Hellsans

HellSans is set in a fictional UK, where HellSans is a ubiquitous typeface, enforced by the government in all communications and in all public spaces. It is the ultimate control device. The majority of the population experience bliss when they see the typeface, but there’s a minority who are allergic to it. The HellSans Allergic (HSAs) are persecuted, and live on the streets or in a ghetto on the outskirts of the capital city.

Jane Ward, CEO of the company that manufactures the Inex (a cyborg doll-like creature that has replaced the smart phone as the essential aid and accessory) has everything: fame and fortune, until she falls ill with the allergy and becomes embroiled in the government’s internal power struggles. She loses her job and her wealth, ending up in the ghetto until she is rescued by Dr Icho Smith. 
Icho is a scientist who has developed a cure for the allergy, but she is on the run from the government and the Seraphs (the ghetto ‘terrorist’ group), who all have their own agenda for the cure. Jane and Icho work together, aiming to expose government corruption and bring the cure to the HSAs.

HellSans is written in three parts. Parts one and two can be read in either order which provides a unique approach to the perspectives of the haves and have-nots in the run-up to the revolutionary conclusion.

File Under: Science Fiction [ Dystopian Nightmare | Typography Matters | Artificial Friends | Nevertheless Resist ]

Ever Dundas has a degree in Psychology and Sociology and a Masters in Creative Writing. Her first novel, Goblin, won the Saltire First Book Award. She has ME and Fibromyalgia and has funneled her anger at how disabled people are treated and marginalised into this, her second novel. She received a Creative Scotland Funding award to support the writing of HellSans. Ever, and fellow writer Julie Farrell, set up Inklusion, securing funding to produce a kickass guide to making literature events accessible for disabled people. This guide will launch in August 2022 at Edinburgh International Book Festival.