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SYNTOPIA EPISTEME

A Design Odyssey / SYNTOPIA / #1

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Book 1 of SYNTOPIA

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Pub Date Jun 15 2026 | Archive Date Dec 12 2026

Independently Published | Staten House


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Description

The old world is sinking...
...but one young woman is designing a new one.
Not a utopia. Not a dystopia. A syntopia.
A solarpunk floating future for stateless sea nomads.
A future empires cannot tolerate.
When hired guns close in, she designs resistance.

Floating Eden Defies Empires.
As the world is being parceled out, Ayesha, born Bajau, a stateless Southeast Asian sea dweller, loses her mother in a traumatic accident. Orphaned in Sumatra, adopted in Singapore, her Leonardesque gift for drawing leads her to study design in France.

Upon returning to her beleaguered stilt village, Ayesha commits herself to helping her maritime community by prototyping self-sustaining floating islands from salvaged plastic and low-tech ingenuity, with the support of her former orphanage bully turned corporate lawyer, a retired U.S. Army engineer, and a gifted Bajau teenager.

But when her half-moon, glinting Eden draws predation, relentless pressure and intimidation from hired guns follow.

Can the Bajau keep their future afloat when land-dwellers keep dragging it under?

The old world is sinking...
...but one young woman is designing a new one.
Not a utopia. Not a dystopia. A syntopia.
A solarpunk floating future for stateless sea nomads.
A future empires cannot tolerate.
...


A Note From the Publisher

This novel is a work of near-future speculative fiction. Some characters appear under their real names with permission; others are fictionalized under alternate names at their request; and several are composite figures inspired by multiple real people. The Bajau Laut are a real maritime community. The worldbuilding is grounded in contemporary geopolitics as of 2025, and all speculative elements are intended to remain within present or near-term scientific and engineering constraints.

This novel is a work of near-future speculative fiction. Some characters appear under their real names with permission; others are fictionalized under alternate names at their request; and several...


Advance Praise

This is definitely one for readers who enjoy science fiction that makes them think! SYNTOPIA EPISTEME has an ambitious, experimental feel that makes it stand apart from more conventional science fiction. — Alena Bobrysheva, NetGalley

We are quickly drawn into a story that moves us swiftly from place to place, from world to world, following the adventures of the brilliant Ayesha, a young woman who cannot bring herself to accept the world as it stands. She embodies an entire generation refusing to submit to the status quo and instead seeks to reconnect with other forces and forms of knowledge in order to reimagine a system built in harmony with the living world, all while continuing to fight against an old order more determined than ever not to be replaced. — Pauline, Goodreads

As a landscape architecture student, reading Syntopia is far more than a literary experience,it compels me to re-examine ecological design. — Yuying Ma, Goodreads

The book is filled with charming details and quirky characters. I love where it ends up, and the world that Ayesha is able to build for herself and her people. — Jacob Harris, Goodreads

Syntopia Episteme, explores the future through a designer's eyes in a way I haven't seen done before. —Ruxing Li, Goodreads

This is definitely one for readers who enjoy science fiction that makes them think! SYNTOPIA EPISTEME has an ambitious, experimental feel that makes it stand apart from more conventional science...


Marketing Plan

Further outreach is planned to academic communities interested in design fiction, speculative architecture, and sustainable futures.

Further outreach is planned to academic communities interested in design fiction, speculative architecture, and sustainable futures.


Available Editions

EDITION Ebook
ISBN 9798905140334
PRICE $12.00 (USD)
PAGES 476

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BISAC Codes

FIC157000 FICTION / Speculative
FIC028010 FICTION / Science Fiction / Action & Adventure
FIC077000 FICTION / Nature & the Environment
FIC036000 FICTION / Thrillers / Technological
FIC047000 FICTION / Sea Stories
FIC028000 FICTION / Science Fiction / General
FIC039000 FICTION / Visionary & Metaphysical