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Solace Pill #1-3
The Solace Pill
What if you could reprint yourself young, healthy, and brilliant?
In 2249, 3D printers are capable of scanning and printing humans. Life on Earth becomes overpopulated, bullet-paced, and stressed. Thankfully, Solace Inc has the solution: a pill which slows the user’s perception of time, and blots out the interminable busy-ness of the world.
But Anders, a quiet anarchist who has worked his way to the top of Solace Inc, has modified the latest batch of Solace Pills. And this modification is going to change everything...
The Solace Pill trilogy is hard-hitting dystopian sci-fi, with a philosophical twist.
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This Omnibus Edition includes:
* Solace Inc
* Solace End
* Preparation 162
In 2249, 3D printers are capable of scanning and printing humans. Life on Earth becomes overpopulated, bullet-paced, and stressed. Thankfully, Solace Inc has the solution: a pill which slows the user’s perception of time, and blots out the interminable busy-ness of the world.
But Anders, a quiet anarchist who has worked his way to the top of Solace Inc, has modified the latest batch of Solace Pills. And this modification is going to change everything...
The Solace Pill trilogy is hard-hitting dystopian sci-fi, with a philosophical twist.
-----
This Omnibus Edition includes:
* Solace Inc
* Solace End
* Preparation 162
ebook
First published August 27, 2014
6 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Jason Werbeloff
60 books326 followersHuman. Male. From an obscure planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. Sci-fi novelist with a PhD in philosophy. Likes chocolates, Labradors, and zombies (not necessarily in that order). Werbeloff spends his days constructing thought experiments, while trying to muster enough guilt to go to the gym.
He's the author of the sci-fi thriller trilogy, Defragmenting Daniel, two novels, Hedon and The Solace Pill, and the short story anthology, Obsidian Worlds. His books will make your brain hurt. And you'll come back for more.
Subscribe to his newsletter to receive a free book, and a lifetime of free and discounted stories.
**Amazon Author Page - download all of Werbeloff's fiction from Amazon.
**Facebook and Twitter - follow Werbeloff for release date information on upcoming novels.
**Website - read about the author, and the philosophy behind his fiction.
He's the author of the sci-fi thriller trilogy, Defragmenting Daniel, two novels, Hedon and The Solace Pill, and the short story anthology, Obsidian Worlds. His books will make your brain hurt. And you'll come back for more.
Subscribe to his newsletter to receive a free book, and a lifetime of free and discounted stories.
**Amazon Author Page - download all of Werbeloff's fiction from Amazon.
**Facebook and Twitter - follow Werbeloff for release date information on upcoming novels.
**Website - read about the author, and the philosophy behind his fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 5, 2014
"Giving you the time you'll never have." **shiver**
In Jason Werbeloff’s The Solace Pill Omnibus Edition, which collectsThe Solace Pill trilogy into one single volume, readers are taken into a dystopian world where 3D printing has advanced to having the capability of scanning and reprinting humans with whatever modifications they desire. Want to understand quantum physics or have memories of a Caribbean vacation? Reprint yourself. Want to be young and perfectly sculpted? Reprint yourself. Want to be fueled and fully rested without wasting time to eat or sleep? Yep, reprint yourself. With so much time freed-up and no limits on life expectancy, the world is overpopulated and overworked, and the solutions provided by 3D imprints are beginning to show their imperfections. Fortunately, there’s a pill for that. The Solace Pill allows users to escape reality for fifteen minutes, but their perception is five hours of relaxation and rejuvenation without the stress of the real world. But, as is often the case with seemingly perfect worlds, there is a dark side where some people and issues are erased with a push of a button, and other people aren’t who they seem and have hidden motives. Civilization collapses when tainted pills have disastrous effects of death, destruction, and mayhem. The few who survive without Solace in their system must find a cure for those stuck in the Solace induced worlds, but time and options are running out.
