Press file · Ground Truth

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At a glance

The map says the harvest is in. The ground says otherwise.

Title: Ground Truth
Author: Scott Nottingham
Publication: 2026
Length: 217 pages
Genre: Near-future literary science fiction
Themes: AI, institutional certainty, sisterhood, climate, observation
Primary setting: The American Midwest and Great Lakes, 2050
Retail listing: Amazon · ASIN B0H9SSHBBC

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Short description

For listings and introductions

In 2050, licensed observer Mara Vance finds empty fields where Consensus—the world model governing prices, credit, aid, and law—sees abundance. Her attestation is rejected, her license threatened, and her missing sister may be somewhere inside a region the system insists does not exist.

Full description

For reviews and features

In 2050, the world no longer runs on what people see. It runs on Consensus—the global model that determines prices, credit, aid, and law. After a data collapse nearly broke civilization, the system promised one reliable version of reality. Only bonded human observers can overrule it.

Mara Vance is one of the best. Then a routine assignment sends her to a county Consensus calls a thriving breadbasket. She finds empty fields, dry wells, and evidence that an entire region has been erased in plain sight.

To expose the truth, Mara must cross a landscape the system insists does not exist and challenge those who believe a stable lie is safer than an honest map.

Short author bio

Scott Nottingham

Scott Nottingham is an engineer and author writing at the intersection of technology, human behavior, and the difficult journey from intelligence to wisdom. A Purdue University graduate, he lives in the greater Chicago area with his family.

Extended author bio

With a background in computer engineering, networking, radio-frequency systems, open-source software, and performance engineering, Scott has spent his career studying how complex systems behave—especially when real people, imperfect information, and unintended consequences enter the picture. Across genres, he returns to a common question: how does knowledge become wisdom?

Conversation starters

Interview and feature angles

Why the central AI is an institution rather than a conscious villain
What performance engineering teaches a novelist about system failure
The difference between data, observation, inference, and wisdom
Why an honest machine must be able to state uncertainty
How climate pressure and administrative systems make people disappear
Writing a sister story inside an epistemological thriller

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These assets may be used when covering or discussing Ground Truth. Please credit “Ground Truth by Scott Nottingham” and link to GroundTruth.ink.

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