The Heat of Others

Max, a young and ambitious researcher, travels to Svalbard, Norway, to speak at a conference on the ethics of mind enhancement. There, she discovers a high-tech experimental building powered by “Dual Resolve,” a system that harvests human body heat. As the conference unfolds, the warmth of bodies and the pressure of ideas begin to blur, pulling Max into a state of growing uncertainty where thought and sensation are no longer discernible.

In her first novel, Morgane Billuart combines an unyielding Arctic darkness and media critique to explore the boundaries between physical reality and technological innovation.

"Promptly, without introducing herself, another participant raised her hand, slowly moving toward the microphone before spitting out a few words: “I’m sorry, but in such a world, how do you know what you should believe and shouldn’t trust?”

The speaker remained quiet. After inflexing his finger next to his mouth a few times, he reached for the microphone and claimed, while staring directly at Max: “You pay very close attention to your body and your daily senses. The body does not know how to lie to you. Pay very little attention to your mind. It is lying to you. All the time.”