The premise of The Solace Pill is both fantastic and frighteningly possible. While many of us can barely wrap our minds about the reality of 3D printing in our world today, certainly there are scientists who are already considering how to take 3D printing to organic levels. Much like today, in the future, people are fascinated by that which they have lost – authentic, real, unadulterated items which they call “tiques.” I found it very interesting to read and see how the future society, as is typical today, took something good and perverted it: the loopholes were found, the immoral was done to turn a buck, and the humanity was taken out of the human. And of course, there was economic bias created so that not everyone had equal access to imprinting or the Solace Pills. In this respect, the character of Anders was particularly intriguing as one of the few who worked his way up from nothing, to seemingly having it all, yet craving the old ways. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to know him better, to better understand him and the turning-point of the book.
Jason Werbeloff didn’t hold back any punches in showing the self-serving, ugliness of people when they are encouraged to be egocentric and the sense of community is lost. The loathsome Jordan was probably the best written character because he represented the evil of so-called progress, and he was consistently wicked in all three sections. The character of Sahasra was promising but then got weird and confusing in book two with the introduction without explanation of the elders – I really had no idea what was going on there. For me, there was also confusion with chapters jumping forward and backwards in time and some full scenes being identically repeated – this could be due to the Omnibus edition consolidating three stories, but it was confusing nonetheless.
Overall, The Solace Pill is a disturbing snapshot of a feasible future, and it was worth the time to read it. Readers be warned, though: it will leave more than a few questions unanswered and situations unexplained, leaving readers feeling foggy. The book includes sexual situations, violence, and profanity.
This book was reviewed for Readers' Favorite, who provided me an eBook in exchange for my honest review -- the only kind I give.
In Jason Werbeloff’s The Solace Pill Omnibus Edition, which collectsThe Solace Pill trilogy into one single volume, readers are taken into a dystopian world where 3D printing has advanced to having the capability of scanning and reprinting humans with whatever modifications they desire. Want to understand quantum physics or have memories of a Caribbean vacation? Reprint yourself. Want to be young and perfectly sculpted? Reprint yourself. Want to be fueled and fully rested without wasting time to eat or sleep? Yep, reprint yourself. With so much time freed-up and no limits on life expectancy, the world is overpopulated and overworked, and the solutions provided by 3D imprints are beginning to show their imperfections. Fortunately, there’s a pill for that. The Solace Pill allows users to escape reality for fifteen minutes, but their perception is five hours of relaxation and rejuvenation without the stress of the real world. But, as is often the case with seemingly perfect worlds, there is a dark side where some people and issues are erased with a push of a button, and other people aren’t who they seem and have hidden motives. Civilization collapses when tainted pills have disastrous effects of death, destruction, and mayhem. The few who survive without Solace in their system must find a cure for those stuck in the Solace induced worlds, but time and options are running out.
The premise of The Solace Pill is both fantastic and frighteningly possible. While many of us can barely wrap our minds about the reality of 3D printing in our world today, certainly there are scientists who are already considering how to take 3D printing to organic levels. Much like today, in the future, people are fascinated by that which they have lost – authentic, real, unadulterated items which they call “tiques.” I found it very interesting to read and see how the future society, as is typical today, took something good and perverted it: the loopholes were found, the immoral was done to turn a buck, and the humanity was taken out of the human. And of course, there was economic bias created so that not everyone had equal access to imprinting or the Solace Pills. In this respect, the character of Anders was particularly intriguing as one of the few who worked his way up from nothing, to seemingly having it all, yet craving the old ways. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to know him better, to better understand him and the turning-point of the book.
Jason Werbeloff didn’t hold back any punches in showing the self-serving, ugliness of people when they are encouraged to be egocentric and the sense of community is lost. The loathsome Jordan was probably the best written character because he represented the evil of so-called progress, and he was consistently wicked in all three sections. The character of Sahasra was promising but then got weird and confusing in book two with the introduction without explanation of the elders – I really had no idea what was going on there. For me, there was also confusion with chapters jumping forward and backwards in time and some full scenes being identically repeated – this could be due to the Omnibus edition consolidating three stories, but it was confusing nonetheless.
Overall, The Solace Pill is a disturbing snapshot of a feasible future, and it was worth the time to read it. Readers be warned, though: it will leave more than a few questions unanswered and situations unexplained, leaving readers feeling foggy. The book includes sexual situations, violence, and profanity.
