Three Eight One

In January 2314, curator Rowena Savalas stumbles upon a story, The Dance of the Horned Road, posted to the internet in the summer of 2024. Is it an autobiography, fiction, fantasy? How does it relate to the history that she knows of the Age of Riches, when millions of bytes of information were created every second?

In The Dance of the Horned Road, the protagonist Fairly walks the titular road – a quest many of the youngsters in her village undergo every year. She is followed by the breathing man, her breathing man: a continuous presence, dogging her heels every step of the way. As Fairly’s quest progresses, so Rowena’s life changes alongside it. A predictable life of curation becomes one of exploration, adventure and love.

An astonishing, metatextual exploration of the traditional quest narrative, of the pressures of growing up, and of the acceptance – and rejection – of your lot in life, this is Whiteley at her most brilliant, a gorgeous work of literary speculative fiction.