TICKET TO THE MOON!
Is it managed decline – or an alien plot?
In a future where education is a distant memory and “education consumers” are fed edutainment, inadequate managers spew meaningless pabulum, all the while earth’s resources are transferred to tech bros who are desperate to get to their luxury bunkers.
TICKET TO THE MOON! by Burt Shane is a darkly funny reflection of a future ravaged by war, pandemics, and economic decline. It is a world run by a super-rich elite planning their escape while the rest struggle to breathe beneath their collapsing systems. Told from multiple points of view, the story offers a breath of fresh air in dystopian satire, even as it warns: this might hurt.
Shane’s eye for the absurd cruelty of bureaucracy, sharpened by years witnessing managed decline while working in education, turns every scene into a loaded question about what we call progress. Through Phyllis and Marta’s paranormal investigations, Jean’s defiance, and the Chairman’s hollow spin, each moment feels like a time stamp of society’s unravelling, sometimes tragic, sometimes hilariously true.
A stone’s throw from ourselves, this debut novel is smart, unsettling and fiercely alive.
Excerpt:
This building had been state of the art when it was constructed, at least that was the rumour. No one was entirely sure exactly when it had been built, only that it was once called a ‘college’ and that ‘students’ attended ‘classes’ and filled its halls. Again, this was unconfirmed but there were digital files containing photos of young people in the building.
Now the education consumers engaged with online modules, but no one was entirely sure when this happened or how. Supply chain difficulties meant that up to date technology was hard to come by, exceedingly expensive and unreliable.
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