It is the year 2062. The Psi-Revolution is in full swing. Thanks to the latest advances in meta-technology, the collective dreams of the entire planet have become privatized. The entertainment industry's dream-malls are filled with bio-networked Sleepers who are hooked to its pipeline of Rapid Eye Movement ‘REM’ sitcoms, adventure serials, and sleep-soaps.
It's a world in which things, already gone awry, get further convoluted. Now the International Planetary Union must face the latest threat to global security. The remilitarized state of Imperial New Nippon is engaged in a sinister plot to launch a diabolical psi-virus codenamed "Fingermoon" that will conquer Omnispace, the successor to Old Cyberspace.
Enter Jake Hill, the American writer of a series of bio-anime action serials. He discovers that his popular "'Tao' Smith" REM-strip has been hijacked by a ‘toon assassin called "The Hanging Butoh." A freedom fighter from the uncharted dimension of the Z-Zone, this phantom dances his kills of New Nippon’s warlords through the steps of "Butoh."
This post-Zen "Dance of Darkness" preaches that salvation can only be attained, not through the traditional means of Enlightenment, but through a dark state of grace known as "Endarkenment."
Will Jake Hill, the Manga Man, stop The Hanging Butoh and be able to resurrect his former life? Or will he finally confront his inner darkness and join the Butoh in a race to save the world before the curtain falls on the collapsing stage of human existence?
As fast-paced, humorous and eclectic as his highly acclaimed "Rim Trilogy" of novels-the Philip K. Dick Award nominated "Rim", and its sequels "Mir" and "Chi" Alexander Besher's latest novel introduces a zany rogues' gallery of unforgettable characters, while providing a blizzard of innovative ideas and futuristic cliff-hangers.
Besher recently completed The Black Tao, the sequel to The Manga Man. It features the adventures of the eleventh Butoh P.I. in the lineage of The Hanging Butoh Detective Agency set in the far, far future in Omnispace when the survivors of a dying Terra have migrated to distant online worlds aboard their psi-ships.
For a taste of The Black Tao and other new works by Besher please check the Menu.
It's a world in which things, already gone awry, get further convoluted. Now the International Planetary Union must face the latest threat to global security. The remilitarized state of Imperial New Nippon is engaged in a sinister plot to launch a diabolical psi-virus codenamed "Fingermoon" that will conquer Omnispace, the successor to Old Cyberspace.
Enter Jake Hill, the American writer of a series of bio-anime action serials. He discovers that his popular "'Tao' Smith" REM-strip has been hijacked by a ‘toon assassin called "The Hanging Butoh." A freedom fighter from the uncharted dimension of the Z-Zone, this phantom dances his kills of New Nippon’s warlords through the steps of "Butoh."
This post-Zen "Dance of Darkness" preaches that salvation can only be attained, not through the traditional means of Enlightenment, but through a dark state of grace known as "Endarkenment."
Will Jake Hill, the Manga Man, stop The Hanging Butoh and be able to resurrect his former life? Or will he finally confront his inner darkness and join the Butoh in a race to save the world before the curtain falls on the collapsing stage of human existence?
As fast-paced, humorous and eclectic as his highly acclaimed "Rim Trilogy" of novels-the Philip K. Dick Award nominated "Rim", and its sequels "Mir" and "Chi" Alexander Besher's latest novel introduces a zany rogues' gallery of unforgettable characters, while providing a blizzard of innovative ideas and futuristic cliff-hangers.
Besher recently completed The Black Tao, the sequel to The Manga Man. It features the adventures of the eleventh Butoh P.I. in the lineage of The Hanging Butoh Detective Agency set in the far, far future in Omnispace when the survivors of a dying Terra have migrated to distant online worlds aboard their psi-ships.
For a taste of The Black Tao and other new works by Besher please check the Menu.