Free Zalivre

Cal, a nervous aspiring American vlogger, is more homesick than ever a year into his life in Zalivre: an island on the South China sea centered around a megacity where billionaires brand neighborhoods and surveillance is constant. He gains more notoriety than bargained for when recruited by a mysterious, oligarchic tech company to act in a new line of hyperrealistic virtual reality games. They’re not the only ones recruiting him; a private investigator needs Cal’s help searching for Diane, his missing best friend. Her last known whereabouts? Cal’s new company.

Deep in the teeming jungles of central Zalivre, Diane has joined a band of guerrilla eco insurgents, risking their lives to protect the unspoiled rainforests. Formerly a precociously successful programmer, Diane’s life has been unravelling since falling in love with a hypnotically charismatic activist in London. Now, as the jungle starts to play with her mind, she starts hearing voices in the trees—telling her she’s the only one who can save the world.

Cal’s own grip on reality is also starting to slip as he risks arrest sleuthing through real and digital underbellies, uncovering disturbing new understanding of him and Diane. And as he pushes past the boundaries of the edge of the world, home might be closer than he expects.

A genre-crossing whydunnit, Free Zalivre explores how we can solve the climate crisis while staying human.