In a heretofore calm pocket of a postapocalyptic world, a few survivors find they are not alone as they face a new reality rife with cosmic horrors.

In an isolated village at the edge of a forest, the last of humanity ekes out a spirited existence on an Earth that was ravaged by cataclysm generations ago. Here, Sky Memoriam prepares to assume the role of memory keeper, sole relator of the long-forgotten histories of the Old World. But Sky is in for a shock.

When a ship from somewhere out in space lands in the survivors' clearing, its wisecracking AI interface, known as Box, quickly announces its intention to integrate Sky into what the visitor insists is the true reality. It seems assimilation is necessary if Sky is going to withstand the eldritch horrors—so soul-rippingly incomprehensible there are no words to describe them—that are coming.

Creature-combat training aside, Sky's greatest task will be making sense of everything the snarky bot keeps trying to impart about limitless imaginations, the endless infinity of other worlds, and the dangers on this one. Being torn between two realities—the one of the wasteland Sky and the plucky village folk call home and a new one proffered by Box—is enough to drive anyone insane. But as Sky soon discovers—and as weird as it sounds—madness itself may be the key to surviving this wild ride.

At once violent, funny, and hopeful, Shades of Forever is a reality-shattering, mind-melting slice of dystopian fiction from author, activist, and former NFL punter Chris Kluwe.