Cloud of Universal Light

In a Queensland country town, a mining executive named Bram Thorzin is captured from a motel and taken to the new community of Thorzinburg. Though he considers himself kidnapped, his captors claim to be rescuing him. They tell him he is their prophet, the founder of their religion: the Cloud of Universal Light. As he has no interest in religion, he keeps telling them they have the wrong person, and that he must have a namesake. This amuses them greatly.

After a few months in the wilderness, the Thorzinists let him return home to Brisbane. He finds nothing left for him there: his family, his home, his job, and his friends have all evaporated. His only practical option is to return to Thorzinburg and become their prophet after all. But a prophet, to earn his keep, has to make prophecies - and prophecies, to be tolerated, must not deviate too far from the religion's official line...

You can read all sorts of messages into this novel. It could be read as a satire on Queensland politics, or a parody of an "airport" novel, or an exploration of social stereotyping. Probably all of these are true. But that's not the way it evolved. I simply began with a hypothetical group of typical Queenslanders, and conducted a thought-experiment: if these people were put in this situation, what could happen? Whatever happened, it would only do so in Queensland. People think differently there.

The first four chapters of the book can be read right here, on this website. This version is not quite final - there have been numerous small changes since this was written, but the general outline is unchanged.