Reddit mentions of Rites of the Renouncer (Vaskania Prime)

My novella Rites of the Renouncer is science fiction with a prominent (and rigorously treated) philosophy of mind component. The core of the setting is hard science fiction—no faster than light travel, no outlandish tech or AI capabilities—with an (as of yet) unexplained fantasy element. Some of my influences are Alastair Reynolds, Gene Wolfe, Greg Egan, Iain M. Banks, China Mieville, N.K. Jemisin, and Mary Doria Russell. In the past, I have worked and done research experience in the space industry and on AI topics.

The blurb:

>The voyage from Earth to Vaskania Prime took more than a thousand years. When the embryo ship and its AI fleet arrived at the planet, its surface water was gone. After extensive terraforming and several failed generations, human beings can now live there, but something strange happens when they sleep. Without explanation they all enter the same Dream World. No one knows what it is, or what intelligence might be behind it. And sometimes, when their bodies wake, their minds don’t come back.
>
>Three decades ago, Viktor Goto left the planet to make a new home in remote orbit on Oneiri Station. With AI assistance, he altered his body chemistry, using a mix of synthetic hormones and neurotransmitters. He spent his time training, learning to extend his REM sleep by several hours and project new powers into the Dream World. Now he’s back on Vaskania Prime to dream again and find out what happened to his childhood friend, Owen.

$2.99 and available via Kindle Unlimited, https://www.amazon.com/Rites-Renouncer-Vaskania-Prime-Book-ebook/dp/B07NSJZ5FQ -- the novella clocks in at 28,500 words, and the paperback comes in right at 100 pages with a small index. I've serialized the audiobook for free via podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/patternshift-synthesizers-and-original-science-fiction/id1455060191

There is a follow up novel, Wake of the Wanderer, planned for mid-November (I've finished draft 1.5 at 93k words, hoping final is in 84k territory). It will be serialized to podcast as well, but slowly (I expect it to take me the remainder of 2019 and all of 2020 to do so).

The series grew out of my retro-future synthesizer electronic music project, PatternShift. I accompany the podcasts with a synthesizer soundtrack I've composed and produced. I make the standalone music with a soundtrack feel and focus, and I started out writing (this round at least) to provide a setting and scenes to accompany the music. But then things got a little out of hand.