Iota
An Agnostic Bible Story
A harried man pauses to reflect on the nature of belief, community, and what it means to be alive in the philosophical novel Iota.
In Colin J. Robertson’s layered novel Iota, a mild‑mannered tie salesman is targeted by interfaith assassins.
Ed is an unlikely revolutionary. After becoming the leader of Po Lights, an eclectic group of outsiders who seek to counteract religious fanaticism with quiet pragmatism, he begins to assemble a book that he hopes will become authoritative—a compilation of disparate wisdom that gathers ancient philosophy, modern cartoons, and puzzles together in one volume. Word of this agnostic tome coming together incenses people of faith, though; they worry that his book will compromise their incoming cash. Thus, a cadre of assassins begin to hunt Ed to prevent the book’s completion.
Ed and his vulnerabilities center the novel. Married and childless by circumstance, he wrestles with feelings of failure and disconnection from his wife, his faith community, and society at large. Despite dodging assassins and navigating bizarre situations, Ed’s primary concerns remain human: to find purpose, belonging, and reason to hope.
The book’s secondary storylines always circle back to Ed, including a striking subplot that involves a discarded robotic dog prototype that Ed rescues and names Iota. Though abandoned for failing to function, this AI pet learns and expresses emotion under Ed’s patient guidance. Iota’s arc dovetails with the development of the agnostic text and the characterizations of other Po Lights members.
The prose is sharp, speculative, and satirical, leavening the story’s tense moments and weighty discussions with quips, mischievous footnotes, and offbeat metaphors. For example, Ed’s thought processes are compared to those of a hiker and an off‑leash dog: The man strides straight ahead, while the dog zigzags without direction; still, they end up at the same destination. However, interspersed among the plotlines are excerpts from Ed’s book that take the story off track.
Presented as in‑progress chapters, the passages from Ed’s book include whimsical, often absurd reflections on social, ethical, and philosophical topics. They read like standalone short stories and showcase irreverent humor; even their footnotes layer extra jokes in. However, they also impede the book’s progression, slowing its pace; they do not often advance Ed’s story, either.
Indeed, as the book progresses, the fates of Ed’s agnostic movement and text are rendered secondary to his internal reconciliations of looming questions, as of whether he can salvage his marriage, embrace his surrogate fatherhood of Iota, and find satisfaction in the present. A series of wild near‑death encounters—including an alien assuming dominion over a junkyard—bring Ed to a turning point wherein emotional resolution matters more than ideological triumph.
In the searching novel Iota, a man seeks personal meaning, first by compiling a consequential text and then by looking inward.
Reviewed by
John M. Murray
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
