The June Bee by Joseph Malott

Approximate Length: 71,185 words
Genre: Surreal Fantasy / Absurdist Adventure / Philosophical Satire

What if the answer to everything was hidden in a forest that hums, a cult that chews, and a question that no one has dared ask?

Meet June Bee—dreamy, distractible, and prone to spontaneous philosophical outbursts. When a mysterious resonance rattles the roots of reality, June sets off with their nervy companion Polo, a tweedy creature with a terror of doctrinal cutlery, and an entourage of misfit wanderers (including a despairing badger with a flute and a mushroom-obsessed thespian) to seek the mythical Unasked Question.

Their journey leads through towns that smell of boiled cabbage and existential regret, forests thick with sarcasm, psychedelic bogs with oracles addicted to used teabags, and a waterfall that defies physics (but not poetic symbolism). At every turn, June Bee must confront skeptical flamingos, bureaucratic inquisitors, and a universe that prefers cryptic metaphors over straight answers.

A blend of Voltaire's Candide, Alice in Wonderland, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, this whimsically satirical novel asks: What happens when you follow a story that refuses to make sense—and why might that be exactly what you need?

Perfect for fans of surreal adventure, dry wit, and deep questions wrapped in nonsense, The June Bee is a novel about selfhood, silliness, and searching for something that might not exist at all.

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