What is this?

There is a book called Kyot: The Storybook Puzzle Box.

It contains 140 pieces of short fiction, each less than a page in length. These are presented in 14 chapters, each of which ends with a continuing narrative that frames, discusses, and eventually resolves a single over-arching riddle that is tied to and fulfills the stories told.

And it’s very much a crazy, psychedelic flower.

“Taken together, these tales spin a biopunk epic that is nothing less than startling in its scope and ambition.”

You can blast through at your leisure with no regard for the arc or riddle and just appreciate stories “inspired by the mind-bending fantasy of Jorge Luis Borges and the wide-eyed awe of Arthur Clarke”. Planet-sized DNA machines, cities made of code, daring battles with intelligent bacteria, mysterious space ships, undersea empires, and a singularity in a bubble all await you. By chapter 8, you’ll have met the key players in the big arc the stories are tying together, though the bigger picture really starts unfolding from chapter 10 on.  

Or you can capture notes about the three mysterious ladies in the chapter epilogues along the way and try your hand at solving a riddle presented in the introduction. Things they say, and the shocking interactions between them tell you all you need to know to figure it out. 

“Who are the ladies by the watchfire? Don’t cheat! The journey is worth it.”

What sort of stories are these?

If you’re at all into Arthur Clarke’s shining optimistic futures, Stephen King’s creepy small-town nightmares, or Jorge Luis Borge’s mind-spinning fantasy twists, then consider this your living room. New religions and smiling lunatic killers, cities made of asteroids warmed by an ignited Jupiter, a vessel that sails the information field of biological machines inside people…you’ll slowly come to see these are all connected in a much larger tale that spans from ages past to a very long time from now. 

“I love the worlds he creates! I want to live in them.” -Brock Oliverio of Doc Brock Games

“Really fun book to read! Good questions asked all the way through, keeping the reader involved with the process and interested. The story builds, adding levels and twists until the outstanding climax. I heartily recommend getting this book!!” -Amazon reviewer

“This book is a journey for the reader that makes you want to keep turning pages each seemingly unrelated science fiction short a stand alone marvel of thought provoking scientific concepts you can read over and over and find something you missed.” -Amazon reviewer