live my entire life, I launched the Kickstarter on the 28th of October and then everything went mad. I started a new job, I had a weekend away, I’ve done everything in my power to not update people on Substack as to the thing I teased to them a little while ago. Sorry about that. Life happens.

So, for those who follow me and are interested: BEHOLD!

I am extremely proud to present my new novel THE SAVAGE AETHER and its companion anthology THE DISCONNECTED, now available on Kickstarter via the button below. I would love it if you were willing to pledge to get your own copy of the novel, the anthology, or (ideally) both!

As I write this, there are three weeks in the campaign, and it has already been funded after just 3 days, which was an amazing thing to see.

I have been lucky enough to have a chat on ’s excellent “Books Undone” Substack about the literary influence and inspiration for the novel.

In addition, my friend and co-conspirator at Meridian Australis, Mr Andrew Renganathan Roberts, asked me a few questions about the project and the ideas behind it, and I have been given permission to share it here today. Please enjoy!

Andy: You’ve just launched your Kickstarter for your novel ‘The Savage Aether’ and its companion collection ‘The Disconnected.’ Can you tell us what it is about and what inspired you to write them?

Henry: The Savage Aether is a Cyberpunk Horror story centred around a tech company (and its wireless social network) that has become the de facto form of communication worldwide. Think Facebook, combined with Microsoft Teams, on steroids.

The story follows a brother and sister in the leadup to, and in the aftermath of, an upgrade to the system. Cass has been following lead about people who live outside the network, while Colin, her brother, wakes up after the upgrade and discovers that he’s lost access.

In the meantime, his sister has gone missing and Colin sets out to find her, and to understand what has made him disconnect from the system.

The Disconnected, the anthology, is a collection of ideas that take this universe and run with it, to build a patchwork image of the worst kind of technological dystopia.

As for the inspiration? I think you only need to look around to see the way that technology, even technology with the best of intentions, can inadvertently shut people out. I think exploring that idea, and abstracting it into real-world issues that face us today (like misinformation, propaganda, mental health and housing insecurity) is fertile ground for a horror story.

A: What do you want readers to take from The Savage Aether?

H: I think people are at their best when they are helping one another out and leaning into the communities we form. The Savage Aether is a story about what happens when we fail to do that in a continuous, systemic way, to the point where all human connection is completely atomised and transactional.

If people take anything from the book I’d want it to be an understanding of just how disempowered technology has the ability to make us, and that seeking meaningful human connection, seeking community and commonality, is the best thing we can do with our time.

A: Tell us about your Kickstarter campaign. What are you offering prospective backers?

H: Kickstarter is a great platform for independent writers such as myself, and it’s also a great place to be an early adopter! If you buy the book through Kickstarter, you’ll get a hand-numbered and signed limited Kickstarter edition copy, which will be in the larger “Trade” size paperback, while the standard edition will be a smaller “B” format size. It will have your name in a special thank you section for helping to bring the project to life, and an exclusive introduction to the story that won’t be in the standard edition.

The project is fully funded now, but there are a heap of stretch goals I’d love to get to. Signed art prints, audiobooks, additional interior artwork, and even another story set in-universe if we get it up high enough! There’s still plenty of time to back it, and every dollar helps!

I think people are at their best when they are helping one another out and leaning into the communities we form. The Savage Aether is a story about what happens when we fail to do that in a continuous, systemic way…

A: This is your second novel after releasing Sunward Sky late last year. How has the process been different this time?

H: I think the biggest difference is my own expectations. Sunward Sky got downloaded as a podcast enough that I decided I had nothing to lose. A single sale would have been a success, and in that regard it’s outperformed in a big way.

The Savage Aether is different: I first came up with the basic premise 15 years ago, and it’s had several false starts and it feels like quite a big step to finally get to this point. I would love for it to find more readers than Sunward Sky did, because I think it’s a more powerful story, and it touches on some things that are very personal to me. So in that regard I’ve put a lot more pressure on myself to make it a success.

Plus, this time around I was able to afford an editor and typesetter, and the fact that I’m curating the anthology at the same time. There are just a lot more moving parts. In some ways there’s more project management this time around, where Sunward Sky was very much me alone at the computer doing everything myself. I hadn’t even joined Meridian Australis when Sunward Sky was launched – so it was a far more lonely process last time.

The Savage Aether is a story situated in the cyberpunk genre. What is it about the possibilities of that genre that suits the story you’re trying to tell in The Savage Aether?

Cyberpunk is a brilliant genre. I heard it best described as “High Tech, Low Life”. I think that often it’s easy to get caught up in the glitz and glamour of cyberpunk, but with The Savage Aether I wanted to lean into the low life, which I feel gets glossed over sometimes. I really wanted to lean into the desperation and disempowerment that each of the characters feel, and to drive home the ways tech can be totalitarian, even if it isn’t deliberate. Cyberpunk lets you play in that playground.

Tell us about The Disconnected collection. How does it relate to The Savage Aether and what was the process of putting together the stories featured in the collection?

When I finished The Savage Aether, I realised there was a lot more about that universe and the way it could work that I wanted to talk about. Initially I thought to just write an entire anthology myself, but I was curious about how other people would interpret the rules of the world. So I put out a call for submissions, and I got a heap of amazing responses.

There are seven short stories in all, two from me, and five from the contributing authors. In addition, there will be a novella featuring a character from The Savage Aether.

Aside from the novella, the stories in The Disconnected aren’t directly tied to the events of The Savage Aether. I like to think of them as a collection of fables; using a loose description of a world, what kind of stories would its inhabitants tell?

They’re a really cool group of stories, and I can’t thank the contributing authors enough for trusting me with their words.

Anything more you’d like readers to know?

The Kickstarter ends at the end of November, and it’ll be the only place to reliably get a special edition copy!

Other than that, I’d just say how important it is to support the art you care about. It’s a very tumultuous time for creatives right now, so if you have friends who are doing cool stuff, buy it, shout about it, tell your friends to buy it, show up to their gigs – there’s some incredible stuff around.

Thanks for reading. If you’re interested, you can support the Kickstarter below.

Speak soon,

Henry