This book was reviewed for Readers' Favorite, who provided me an eBook in exchange for my honest review -- the only kind I give.
May 23, 2015
"That day, slow and warm, a beam of sunlight caught in honey."
Sometimes I fall in love with a book so strongly I just don’t want the reading to end. Ever.
…And yet it feels so sweet to thread through the pain of the last page and into the sea of appraising complete work afterwards, arranging opinions, weighing impressions, cataloging new entry in great library of my mind.
I really, really loved The Solace Pill Trilogy (omnibus edition containing Solace Inc, Solace End and Preparation 162) by Jason Werbeloff.
I found my way to it through weekly NoiseTrade newsletter and I loved cover illustration so I downloaded the book. I started to read it on my iPhone (I find MegaReader app excellent for some reading on the go) and I instantly got enamored with the story so this mode of reading fast, short hits resisted transition to bigger screen for a long time and only when I entered Preparation 162 I decided to ingest the rest of the book in one final big gulp.
It is truly a wonderful idea, this choice of term solace pill. In a time already battling heightened stress conditions and dawn of #firstworldproblems concept this interplay of identity topics with sociological and psychological issues involved is both fascinating and food for the mind. Since science fiction is my favorite genre it is not that I did not encounter transportation/cloning identity issues before but the elegance with which the author Jason Werbeloff had resolved some of opened questions is absolutely endearing and gives this topic fresh look and feel of originality.
What I liked most?
I loved how the author gives us enough details about characters so we can remember their names and put their stories in context but not enough to make us distort the story so we can empathize.
I loved how relationships between characters are straightforward, showing genuine, visceral feel of human motivation. Not all behavior is rationally explainable when it happens and narratives are often chosen post festum, to justify rather than describe.
I enjoyed George and Kora storyline most, its dirty and unsophisticated veneer and rich and personal multitude of difficult questions beneath the surface. Being that personal relationships are always in center of my attention, both as a player of the game and as a psychologist specifically keen to research personal relationships I enjoyed gritty and down to earth process author decided to use for this particular dyad, making it a perfect small-scale example of every topic of the book; from identity to emotion, autonomy to dependence, from personal to social.
This is one wonderful story and I warmly recommend not only reading it but also reading it mindfully and thinking about happenings inside; inside the book and inside your own mind and inside the society present here and now - society already pregnant with solace pill seed.
* review also published on my blog page here: The Solace Pill at Kaleidoscope Situations
February 21, 2015
I read the Omnibus edition. The force of this story is in the challenge to our current obsessions with technology to entertain us and in the growing sense of isolation between people even in a sea of multi-media interaction. My Kindle version of this book felt oddly jumbled, with chapters repeated verbatim occasionally, and this practice threw me off a bit. This was done purposely, I think. The book throws the reader off kilter by juxtaposing different character POV's from different times through the Solace Pill journey. It feels a bit cluttered and jumbled done this way, but it also raises the sense of alarming disjointedness in time for the characters too. You feel something of what they are feeling as their beautiful, shiny world starts to crumble.
Werberloff has created the ultimate dystopian future built on today's burgeoning technologies. Google glass and its antecedents, 3D printing, overcrowding, with architecture that reaches into the upper atmosphere. It sounds like it might be terrible and terribly exciting - and it is. The writing is paced well, beautifully rendered, but I would have preferred a more linear plot, than the back and forth jolts in time and perspective.
This story did bring dreams, though. And they frightened me with what might be possible for the human condition in the future.
Werberloff has created the ultimate dystopian future built on today's burgeoning technologies. Google glass and its antecedents, 3D printing, overcrowding, with architecture that reaches into the upper atmosphere. It sounds like it might be terrible and terribly exciting - and it is. The writing is paced well, beautifully rendered, but I would have preferred a more linear plot, than the back and forth jolts in time and perspective.
This story did bring dreams, though. And they frightened me with what might be possible for the human condition in the future.
