A Novel by Ben Zalkind
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Rose Gold just can’t catch a break. Her latest “golden opportunity” has given way to a madcap adventure through the soft underbelly of Bonneville City. She finds herself cast in the role of renegade mentor and hero to a trio of idealistic young rebels. Together, they perpetrate an act of subversion targeting “future-mover” and celebrity CEO Moses Honeydew, which puts them in the crosshairs of his Substrate Inc.
Along the way, they join forces with family-doctor-by-day and fixer-by-night, Dr. Hansjorg Winteregg, and go on the lam. Meanwhile, there are rumours about Honeydew’s private space station, The Visionary, which may or may not have dragooned its first passengers into working off their debt. Rose’s boss and his crew go missing. Honeydew announces his plan to take a manned submersible drill to Earth’s mantle to burnish his brand as a fearless and impossibly cool maverick.
With her faithful charges by her side, Rose finds herself at the centre of an unfolding conspiracy. Did she ever truly have a hand on the rudder of fate? And what chance does a quartet of second-rate saboteurs have against a multinational corporation with a vendetta and a trillion-dollar market capitalization?
On October 7, 2025, literary dark horse Ben Zalkind plans to release his debut novel, Honeydew, with Radiant Press, a legendary Canadian indie. And you might be wondering why TerraTech News cares. After all, we usually cover innovation, tech, and humanity’s exciting near future. But when we learned that a “doctor” living in Calgary, Canada had taken aim at man-of-the-moment Moses Honeydew and his company that makes it all, Substrate Inc., our antennae shot up. It’s a bold move from a guy who seems to have spent most of his 20s collecting non-STEM degrees. Substrate sources say Zalkind has no connection whatsoever to Mo Honeydew, who is portrayed as a crazed nerd Napoleon in Zalkind’s eponymous novel. As for the man behind the madness, Zalkind, a Salt Lake City native and naturalized Canadian citizen, seems to be a bit of a wanderer. I found past addresses in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Toronto, Hamilton, and Edmonton. When I reached out to him for comment, he sent only a short, puzzling email in reply: “I kicked it with my clogs on.”
I chatted with Substrate’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Alda Boh, who was clear that Substrate did not authorize Honeydew, which she characterized as “actually really funny for a bunch of BS.” As far as I can tell, the book skirts outright libel, presenting beloved visionary and future-mover Mo Honeydew as a space enslaver obsessed with piloting a souped-up submersible drill to Earth’s mantle. As a show of good faith, Substrate is allowing the book’s publication and even providing web hosting services to its author in an arrangement the company was reluctant to discuss. Though Boh strenuously disclaimed any connection with the work, Substrate sees free speech as the key to humanity’s future, and it wants to support “artists who try super hard, even if they’re no-talent hacks.” TerraTech News is still awaiting a review copy of Honeydew. In the meantime, it seems Substrate wishes the novel and its author well: “Good luck to Ben with his little novel,” said Boh. “We’ll be watching closely.”
Literary dark horse Ben Zalkind is releasing his debut novel, Honeydew, on October 7, 2025 with famed Canadian indie publisher, Radiant Press. And you might be wondering why TerraTech News cares. After all, we usually cover innovation, tech, and humanity’s exciting near future. But when we learned that a “doctor” living in Calgary, Canada had taken aim at man-of-the-moment Moses Honeydew and his company that makes it all, Substrate Inc., our antennae shot up. It’s a bold move from a guy who seems to have spent most of his 20s collecting non-STEM degrees. Substrate sources say Zalkind has no connection whatsoever to Mo Honeydew, who is portrayed as a crazed nerd Napoleon in Zalkind’s eponymous novel. Zalkind, a Salt Lake City native and naturalized Canadian citizen, seems to be a bit of a wanderer. I found past addresses in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Toronto, Hamilton, and Edmonton. When I reached out to him for comment, he sent only a short, puzzling email in reply: “I kicked it with my clogs on.”
I chatted with Substrate’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Alda Boh, who was clear that Substrate did not authorize Honeydew, which she characterized as “actually really funny for a bunch of BS.” As far as I can tell, the book skirts the line of outright libel, presenting beloved visionary and future-mover Mo Honeydew as a space enslaver obsessed with piloting a souped-up submersible drill to Earth’s mantle. As a show of good faith, Substrate is allowing the book’s publication and even providing web hosting services to its author in an arrangement the company was reluctant to discuss. Though Boh strenuously disclaims any connection with the work, Substrate sees free speech as the key to humanity’s future, and it wants to support “artists who try super hard, even if they’re no-talent hacks.” TerraTech News is still awaiting a review copy of Honeydew. In the meantime, it seems Substrate wishes the novel and its author well: “Good luck to Ben with his little novel,” said Boh. “We’ll be watching closely.”
