Local author Comfort Creatures (Christopher Kinard) has announced the release of his debut novel, The Cyberdelic Odyssey: Book I – Innocence, a genre-bending story that reimagines the familiar shores of the Lowcountry as a near-future landscape of mystery, espionage, and self-discovery. The book launches Nov. 5, 2025, and will be available at prometheanproductions.com, on Amazon, at Bert’s Market, and through select retailers.
In this speculative and philosophical tale, a spy awakens on a beach with no memory of who or where he is. Guided by a malfunctioning nanite colony, he crosses paths with musicians, surfers, and unexpected allies as he uncovers the truth about the Agency and his shrouded past. His journey across Coffin Island becomes not just a mission to recover what he’s lost, but a search for identity and meaning.
Set in a near-future world where synthetic intelligence is emerging and a massive asteroid approaches the solar system, The Cyberdelic Odyssey blends science fiction with spiritual reflection. Drawing inspiration from the healing waters of Folly Beach and a passion for creative freedom, Comfort’s writing uses lyrical and psychedelic language to explore technology, consciousness, and human connection.
Comfort describes the novel as an invitation to join “the shamanic dance around the digital bonfire,” where the line between human and algorithm blurs. With Book II – Experience already in progress, he also plans to advance blockchain-based publishing to help other creators share their work freely and securely.
Before writing as Comfort Creatures, Kinard studied language, literature, and philosophy at the University of South Carolina. His creative journey began after a transformative time on Folly Beach, where he found inspiration in the works of Alan Watts and Tom Robbins and began crafting The Cyberdelic Odyssey as a love letter to the community and island that renewed him.