Hourglass
| Ⓒ By Jonathan Roseland |
A science fiction novel - Not For Sex Addicts - about seduction, biohacking, and philosophy
Xavier is a Biohacker, mathematical savant, gamer, and cyber-criminal—on trial for masterminding a $9 million heist of “pre-cognitive capital.” Pushed out of his comfort zone one night at a cigar bar, he approaches a strikingly beautiful Colombian woman, Astrid. An old Russian man gives him a potent confidence drug; It gives him the edge he needs to make her his to lose.
But Astrid has an identical twin sister with designs to draw him into a darker web. Caught between seduction and self-sabotage, freedom and addiction, profit and prophecy - Xavier is drawn into a war for the dying soul of mankind. A war that will be waged in flowstate with Smart Drugs, psychedelics, Tantric techniques, Machiavellian maneuvers, and Memory Palaces built in the brain.
In a world where corporations enslave the human mind to predict the future, he'll excel because of the Biohacking tools he yields and his innate talents but falter because of his fundamentally flawed character. Yet, he'll learn that...
<veritas>"The only way to capture time and defeat death is through the beauty of a woman."</veritas>
Limitless meets Black Mirror meets American Psycho in Hourglass - my debut novel
Set in a dystopian near-future world drunk on virtual bliss - that eerily mirrors a world destroyed 12,800 years ago - Hourglass delves deeply and pragmatically into the themes of the digital enslavement of sexuality, human performance enhancement, mathematical mystery, cycles of civilization, and free will vs predetermination - all while riding the double-edged sword of lust. This thriller illustrates the application of some of the edgier Biohacks, lifehacks, and social dynamics hacks - along with dangerously provocative, edifying philosophical exposition.
EPIC extended cinematic book trailer
With AI filmmaking tools, I've crafted this extended trailer to give you a provocative glimpse at the world of Hourglass...
The trailer is pretty epic ⏩ FULL SCREEN. HEADPHONES ON.
But there won't be an Hourglass movie.
Order Hourglass (NOT ON AMAZON)
I was kicked off Amazon as a writer because I refused to appease the vague, politically correct sensibilities of our big tech overlords in one of my previous titles, so the best place to get it is direct from me as a digital book + audiobook package on the Limitless Mindset Store.
The Audiobook
For your listening pleasure: produced in "Odyssey of the Mind" style with lifelike AI voices bringing all the colorful characters to life...
What to expect from the novel...
- It's kind of a personal transformation guide masquerading as a novel - illustrating the application of some of the edgier Biohacks, lifehacks, and social dynamics hacks - but more sci-fi thriller novel than a self-help book!
- In the story, our protagonist must solve the greatest unsolved mystery in mathematics - the Goldbach Conjecture. To do so, I describe the ultimate Biohacking stack of Smart Drugs, Nootropics, peptides, brainpower-boosting tech, and flowstate induction tools that he uses to make a momentous historical breakthrough. If you faced a monumental brainpower challenge - that would define your life trajectory and change the world - and had a small fortune to invest in your Biohacking, THIS would be the stack to unleash unequaled brilliance.
- There's a drug, dubiously a Nootropic, that I've NEVER written about before that may make you rich. But it may turn you into a rapacious and voracious psychopathic capitalist. A couple of high-profile white-collar criminals have used it. I reveal it in this novel.
- Seduction is a central theme. Many novels I've read feature wildly unrealistic or dry depictions of romance and seduction. Having personally devoted almost a decade of my life to "the art of seduction" (which resulted in a happy 7-year marriage), this novel will deliver the good stuff in that department (and you might learn a thing or two from it, single guys!) But it's not needlessly gratuitous.
- The book has over a hundred footnotes, giving you link rabbit holes and more information about the different Biohacks and lifehacks that drive the story forward.
- I'm spilling some metaphorical ink to ensure it's a funny book. I dare say it will make you laugh out loud at points!
- "No free will" is a popular modern idea, but it's deeply, fundamentally incorrect. In this book, I'll properly disassemble it for you.
- The best novels tend to be when the author is transposing their most vibrant life experiences on a fictional narrative, think: Ayn Rand contrasting life in the Soviet Union vs New York City. That's what I do in this science fiction novel in lieu of space battles and time-travel tropes.
- Hourglass is around 370 pages and an 11-hour audiobook, but it is a thriller - almost every chapter ends with a cliffhanger that will keep you guessing - it won't take you three months to get through!
Forwarning
Of course, you're asking: Why is this novel NOT for sex addicts?
Well, you'll have to read it to find out! I have penned an essay that is included in the appendix of Hourglass, and it will be released shortly on LimitlessMindset.com and as a podcast explaining its provocative subtitle. It's not just the internet marketer in me picking a provocative title. If you're a man with some degree of sexual sovereignty (and you will be if you've implemented some of the stuff I've written about), you'll get a lot more than entertainment out of this novel.
If you're a sex addict, sorry, Hourglass is not for you. You find it "triggering" (to use that word I resisted for a long time). But, it's not much more triggering than life in general and not more triggering than social media if you use it some. Consider yourself forewarned.
Ladies: I joyfully devote myself to loving a woman and read at least a couple of books every year to better understand women. I’ve done a lot of writing on relationships and sex that is gender-neutral. But this book will be for men. I contend that men need to take more leadership (first of themselves) to right the sexual Absurdistan of modernity. And this novel will inspire them to do so with prose, dialog, and a narrative you may not enjoy reading. Consider yourself forewarned.
