Author(s): Andy Blood

NZ Fiction

Counterfeit Books Ltd presents …

Near Futures. Far-Fetched

by Andy Blood

“A remarkable amount of fiction is fact somewhere in the multiverse.”

— David Deutsch

In 2022, while many have been rushing toward the metaverse, this author has spent their time focusing on the multiverse, where many versions of you experience many versions of your life. Near Futures. Far-Fetched is the outcome — a collection of six short stories with one thing in common: somewhere in the multiverse these stories will be true. Quite possibly, in our universe. And in our children’s time.

The themes explored range from The Last Bitcoin (set in the year 2139), to the social network of objects, a terrorist group infiltrating CERN, our too-smart cities becoming dumb, weaponising ‘clean’, and first contact with intelligent non-human life. Carl Sagan and Tim Berners-Lee make guest appearances, in roles they might never have imagined. These are tales for an accelerated culture.* Of futures that are accelerating towards us ...

Here’s what reviewers had to say:

"Are we too connected, too clean, too clever by half? This clutch of sly, unnerving near futures seems less far-fetched with every news cycle."

—Diana Wichtel, award-winning TV columnist and feature writer for the NZ Listener and award-winning author of the best-selling memoir ‘Driving to Treblinka’.

"A wildly imaginative and knowing interpretation of the wired backdrop to our lives we take so idly for granted. Also bloody good fun. I never really trusted my fridge tbh.”

 —David Slack, speechwriter, commentator and author of the bestselling “Bullshit, Backlash & Bleeding Hearts” (Penguin)

“Near Futures. Far Fetched is a remarkable anthology that sits somewhere between thought experiment and cautionary tale. It's fiction woven with just enough real-world cultural and socio-political nuance that the threads of each story feel tied to some inevitable truth. And yet it’s never weighed down by this; each chapter flits between the serious and the almost-absurd with an undeniable twinkle in its future-focused eye. Refracted through Blood’s exceptional imagination, we see these other worlds as part mirage and part reflection, inviting us to consider not just our fears of what’s to come but also the ludicrous reality that we’ve already built. A dynamic, entertaining and subversive read.”

— Kyra Bartley, director

“An unofficial White Paper for all our futures. However many there may be.”

— Temple Fields, author

"Funny, challenging...and on reflection, provoking."

— Andy Hamilton, VC, early start-up investor

“Foundation, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Black Mirror … in a long line of science fiction speculation here comes a fresh breath and new footstep on those literary stairs. With a flourish, may I introduce the gifted Andy Blood.”

— Vincent Ward, ONZM, director, screenwriter, artist

“Snackable stories of the future that are tasty, thought provoking and immensely shareable. TikTok prose for our time. In an age of exponential change, this collection starts out in the fiction category and rapidly becomes non-fiction. 

Far-fetched isn't that far-fetched."

—     Calvin Soh, founder, One Kind House. Former CCO. Urban farmer & Father.

*Douglas Coupland, Generation X.

All digital design by Nic Neame @NicNeameVsTheWorld

Spaceship build, design and engineering by Nic Neame @NicNeameVsTheWorld

About Andy Blood

Andy is a former ‘World’s Most Highly Awarded Creative Director’ who spent five years at Facebook. In 2021, his book Full Bleed was a world-first ‘Book-as-NFT’ project minted on the CENNZnet blockchain for the Lithoverse platform.

Full Bleed also reached #69 on Amazon’s Kindle chart (category: business, advertising, biography). He has been described as a “fearless creator” and a “serial innovator”. He has spent the past year working and consulting on Web3/blockchain related projects.

 For further information, please contact Andy Blood:

PHONE +64 21 929141        

EMAIL BloodAndBlackSand@gmail.com
FACEBOOK Facebook.com/AndyBlood1         

TWITTER @TheBloodster

INSTAGRAM @TheBloodster

INSTAGRAM @BloodyNFTs

INSTAGRAM @MoveFastAndHackThings

Near Futures. Far-Fetched: Volume 2 will be published in September 2022.