Stellar Smoke

A hypnotically original and lush speculative novel from award-winning author Tanaïs about technology, sex, spirituality, family secrets, and the mother–daughter bond across generations—ultimately blurring the boundary between past and present, human and machine. Qamar is a musician living in a futuristic metropolitan city. Struggling to pay rent and heartbroken after a terrible breakup, she decides to return to the island ashram of her childhood. It’s time to finally settle the rift she has with her estranged mother, Veda—a brilliant scientist, actress, and one of the leaders of a now-dissolved cult called the Endless Temple. But when Qamar arrives, the land is as verdant as she remembers, but neglected, and, most troubling, there are no signs of her mother or sister. Behind a retina scan–locked door, Qamar encounters a machine consciousness—VEDA (Virtual Experiences, Dreams and Afterlife)—that her mother made in the image of herself. VEDA is her mother’s last opus, an artificial intelligence that allows her to finally tell her daughter the story of her life. The descent into VEDA’s technoscape forces Qamar to confront the taboos and tragedies of their past, while bracing herself for the wild, unexpected possibilities that await.