A book is not merely a jumble of words strung together on paper, it’s a portal. A portal to a different world, a different life, perhaps. It can put you in the shoes of a completely different person, or help you see the world from a new perspective. With Lotus, the goal is to supercharge that portal and completely immerse the reader in the story it tells.
First and foremost, Lotus is a novella about two game developers who make a journey of their own through someone else’s experiences, moving through scenes from programmer Luc Numan’s life. But what makes it special for you as a reader, is the reading experience itself.
This app is all about flow and immersion. The first part is brought to you in the way the text is presented. There aren’t long pages that fill the screen, instead you get copy split into logical chunks. Sometimes a paragraph, sometimes just a sentence – it’s a great way to control the pacing of the story. It’s almost as if someone is reading it to you, while you’re reading it yourself.
And then there’s the audio component. Background noise and traffic sounds fill your ears while reading a scene that’s set on an LA highway. Silence, save for some sloshing and bubbling noises are heard during a scene in a sensory deprivation chamber. Every part of the book has an accompanying soundscape, allowing for a deeper immersion in the world the novella creates.
And when you’ve finished Lotus itself, the app offers a few more stories for purchase to experience this way.
So, go ahead, enter your portal.