Introducing Tales from the Triverse
Start reading here!
Important generative AI note: During 2022 I made use of Midjourney to illustrate Triverse for a time. You can see some of that in this post. In early 2023 I stopped using generative AI altogether, for ethical and creative reasons that you can read more about here. This post is still available in the archive for transparency/historical reasons, but I wouldn’t use AI images if I were to make it today.
Tales from the Triverse is a weekly science fiction crime thriller with new chapters released every Friday. If you subscribe you get them straight to your inbox.
You can read the on-going story entirely for free, or become a paying subscriber to help support the project and access behind-the-scenes author notes.
Alternatively you can check out a visual comic introduction here:
What’s it about?
The story is about intolerance, immigration, multiculturalism and power. It’s about what happens when incompatible viewpoints are weaponised to seed discontent, and the efforts of some to create a fairer world. In the tradition of the best science fiction, fantasy and crime fiction, I’m using the setting to examine themes that matter to me in the real world.
It begins with an incident two hundred years ago which crashed three parallel universes together. Portals open up in 18th century London, sending England down a very different path. We pick up events in the 1970s, with the Metropolitan Police having established a new department to handle portal-related criminal activity.
Tales from the Triverse is part detective drama, part fantasy adventure and part space opera. I’m influenced by the likes of Iain M Banks, Isaac Asimov and ND Stevenson and work including The Wire and Gotham Central.
Who is it for?
If you like science fiction or fantasy, or a mix of both, this is for you. It’s my first foray into crime fiction, but I hope if you’re a fan that you’ll enjoy yourself - especially if you’re looking for something a bit different.
I write fiction that is optimistic, progressive and empathetic. Bad things can happen to good people in the stories, but the overall arc tends to be hopeful.
Note that if it were a movie, Tales from the Triverse would be a 15 certificate in the UK.
How does the newsletter work?
I’m publishing this using Substack. If you subscribe you’ll get the latest chapter into your inbox every Friday.
I also send out writing tips on Mondays, if you’re a writer as well as a reader. You can opt out of those easily if it’s not your thing.
Brand new chapters go out every week. Becoming a paid subscriber helps to support the writing and gets you access to behind-the-scenes author notes. It’s about the cost of a coffee per month.
Who is Simon K Jones?
I’m a writer who has self-published my work online since around 2014. I’ve written these three books:
The Mechanical Crown is my epic fantasy adventure, packed full of airships, swords, battles and politics. It’s big and exciting and I’m very proud of it.
No Adults Allowed is an optimistic, post-apocalypse mixture of Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness, but with a central thesis being that young people are amazing.
A Day of Faces was my debut and is a YA coming-of-age story about a snake girl and her shape-shifting friend who accidentally wind up changing the world. It’s hard to explain. You should probably just read it.
I published all three of those on Wattpad. Tales from the Triverse I’m sending out via newsletter because I’m hoping to nurture a tighter connection with my readers. Comments and feedback are very welcome.
Thanks for taking a look, and you can check out the book by starting at the first chapter:
How did you get the images to go all the way across the page? Is it a certain size or is there a trick to it?
Very excited to begin this journey!