November 18, 2014
This was a short book and easy to read the pages turn quickly, but for being short (Actually a trilogy of 3 Shorter Stories) it is packed solid with complexity. A rush of different emotions come throughout different times in this book, it can be dark, very dark at times, it can be complex with multi-time lines and versions of people at different times, but the redemption and restitution of what is right finally comes at the end. You truly feel for the characters and their freaking messed up world they have to deal with, which seems like a never ending spiral that constantly just gets worse, but the actions of a select few pull everything back at the end. I enjoyed this book a lot, if you are a fan of complex timelines, multiple worlds and futures you will like this book.
February 14, 2020
This Werbeloff guy is totally unique. I do kinda sorta know him (so, there's a disclaimer)... but, wow. I've read two of his books so far... and both reminded me of nothing I've read before.
Solace Pill was his first book. I can't even imagine how much better he'll get from here.
Solace Pill was his first book. I can't even imagine how much better he'll get from here.
March 25, 2020
I liked the concept, funny that being up to print bodies wasn't the focus of the story - I think I like the whole story better than the episodes - which didn't quite fit together smoothly, especially episode 3 - still love the sci-fi concepts
January 2, 2018
Great stuff! Wonderfully imaginative and a unique voice. My only criticism is that it is too short!
December 9, 2014
I really want to like this book! The author has a great story premise that is different from anything else I've read, and there's some great material in here. But I just can't. I read the first book a while back when it was in it's first edition; it was good, but lacked a lot of formatting. The author has since edited book 1 and written books 2-3. Book One is great! The improvements in the editing are a MAJOR upgrade and make it much easier to read. Unfortunately, the author didn't carry that flow of book one across to the following two books.
The story just jumps all over the place; you never know what time frame you're in or who you're reading about. The story of the Link doing the Remembering is very intriguing, but it's never developed or tied in to the actual story. Book three has brand new characters and is only VERY loosely connected to what we read about in Book 1-2. In fact, book three has whole sections that are identical to the previous chapter; oversight on the editing for sure.
Overall, while the premise of the story is super intriguing, it just doesn't make sense. I read through to the end, even though I nearly gave up because I just wasn't understanding the story and characters. It's almost like the author just wrote down all his ideas on paper, gave them a random order, and called it done. There's no flow and I finish the story more confused then when I first started.
**spoilers** **note to author**
Make the Link (boy Remembering) a more prevalent part of the story, and actually make his timeline end somewhere when, maybe, he figures out what exactly happened in the past.
Make it clear what the timeline is, because I could never keep track of whether something was the Past, Present or Future, or some time that was no longer relevant because someone RePrinted.
You introduce too many characters for us as readers to keep up with, without divulging into the relationship between those characters and other characters in the book. You also very often end those character storylines abruptly without any wrapping up.
The story just jumps all over the place; you never know what time frame you're in or who you're reading about. The story of the Link doing the Remembering is very intriguing, but it's never developed or tied in to the actual story. Book three has brand new characters and is only VERY loosely connected to what we read about in Book 1-2. In fact, book three has whole sections that are identical to the previous chapter; oversight on the editing for sure.
Overall, while the premise of the story is super intriguing, it just doesn't make sense. I read through to the end, even though I nearly gave up because I just wasn't understanding the story and characters. It's almost like the author just wrote down all his ideas on paper, gave them a random order, and called it done. There's no flow and I finish the story more confused then when I first started.
**spoilers** **note to author**
Make the Link (boy Remembering) a more prevalent part of the story, and actually make his timeline end somewhere when, maybe, he figures out what exactly happened in the past.
Make it clear what the timeline is, because I could never keep track of whether something was the Past, Present or Future, or some time that was no longer relevant because someone RePrinted.
You introduce too many characters for us as readers to keep up with, without divulging into the relationship between those characters and other characters in the book. You also very often end those character storylines abruptly without any wrapping up.
November 29, 2014
This is gripping, I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. The ideas are original, printers being used to reprint people. And it was believable that the time freed up was used for constant paid work so people could afford to print more. I also liked the way the story unfolded, it wasn't all spelled out at the start so you found out things as you went along.
