Ethics after the End of the World

What if you suddenly knew the true purpose of life, the universe, and everything, and not only you but everyone else in the world knew too, all at the same time. What follows is a touching tale and exploration of a wedded mathematician and philosopher faced with the ultimate truth of reality and what it means for them, the world, and their future.

"A "weighty significance" that'll hit you like a brick. Prescient, touching, and thought-provoking, Kaye's going to take you to the precipice of your lived life and afterlife and ask you: what's the meaning, for you? And offers a choice. So how close are you willing to get to the Truth?"

 — Stephen Embleton, 2024 Nommo Award Winner for Best Speculative Fiction Novella, Undulation.

"Blaize Kaye's vision of the future is tender, prescient and profound. 'Ethics after the End of the World' offers us science fiction at its most intimate, allowing us to go beyond picturing the world he has created, to feeling it. Blaize's work, as seen so clearly in this story, concerns itself with loneliness and loss in this world and others, but is always grounded in human connection."

— Amy Heydenrych, author of Bad Luck Penny.

Blaize M. Kaye is a writer and programmer from Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. His work has appeared in Omenana, Strange Horizons, and Nature, among others, and has been translated into Bengali, Italian, and Mandarin. He has been a finalist for both the Nommo Award for short fiction and the Short Story Day Africa prize. In his spare time, he likes to think about philosophy, formal systems, and fiction. 

The ZamaShort imprint series is solely focused on the amazing powerhouse that is the short story. We give each short story its own publication so that it may be read and enjoyed fully as a stand-alone publication. As per the StoryTime Publishing mandate initialised in 2007, ZamaShort continues to champion and add to the ever-growing canon of African literature excellence and diversity.