BuyMort: Singularity

Read Time: 2 Minutes

BuyMort: Singularity by Damien Hanson and Joseph Phelps – the seventh entry and final entry in the Shopocalypse Saga – jumps the timeline forward a full century from the last book. Tyson wakes to a universe that’s moved on without him, though a few familiar faces remain. Phyllis and Axel are still around, but others have been lost to time. Arizona has become more theme park than desert planet, and Silken Sands itself has morphed into an almost fascist utopia.

The war Tyson sparked against the Church of BuyMort and other affiliates has significantly reduced the network’s planetary reach, yet somehow the system still clings on.

Given the multi-universe-spanning scale described in earlier books, it’s a stretch to imagine how it survived… or maybe I completely misunderstood the scale it worked at. It was one of those moments where it felt like realism needed to bend to keep the story moving. I guess I need to revisit the earlier books and relisten!

Meanwhile, Axel has turned against Tyson, seizing control of the Affiliate and twisting history to his own narrative.

Tyson’s path this time includes interstellar travel to find an old friend, and a near-Trumpian campaign to reclaim the CEO chair at Silken Sands. The story also answers many of the long-running questions about BuyMort to a satisfying conclusion, with the saga’s chaos and humor intact. There’s even a cheeky Jeff Bezos jab near the end, underlining BuyMort’s “Amazon-but-across-multiple-universes” vibe.

The trademark BuyMort “ads” make their return, but for me they’re more grating than entertaining. Heck, downright annoying actually. These are often over a minute long, cutting into the narrative flow, and I found myself skipping ahead through most of them.

Shorter, sharper breaks might have landed better, or at least offered some humour to match the series’ satirical tone… but so many were not particularly funny and repeated the same content over and again within the same ad.

Narrator Wayne Mitchell continues to bring energy and colour to the saga, juggling an array of voices with ease. Podium Audio’s production is usually spotless, though I was surprised to hear a repeated line slip through in a later chapter. Other than that slip up, no other issues I noticed.

As the last entry in the Shopocalypse Saga, Singularity gives the whole series a clear and satisfying conclusion. Long-running questions are answered, major conflicts are resolved, and while the absurdity of life under BuyMort rarely lets up, it feels like a good ending, and a series I’ll certainly return to again.

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