RESET

Published May 2021, Blackstone Publishing

Can you love someone you don’t remember?

After the Last War destroyed most of the world, survivors form a new society in four self-sustaining cities in the Mojave Desert. In the utopia of the Four Cities, inspired by the lyrics of “Imagine” and Buddhist philosophy, everything is carefully planned and controlled: the seasons, the weather—and the residents. To prevent mankind from destroying each other again, its citizens undergo a memory wipe every four years in a process called Tabula Rasa, a blank slate, to remove learned prejudices. With each new cycle, they begin again with new names, jobs, homes, and lives. No memories. No attachments. No wars.

Aris, a scientist who shuns love, embraces Tabula Rasa and the excitement of unknown futures. Walling herself off from emotional attachments, she only sees relationships as pointless and avoids deep connections. But she is haunted by a recurring dream that becomes more frequent and vivid as time passes. After meeting Benja, a handsome free-spirited writer who believes his dreams of a past lover are memories, her world is turned upside down. Obsessed with finding the Dreamers, a secret organization thought to have a way to recover memories, Benja draws her down a dangerous path toward the past. When Metis, the leader of the Dreamers, appears in Aris’s life, everything she believes falls to pieces. With little time left before the next Tabula Rasa, they begin a bittersweet romance, navigating love in a world where names, lives, and moments are systematically destroyed.

Thought-provoking and emotionally resonant, ReSet will make you consider the haunting reality of love and loss, and the indelible marks they leave behind.

Praises for Reset:

“The original concept and propulsive love story mark Dahlan as a writer to watch. Readers will be mesmerized.” 

Publishers Weekly 

“A hauntingly beautiful love story that explores the nexus of memory, identity and love…This would make an excellent book club read.”

Ruth Mitchell, author of Deleted

“Told with an assured, graceful touch, this compelling debut is a story for our current world, where our beliefs and memories are the new battlegrounds.”

Kimiko Guthrie, author of Block Seventeen

“Subtle in its intensity, lush and beautiful, while carefully exploring what it means to be human and what we are to each other. Evocative and literary, I highly recommend it.”

David R. Slayton, author of White Trash Warlock

“An ethereal, existential exploration of memory and meaning that lingers long after the last page.”

D. Eric Maikranz, author of The Reincarnationist Papers

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