While We Were Sleeping

by Baltar Xinzo

Danica was an independent young woman living alone in downtown. She had taken the path of isolation, fighting alone to keep her life free of unnecessary anxieties. She thought that there would always be a future to deal with today’s issues, or would not?

On once warm night of summer, Danica went to sleep relying on a world of calculated risks and regularities. However, the world in which she woke up was quite different. A new, ruthless disease had caught humanity unprepared while she was sleeping. In this collapsing society, people fall asleep at random times, and stay unconscious for increasingly longer periods. No one could stay awake long enough to find a cure or to take care of others. The unthinkable became a the end of humanity was near.

This new story by Baltar Xinzo is unsuitable for the faint of heart.

Genres: Science Fiction

80 pages, Paperback

Published March 18, 2025

About the author

Baltar Xinzo is the pen name of an Argentine-Canadian author based in Ottawa. A scientist and engineer by training, Xinzo writes reflective tales that often have a dark undertone typical of the noir genre but also have a sense of hope and optimism atypical of that subgenre. While Xinzo has defined his style as 'analytical fiction,' he frequently dives into existentialism, repurposing literary elements from genres such as cyberpunk, hard science fiction, transhumanism, and transrealism.

Reviews

[C. Paulin · Rating 5 out of 5]

While We Were Sleeping is a gripping novella.

Danica, a young journalist, awakens to find her world changed. Her food has spoiled, her condo’s utilities no longer function, and the downtown neighbourhood where she lives is shrouded in an eerie silence. Only the sparrows sing. An odd phenomenon that causes spontaneous bouts of narcolepsy has descended over the city. Danica must leave her home to find sustenance, but has she considered all the dangers?

Much like The White Wall, what I enjoyed most was the unsettling atmosphere. Each page pulses with tension, and the story is superbly written throughout. Take this passage, for example:

“Late at night, while I’m lying in bed, I think about the vast expanse of the cosmos, and then I become one with all. I am a fragment of the universe that is looking at itself. Often, I think that ‘true freedom’ is not living imprisoned in a body but becoming one with the universe’s consciousness. After I was born, I became a fragment of that field of consciousness, as a particle is a temporary vibration on a quantum field. But I also know that I will return to that field after I die, and I'll become nothing and everything simultaneously.”

The narrative reminded me somewhat of Jose Saramago’s Blindness in that it illustrates human cruelty in the face of a widespread health disaster. It also does a terrific job of highlighting our growing reliance on services and technology.

Overall, I enjoyed While We Were Sleeping, and I look forward to reading more works from this author in the future.

[Rik Ty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very short ebook, and this will be a very short review.
I was worried about spoiling the interesting twist, but currently, it’s right there in the book description.
This is well written, grim at times, but thunderously original. I was very impressed! There is precedent for collapsing society stories – Day Of The Triffids, The Walking Dead, 28 Days Later etc.. But no one has ever done this before!
Hats off to the author!
I was so taken with the story, I started wondering, “What could you do?” “How could you try to survive?” so much so that when the book took a turn at the end, I couldn’t even pay attention to it.
If you’re thinking about taking a look, sure, jump in.
Writers of the genre DEFINITELY should jump in!

[Baltar Xinzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it!