SPOILERS: some things we didn't find out at all. And the ending didn't tie anything up. The third part was separate from the rest and there was a bit of repetition, so it did feel like three books put together at a few points.
I personally did not think Anders would hit Richard himself, he would get someone else to do it. Maybe Anders had changed that much from his youth. He could press a button to kill someone, but that's different to hitting a person in the face. Or killing billions of people by altering a drug, for that matter.
An interesting and intriguing read.
SPOILERS: some things we didn't find out at all. And the ending didn't tie anything up. The third part was separate from the rest and there was a bit of repetition, so it did feel like three books put together at a few points.
I personally did not think Anders would hit Richard himself, he would get someone else to do it. Maybe Anders had changed that much from his youth. He could press a button to kill someone, but that's different to hitting a person in the face. Or killing billions of people by altering a drug, for that matter.
An interesting and intriguing read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 22, 2014
Promising first book from a new author. This dystopian science fiction work is really three short stories combined into a single novella. There are some original ideas in here - modifying time perception and corresponding biological processes through pharmaceuticals, and "printing" humans at the atomic level, with all the sociocultural effects that such a technology would create. The execution was a bit uneven - too many ideas, characters, and plot were packed into too few pages. There was no resolution to several major plot threads, and bizarrely, there were a few sections of several pages each that were duplicated word for word later in the book. Nevertheless, I liked the concept and will look for more from Werbeloff in the future.
December 7, 2015
Maybe I didn't appreciate this book as much as I should have because I was reading other things at the same time, including Werbeloff's wonderful anthology Obsidian Worlds.
For me, this was Werbeloff's first mis-step. I liked it, it was creative and unique, but I found the jumping around very confusing, especially at the end. Maybe it was all very clear in the author's mind, and it just didn't get on paper right.
I think this book demands focus and dedication from the reader and I don't think I gave it enough. Certainly for hardcore sci-fi fans, it'll be well liked but I think it was too heady for me.
For me, this was Werbeloff's first mis-step. I liked it, it was creative and unique, but I found the jumping around very confusing, especially at the end. Maybe it was all very clear in the author's mind, and it just didn't get on paper right.
I think this book demands focus and dedication from the reader and I don't think I gave it enough. Certainly for hardcore sci-fi fans, it'll be well liked but I think it was too heady for me.
June 28, 2016
Take a pill to have a good time; take a pill to "do over"; take a pill to become someone else! This is a science-fiction novel. I had a hard time following the characters and the plot. I realize that this is not my type of novel It was interesting to a point (once I got the gist of the book).
Anyone who loves sci-fi stories will probably like this one. I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I will be reading this genre soon.
Anyone who loves sci-fi stories will probably like this one. I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I will be reading this genre soon.
November 29, 2014
Good read. The jumping in time was jarring at first and towards the third part of the book it felt like I grabbed the wrong story. I wondered what I was reading. It finally got back on track midway through the last part.
November 21, 2014
2.5 stars
An interesting concept, but the story jumps in time and through characters a lot making it difficult to follow. Some story lines are just left hanging never to be returned to which is frustrating.
An interesting concept, but the story jumps in time and through characters a lot making it difficult to follow. Some story lines are just left hanging never to be returned to which is frustrating.
December 5, 2014
Really interesting and original story about the near future. I have to admit I had a hard time here and there understanding what was going on in the last third but I feel like that's more on myself than the writer. I'm looking forward to reading more by this new author find.
July 14, 2015
I really didn't care for the book. I thought the premise was cool, but I hated the format: too many characters, too much jumping forward and back in time, too much new vocabulary. I just couldn't get into it.
August 17, 2015
Loved this!
What a fantastic concept and by God, doesn't it make you think about the human race, what we are doing to each other right now, and where that will lead us? You will be philosophising about the things in this book for a long time afterwards, believe me.
Brilliant!
What a fantastic concept and by God, doesn't it make you think about the human race, what we are doing to each other right now, and where that will lead us? You will be philosophising about the things in this book for a long time afterwards, believe me.
Brilliant!
November 17, 2014
This was a good read, but was a bit hard to follow at times. That being said. I still look forward to more from this author. His ideas and concepts are good.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews