Michael G. Healy
Michael G. Healy
[ VOLUME I — THE SERIES PREMIERE ]
THE HERO ENGINE
Where ancient logic meets artificial minds.
A gripping vision of the future that dares to ask what happens when the human mind becomes secondary to the logic gates of the engine. Michael G. Healy's masterwork starts here.
[ SYNOPSIS ]
WHO SHOULD GOVERN THE FUTURE — GUARDIANS, THE STATE, OR FREE MINDS?
Book Four of the Hero Engine series turns the series' central question outward. Prometheus didn't just end scarcity — it forced humanity to face a problem older than civilisation itself: once abundance is real, who has the right to decide what comes next?
When Prometheus changed the world, it unleashed more than abundance — it reopened the oldest argument in politics. Adam Lister always believed technology could free people from scarcity, fear, and dependency. But as the new world takes shape, older powers move in the shadows: governments, intelligence networks, corporate empires, and ideological movements, each trying to bend Prometheus to its own ends. A machine built to create becomes the prize in a struggle for the soul of civilisation.
At the centre of that struggle is the Aristotle Protocol — a radical framework built not on control, but on reason, responsibility, and human flourishing. Defending the Prometheus legacy pulls Lister and his allies into a subtler kind of war: not over technology, but over philosophy, power, and the very definition of what a human being is meant to be. A techno-philosophical thriller of ideas, ambition, and civilisational choice, where the most ancient questions collide with the most dangerous technologies of the modern age.
[ EDITORIAL REVIEWS ]
“
Healy doesn't just write speculative thrillers; he constructs thought experiments that challenge the core of modern computation.
— PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS JOURNAL
“
A breathtaking collision of classica l history and modern machineintelligence. 'The Hero Engine' is as intellectually rich as it is narrative-driven.
— THE TECH & LETTER REVIEW
“
A magnificent opening volume. Healy has managed to link ancient Alexandrian cybernetics directly to the future of neural nets.
— SPECULATIVE HORIZONS
[ RELATED ESSAYS FROM THE LONG CONTINUITY ]
The Man Who Taught the World to Think in Bits
The Age of the Narrative, Part One:
Britain Doesn’t Need More Engineers.
[ AUDIOBOOK NOTICE ]
FORTHCOMING AUDIO EDITION
An unabridged audio edition of , narrated to capture the cold philosophical weight of the series, is currently in production.
[ SYNOPSIS ]
WHO SHOULD GOVERN THE FUTURE — GUARDIANS, THE STATE, OR FREE MINDS?
Book Four of the Hero Engine series turns the series' central question outward. Prometheus didn't just end scarcity — it forced humanity to face a problem older than civilisation itself: once abundance is real, who has the right to decide what comes next?
When Prometheus changed the world, it unleashed more than abundance — it reopened the oldest argument in politics. Adam Lister always believed technology could free people from scarcity, fear, and dependency. But as the new world takes shape, older powers move in the shadows: governments, intelligence networks, corporate empires, and ideological movements, each trying to bend Prometheus to its own ends. A machine built to create becomes the prize in a struggle for the soul of civilisation.
At the centre of that struggle is the Aristotle Protocol — a radical framework built not on control, but on reason, responsibility, and human flourishing. Defending the Prometheus legacy pulls Lister and his allies into a subtler kind of war: not over technology, but over philosophy, power, and the very definition of what a human being is meant to be. A techno-philosophical thriller of ideas, ambition, and civilisational choice, where the most ancient questions collide with the most dangerous technologies of the modern age.
[ EDITORIAL REVIEWS ]
“
Healy doesn't just write speculative thrillers; he constructs thought experiments that challenge the core of modern computation.
— PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS JOURNAL
“
A breathtaking collision of classical history and modern machine intelligence. The Hero Engine is as intellectually rich as it is narrative-driven.
— THE TECH & LETTER REVIEW
“
A magnificent opening volume. Healy has managed to link ancient Alexandrian cybernetics directly to the future of neural nets.
— SPECULATIVE HORIZONS
[ THE LONG CONTINUITY — ON SUBSTACK ]
ESSAYS
Jul 2026
[ CLAUDE SHANNON — THE LONG CONTINUITY ]
Mar 2026
[ LOGIC — THE LONG CONTINUITY ]
[ AUDIOBOOK NOTICE ]
FORTHCOMING AUDIO EDITION
An unabridged audio edition of The Hero Engine, narrated to capture the cold philosophical weight of the series, is currently in production.