140 pages, Paperback
Published At PKD Fest August, 2026 by Pink Beam Press
Known for his series of non-fiction books on various topics related to Christianity, I came to know Keith through PKD circles. I don't know whether I interviewed him first for the podcast or he asked me to write a foreword for a PKD collection reprint. Keith and I have now worked through Quoir or Pink Beam (an imprint of the larger press.) closely with Keith on many projects, and I find him to be a smart science-fiction mind as a reader, editor, and publisher. Along the way, he told me that he wrote a novella.
Well, shit I wanted to read it, but at the time he had no plans to publish it. Having not read a word, I trusted that it would be good, so I asked him if he was interested in doing novellas together for release at PKD Fest 2026. So let me first admit to that connection with this book. What started as two novellas turned into 7 for the fest.
That being said, if I didn't truly think this was a great work of science fiction, then I would just not review it. Hard Video is thoughtful, deep science fiction, and a great debut that only shows one or two tiny areas for growth, but a towering achievement for a writer with his fiction debut. Keith has written more than a few books, and in that sense he honed lots of skills. He is well-read in genre, passionate about creating SF-worlds that make the future a better place.
One of the only nitpicks is out of the author’s hands. Keith has said this idea is decades old; in some ways the world-building shows some age, but I think that is more of a feature than a bug. If you want to stay spoiler-free, here is your warning.
Hard Video is about our growing dependence on technology for all aspects of our daily lives, and it could be with existing technology, but the novella exists in a world where the online, and real worlds blur, and people even walk in the real world wearing digital avatars. Thanks to subtle but effective world-building, this novella feels like the work of an old pro instead of a debut. A life of reading sci-fi didn't hurt; it bleeds off every page. The HV addicted future feels real, and we understand on a deep level that it is a hard addiction to break.
¨I wondered if I could really live without my HV or not. I could always get a new one, but they’d want my identicode to authorize the unit, and then I’d be back on the run again. They were getting closer now. My heart thundered in my chest.
Goodbye, HV.”
The characters are well drawn, and despite the ways they hide from reality, Giles gives enough of them that we can see both the fake and real characters; that push and pull creates a very interesting dynamic that is most clear when they can even conceive of the idea of thinking for themselves.
¨Absalom had calmed himself enough to force a thin smile at me. You’ve given up trying to escape reality, haven’t you,That’s why you killed that cop. That’s why you ran away when any other person would’ve surrendered. Most people just want to numb themselves to the Truth. The real world is too much for them. Hell, they spend all their money to fill their every waking moment with non-stop chatter. “News, information, entertainment, and distractions, all designed to keep out the real world. All designed, he said, leaning forward, to keep out the Truth.
The Truth.”
The Truth, or real life, becomes a thing that creates pressure on the system and the characters equally. Rico and Nicotine become fugitives for their crime, rejecting the false reality. It might seem this is setting up a thriller, and a film could do that; KG is interested in the questions of emotions of the story.
The characters are made weaker and slowly destroyed by dependence.
¨This is killing you, Rico, you've got to stop it.¨
¨ It's not killing me. It's the only thing that keeps me from putting a bullet through my own head.
¨Dont you see, Rico you're still a slave to HV. You think you're free of that world out there because you're able to turn it on and off at will; you're kidding yourself.¨
They are kidding themselves because once disconnected, one of the novella’s strongest emotional beats happens. They see each other
“Her HV protection shimmered in the digital half-light, soft auburn curls, moviestar cheekbones, skin like satin.
Beautiful. Untouchable. Unreal”
I tend to look for mission statements in stories, and this one is close enough to the surface it is no mystery, but I think these scenes being the emotional core of the novel is a more important talking point. The human connection is the heart of this story.
“Not Nicotine, the HV-constructed femme fatale. Not the edgy rebel badass.
Just a girl. Dark hair, still damp from the shower. Eyes too large for her face. A small scar bisecting her left eyebrow. Her lips, chapped. Her skin had texture, warmth, and flaws.
She looked at me like I was a ghost.
öh, she said.
¨What?¨
Ÿou look different.¨
¨Good different or…¨
Hard Video is excellent SF that is thoughtful with a really humane core. That is the mission should you choose to accept it. I loved it
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