Re: Looking for a critique swap for a near-future sci-fi novel

[Kean Woolf]

I would be interested in swapping with both of you. I also have a sci-fi (65K)
Here's the blurb:

Philli is a seo, an alien sugar glider, one of the few species on planet Meis that survived a long-forgotten terraforming project. Artificially selected by the AI conducting the program, the seo were indoctrinated to see humans as messiahs that would save them from an equally artificially selected predator, the gaibolg.

When a human finally arrives tens of thousands of years behind schedule and completely by accident, Phill’s chance encounter becomes an opportunity to redirect seo culture for the good. Yes, she wants the messiah’s help defeating the gaibolg, but stopping the mutilation practices of fanatics from a dogmatic clergy that chased her and her father from their home would also be nice.

Fortunately for her, there’s a prophecy of a hero's journey that needs to be fulfilled. The messiah is more than willing to send Philli and two others off to find a mysterious giant that arrived before she did. Witnessing said giant led to Philli’s father being labeled a heretic five years ago, and it also might know a way the messiah can return home before she’s driven absolutely up the wall.

On Thursday, May 28, 2026 at 6:51:22 AM UTC+12 Charlie Lesoine wrote:

Hi, I'm interested! Your premise sounds cool, and I think mine is somewhat aligned with what you may be looking for in a critique swap: 

sci-fi/speculative/alt-history (67k words)

Blurb: In the near future, a secret breakthrough at a prestigious university’s quantum computing research lab has unlocked infinite computing power. When a new hire brings on a cosmologist to run her big bang simulations, a mistake on a single line of code leads to the accidental creation of an apparently perfect simulation of the universe. Alternating narratives follow the researchers as they grapple with the scale and ethics of this development, and the people inside the simulation, across a thousand years of history on an Earth altered by the researcher’s attempts to observe it. The story visits the Islamic Golden Age, Song Dynasty China, Renaissance Italy, and Victorian Era England.

Let me know if you're still looking and if this interests you. I've done two manuscript critiques before.

On Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 2:25:09 PM UTC-4 ashingg...@gmail.com wrote:

Heyo!

I'm an agented writer hoping (emphasis on hoping) to finish revising a short near-future sci-fi novel (~65k words). I'm happy to do a critique swap for a project of similar size.

The book is set in a version of Silicon Valley that's run by billionaires as a semi-independent city-state. The story follows a startup founder who forms a parasocial enemyship with a far more successful founder. It's something like Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow meets The Social Network meets Industry meets Black Mirror.

Some of my favorite books are The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin, The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan, The Incarnations by Susan Barker, Idlewild by James Frankie Thomas, The Radiant Emperor duology by Shelley Parker-Chan, The Order of the Pure Moon by Zen Cho, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren, and Tiger, Tiger by Petra Erika Nordlund. If your project is something like any of the above, please shoot me a message!

All the best,

Kemi