What do you think?
Disconnected
101 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 1, 2026
About the author
Vivian Herkes
4 books3 followersBorn and raised in the north west of England, Vivian Herkes quickly adapted to the sound of rain. The repetitive sound of rain drops quickly infiltrated his brain. This rhythm grew in time to be the rhythm of the rhymes of his mind. A born poet. At the age of 19 Vivian compiled a collection of his poems and short stories in the form of Disconnected, Which is to be published on September 1st 2026. Disconnected would be the first in a string of publications, each exploring, politics, philosophy, psychology and the absurd world we live in. for updates on his writing work you can follow him on either of his social media pages.
https://www.instagram.com/vivanherkes/#
https://www.facebook.com/me/
https://www.instagram.com/vivanherkes/#
https://www.facebook.com/me/
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
September 15, 2026
Vivian Herkes’s Disconnected brings together speculative stories, surreal sketches, poems, and philosophical reflections about people trying to find a place in the world. Time, identity, loneliness, belief, technology, and political power recur throughout the book, giving its varied pieces a common center. Images of mist, clouds, masks, mirrors, and driftwood turn disconnection into something almost physical. The result feels like a tour through one restless imagination, with ideas and characters resurfacing in unexpected forms.
The short fiction contains the collection’s most developed ideas. “The Old Skoolgie” imagines a future collective consciousness that offers companionship at the cost of individuality, while “The Ghettold” follows a young man into a city where elderly people have been segregated and abandoned. “Faceless” is especially important because it connects Charlie Braeburn to the mysterious Mr. Preston from an earlier story, revealing how a desire to understand everyone can erode a person’s own identity. Herkes often builds these stories like fables, using grotesque twists, dark jokes, and literalized metaphors to examine isolation and institutional cruelty.
The poems give the book a more intimate feel. Pieces such as “For My Friend with Depression,” “Ghost,” and “Uncertainty” speak openly about affection, grief, insecurity, and the fear of losing oneself. Others, including “The Notion of I, in the Nation of We” and “Hell Is a Circus,” turn toward class, nationalism, violence, and political manipulation. The language is energetic and deliberately repetitive, with rhymes and recurring images creating the sensation of thoughts circling inside an anxious mind. Herkes’s hand-drawn illustrations complement that personal, homemade quality, while the self-satirizing “A Critical Review” shows an author willing to place his own doubts inside the collection.
The collection can be blunt, funny, tender, and disturbing, sometimes within the same piece. That emotional volatility suits a book concerned with minds that won’t remain comfortably settled. I’d recommend it most to readers who enjoy experimental small-press writing, speculative social satire, surreal fables, and poetry that values candor over polish. It’ll also speak to anyone interested in how loneliness shapes identity, or how the longing to belong can make individuals vulnerable to lovers, communities, ideologies, and technologies promising connection.
The short fiction contains the collection’s most developed ideas. “The Old Skoolgie” imagines a future collective consciousness that offers companionship at the cost of individuality, while “The Ghettold” follows a young man into a city where elderly people have been segregated and abandoned. “Faceless” is especially important because it connects Charlie Braeburn to the mysterious Mr. Preston from an earlier story, revealing how a desire to understand everyone can erode a person’s own identity. Herkes often builds these stories like fables, using grotesque twists, dark jokes, and literalized metaphors to examine isolation and institutional cruelty.
The poems give the book a more intimate feel. Pieces such as “For My Friend with Depression,” “Ghost,” and “Uncertainty” speak openly about affection, grief, insecurity, and the fear of losing oneself. Others, including “The Notion of I, in the Nation of We” and “Hell Is a Circus,” turn toward class, nationalism, violence, and political manipulation. The language is energetic and deliberately repetitive, with rhymes and recurring images creating the sensation of thoughts circling inside an anxious mind. Herkes’s hand-drawn illustrations complement that personal, homemade quality, while the self-satirizing “A Critical Review” shows an author willing to place his own doubts inside the collection.
The collection can be blunt, funny, tender, and disturbing, sometimes within the same piece. That emotional volatility suits a book concerned with minds that won’t remain comfortably settled. I’d recommend it most to readers who enjoy experimental small-press writing, speculative social satire, surreal fables, and poetry that values candor over polish. It’ll also speak to anyone interested in how loneliness shapes identity, or how the longing to belong can make individuals vulnerable to lovers, communities, ideologies, and technologies promising connection.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review