Bitroux High Country by Jordan Harcourt-Hughes

Title: Bitroux High Country
Author: Jordan Harcourt-Hughes
Publisher: Digital Jazz Communications
Publication Date: January 2025

Genre: Fiction – science fiction, speculative fiction, metaphysical fiction.

Format:
Price (in Australian Dollars): Simple Print edition: $26.13, Illustrated version $42.37
Page numbers: 234
Synopsis:
If Merouac ever thought his life’s work would culminate in leading the metal workshops of the Transcontinental Railroad Project, he was sorely mistaken. 
Now, his true challenge lies in navigating the other-worldly abilities he’s only beginning to understand—abilities that allow him to tune metal to interdimensional frequencies.

While trying to be a guardian to his niece, Evra, he’s realising she may have more to teach him than he ever expected. At the same time, his decision to help an interdimensional race find refuge underground puts him at the centre of an even deeper mystery.

As reality reshapes itself around him, Merouac faces a growing realisation: the world of Ahm is on the brink of a profound transformation, and everything he thought he knew may soon be shattered.

~*~

Merouac lives in Bitroux, where he works in the metal workshops of the Transcontinental Railroad Project whilst taking care of his niece, Evra, who has an uncanny ability to know more than she should – which could change things for everyone, where he is also trying to navigate otherworldly talents and abilities that allow him to tap into frequencies from other worlds – and maybe, it means they can find somewhere for refugees from another dimension…which leads to a larger mystery about where he lives, the fate of his twin sister, and the role Evra has to play. But what is it, and where will Merouac’s journey take him as he watches everything changing around him in Ahm and its transformation.

Science fiction and fantasy novels often take their world to the brink of disaster and destruction, and Bitroux: High Country does this, whilst crossing dimensions, and exploring what a world with multiple dimensions would be like. And what the possibilities are. Whilst this is book two in a series, it did feel like one that can be read without having read the first one, as we explore Merouac’s story and the different ways he is able to work with metal. It’s a story that has changes and mysteries behind every corner, because not everything is straightforward in this novel. What everyone believes may not be true. And everyone is going to react to what is going on around them differently, or have a different way of approaching it.

Whilst at times it did feel slow and had a few obscure moments, these come together eventually and things make sense for the story, so it did help me to continue reading even when I got confused – it was one of those books where I wanted to know what how it was all going to come together, and therefore, I did read it through to find out. It is a little different to what most people might see or understand as science fiction or fantasy though, so it does need a different kind of thinking at times. Or rather, an open-mindedness to see what can be done within the genre that allows it to stand out at the same time as fitting into the genre quite cleverly, I think. There are things that are hinted at, things that could remind us of our world and what is going on or what has happened over the years.

To make the story work, it combines adventure, mystery, and self-discovery in a complex story with its intersections of technology, identity and what it means to be human. The complexities are what make this book work in the end. What brings everything together as it unfolds slowly and at times seemingly disconnected plots and themes appear, but end up becoming intertwined. It means that there are complex layers to unfold in this book, things that need to be understood on their own and then in the wider context of the book. It shows how different worlds and the people within them evolve and live in the world that they inhabit. It is a book that has a different feeling and sensation, something that can’t always be defined. It is an interesting book and concept that brings something unique to life for readers interested in something a little bit different, and something that makes us think about the world around us.