The Sequel: The Trident, The Tachyon & The Temptress
Wordsmithing relentlessly the climactic final chapter (with a couple of mind-blowing twists) of the Hourglass story in time for release on my birthday (TODAY!), with the word counter ticking closer and closer to 600 pages, I realized that the novel is too long. 600 pages is a big investment for me to ask readers to make in me for my debut novel, so I picked a gripping, cliff-hanging chapter in the middle and cut it into two books.
I've already finished the final chapter, but taking a few months off the project will give the story more time to gestate in my mind, ultimately resulting in an even more satisfying conclusion. I aim to please (and please when I aim), so expect to have your breath taken away by the epically tense, sexy, violent, and philosophical climax of the Hourglass story!
The Trident, The Tachyon & The Temptress will be released in late 2025.
Photos
Videos
Editor review
* Great novelists can write protagonists unlike themselves, and Xavier is about 50% me. As I write in the character inspiration addendum: He’s a version of me that’s better and worse. Xavier has an IQ of 145, while mine is perfectly average at 100. He’s what I could have been if I were more competent, yet lacked the guiding, edifying influences I’ve had.
* It doesn't open like a typical thriller with an explosive cliffhanger; the first few chapters lay the foundation for the philosophical takeaways; portraying a technocratic sexual dystopia and a protagonist mired in it. Push through the first third of the book, and you'll be mightily satisfied with how stakes and tension ramp up!
* Reading it, you may say to yourself, "The world-building is a little weak here for a science fiction novel!" As I explain in a footnote: That’s because I’m portraying the near future, and the near future won’t have flying cars and space empires. Due to declining IQ across civilization, we no longer get macro-innovations like air travel and space flight. We get micro-innovations (better smartphones, faster internet, better AI, etc) that entrench technology deeper in our lives. Until we break out of the statist paradigm (organizing society as a cult around the cathedral of corruption - the government) or the widespread implementation of human gene editing (producing an abundance of +150 IQ babies), all we’ll have is micro-innovation in technology. Which is portrayed in this novel.
* The audiobook is an "Odyssey of the Mind" experience with AI narrators voicing the different characters - which makes it a lot more fun listening experience than my raspy voice narrating the whole thing. The AI narration is damn the quality of the human narration, but you may detect some imperfections in pronunciation, tone, and delivery - part of the reason I include the 11-hour audiobook with the digital book instead of charging +$20 extra for it.
Why it deserves 5 stars...
⭐️ Most novels are just entertainment and perhaps a bit of vague inspiration. Hourglass is different. It's a guide for men to take back their sexual sovereignty in a world doing its damndest to claw it away from them with digital talons. It illustrates the application of some of the edgier Biohacks and lifehacks that you would have to venture to the fringes of the internet to learn about. And beneath its cinematic and sexy veneer, it smuggles a powerful modern-day morality tale about temptation and free will.
⭐️ Beautiful writing of striking settings, scenes, and sights. If you have a good imagination, you'll really enjoy the mind trip I've woven here!
⭐️ The character arc of the protagonist - from a cybercriminal just trying to stay out of jail and seduce an exotic woman to him finding the bravery to protect innocence and try to stop a cosmic cycle of cataclysmic destruction - becomes BIBLICALLY epic in the second half of the story (happy to share advance manuscripts of the sequel with readers!)
⭐️ It's a very original story - I think you'll be very pleased with the way it winds together a cyberpunk dystopia, a clever time-travel literary mechanism (based on some REALLY WEIRD real science), Atlantis, mathematical mystery, and a really touching story of - not true love - but reckless bad romance.
⭐️ All while being sexy and often quite funny at points!
User reviews
The author says in his intro that this is not a book that a woman would enjoy. But I liked it a lot. There is a lot of sexual content, but I didn’t feel it was offensive or overdone. There are some female tropes but that is part of the main character’s development.
The story is so interesting! I didn’t really get the Xavier character at first but there were so many fascinating future elements that kept me connected, like auto taxis, ocular implants that connect you to the internet, and the idea that even looking at someone could violate their privacy. But Xavier does grow on you. And you want to see what he’s going to do next. He gets into some pretty bad places. There are some really great twists really that caught me. And I loved the science-y parts! They were truly fascinating and really pulled me in.
The writing was really amazing. So smooth and easy to read but with a lot of depth. There were so many beautiful phrases and great metaphors. The dialog was mostly strong, with just a few places where it seemed strained. The characters were well drawn and interesting. And his descriptions were so beautiful. I could easily visualize almost everything. This author is a great writer. I can't believe this is his first novel.
Bio-hacking was a big part of Xavier’s life. And thus, many different substances and supplements were talked about. I know the author is an expert in bio-hacking so I get why he would want to incorporate that. And it was interesting. But maybe a bit overdone.
I’m not a gamer but for everyone who is, they will love all the gaming content. And how the author uses it as an important element in his story.
Last but not least, there are some great philosophical explorations in the book that were well-constructed and creatively maneuvered into the story. I really enjoyed those. Especially the one about free will.
I highly recommend Hourglass and am already waiting for the author’s next novel.
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