Now Available
The Disrupted
In a transhuman near-future, an AI codebase is replicating across the Net – instanced on living memories and operating without predictable goals or terminal values. It swiftly becomes the unassailable proof of faith for millions, the foundations for a theocratic empire and an increasingly existential threat. As society unravels, a disgraced veteran of the Resource Wars must reconcile his past to have any chance at saving the future.
Publication date: January 27th, 2024
Formats: Kindle | Kindle Unlimited | Paperback
Reviews for The Disrupted
Have you read The Disrupted? I’d sincerely appreciate your honest opinion shared on either Amazon or GoodReads.
The below early reviews were completed by the advanced reader community on Booksprout with an average rating of 4.6/5.
The Disrupted renders a technology-saturated future through the eyes of an ensemble cast- each approaching an impending-techno-apocalypse with their own intensely personal perspectives and motivations. The world-building and character studies: top-notch. The future-casting and root-cause of the conflict: all too real. Recommended.
Set in a near future only an inevitable step away from our own, Mark Kolody's "The Disrupted" is a compelling piece of science fiction coloured with suspense, excitment and anxiety. Fans of the cyberpunk genre will relish it's rich cast of fully realized characters, each detailed and damaged, dancing with the mystery of what it means to be human in a world that is increasignly less so. Rife with style and themes of identiy, privacy and belief, "The Disrupted" presents a world in decay, percariously balanced on the threshold of irrevocable change. Our current angst and uncertainty in the face of rapidly evolving artifical intelligence makes this a timely read and is highly recommended.
I really enjoyed "The Disrupted." I'm a huge fan of cyberpunk more generally, and Mark Kolody's writing style and storytelling really do the genre justice. He does an especially good job of building a world that feels alive, and one I just wanted to know more about. I loved the ideas he explores, and his wholehearted engagement with the philosophy and possibilities of AI and what a world built around technology could actually become. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an exploration of the future told with care for the ideas and possibilities we face.
Great sci-fi work. I liked the vibe the entire time – thanks for the arc! I would Rex this one! Cheers
I was hooked from the first chapter! I would never have suspected this was a debut novel if I hadn't been told. The story is confident and original. The characters feel like flesh and blood people and I care about what becomes of them. The author is clearly tapped into what makes people do what they do. I am about halfway through and I need to know how it ends! I look forward to future works from this author.
I know the human who wrote this novel and attest that it reflects his intelligence, warmth, and character. The novel is about humanism (purpose, morality, duty, love, sexuality) and implications of the pending intersection with transhumanism (from identity to wealth disparity) and artificial intelligence (including alignment and the nature of the singularity). Strange days ahead. Nevertheless, humor runs throughout: in circumstance, dialogue, and, er..., violence (which never devolves to sadism). I look forward to his next works.
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Upcoming Novel
Minus One
As the Days of Anger weaponize the social landscape into a global uprising against wealth inequality, an idealist pioneering a disruptive technology is pursued by intragovernmental actors and counter-culture terrorists. Across the world, the daughter of a disgraced prize fighter finds her family’s lives imperilled and intertwined with humanity’s transhuman future. Decisions take on an unpredictable gravity, underscoring the high cost of good intentions.
MINUS ONE is a realistic and harrowing exploration of the near future, experienced through interconnected characters who courageously navigate a chaotic world. The stakes are both intimate and cast a generational shadow, forcing the question: what would you sacrifice to prevent a calamity only you could envision?
Advanced reader copies: Q1, 2025
Note: Cover artwork to be finalized.
Mark Kolody possesses unique insights into near-future science fiction from decades of working at the leading edge of the digital industry. Formerly, he was a co-founding editor of a nationally distributed literary magazine, the vice president of a theatre troupe, and the principal of a creative agency. He is the author of The Disrupted and currently lives with his family in Toronto, Canada.
Brief Q&A
I’ve completed the draft of Minus One and am currently working with a professional editor to tighten it up.
The story is really about a tipping point of social and economic unrest as experienced through an estranged family of a punch-drunk former prizefighter and his two adult daughters – a biohacker who’s part of a terrorist movement in Toronto and a criminal who runs a corporate extortion racket for a small, struggling yakuza clan in Osaka. Central to the story, a bio-digital architect tries to protect his life’s work from being used as a tool to control and repress future generations. It’s set in the near future, prior to the events of The Disrupted.
Yep! I’ll post information on how to sign up late in 2024 or early in 2025. I’ll likely use a service like Booksprout or BookSirens for distribution.
I’m a born/raised Torontonian with a fiercely Japanese wife. For more than 20 years, I’ve been returning to Japan and keep discovering more to appreciate about its people and culture. Especially Osaka. The people there are… different (in a good way). I would’ve set The Disrupted in that city if the novel didn’t have to account for advanced climate change.
As for Toronto, it’s a dynamic and modern, world class city of millions with more than 50% of residents being born in a foreign country. For perspective, the 311 service (for city info) has content offered in 180 languages. There’s something low-key magical about actively living with the world in a single location. (Our immediate neighbours are Indian, Korean, Italian, Cuban and Bangladeshi). I’m the son of two immigrants, married to an immigrant with a mixed-race child and there’s absolutely nothing special about that here.
Toronto’s a wonderful city with plenty of upsides, but also fantastically expensive. Many people genuinely struggle here – 10% of the city’s population rely on food banks (2024/10/28). It’s far more vibrant than when I was a kid, but has also grown considerably less egalitarian. When I was young and (quite literally) hungry, it felt like there was always a way out – if only I could work through it. Now, I see a lot more resignation and resentment where there was once optimism. It’s changed the very cadence of the city and there’s a gnawing emotional friction in that for me.
I’ve worked in the digital industry for 28 years – enough to know the price of free services and how the sausage is made. That said, I lurk on Reddit and will answer questions on GoodReads or those sent to me directly.
Let me know if you have a question or want me to address something in the future.
©2024 Mark Kolody