Tag: speculative fiction

2040

In 2040, advanced technology has transformed daily life, yet many social ills remain.
At 40, Michael faces a choice: remain in Boston, tethered to uninspiring government programs, or forge a fresh path. Embracing the latter, he relocates to Berkeley to join his twin brother in his groundbreaking research into dark matter.
Could this elusive, intangible substance, rumored to permeate the universe, also reside within the human brain, holding the key to the mysteries of consciousness?
When an experiment goes awry, or perhaps ominously right, Michael undergoes an extraordinary transformation, emerging with newfound confidence, insatiable ambition, and an enigmatic edge. Enter Anni, a formidable Chinese power broker and trailblazer in the realm of artificial intelligence.
Amidst this backdrop, a catastrophic “sleeping sickness” sweeps across the globe, consuming the consciousness of its victims. Scientists make a chilling discovery; the origins are extraterrestrial.
Delving into themes of dark matter, artificial intelligence, and the new frontier of artificial intimacy, this novel offers a stark look at the challenges and wonders that may await us in the not-so-distant future.

Book Reviews

Bubblequake: Book 3 of the Disposable Soma Trilogy

The year is 2180, and former Senator Jim Liu has switched parties and is now running for president as a Republican. Battling chronic pain, he faces an uphill election battle as his resistance to joining World War Four puts him at odds with most members of his party. Things get more complicated when Jim’s long lost sociopathic brother surfaces, he receives an ear in the mail, and many of the bubbles that America relies on for food, housing, and industry are destroyed in a cascading bubblequake. Adding to the mystery and confusion, strange blue individuals, speaking an unfamiliar language, emerge from an unregistered bubble, leaving society in bewildered disarray.

Book Reviews

Psittacide: Book 2 of the Disposable Soma Trilogy

The 2172 election is soon approaching. The incumbent, authoritarian President Silas Blackwolf, has had his vice president arrested in order to prevent her from invoking the 25th amendment and removing him from office. Now with the election coming up, he has to choose a running mate. His conspiring cabinet steers him toward selecting moderate senator and former presidential grandson Jim Liu. Through Byzantine constitutional logic, the only way Jim can defeat Blackwolf is by helping him win the race.
The plan gets more complicated when a deadly plague begins to spread among the nation’s genetically enhanced, super-intelligent parrots. The only cure is a plant that grows on Centos Island, which currently lies in the middle of an international war zone. Jim finds himself increasingly compromised, as he makes one ethical compromise after another in his struggle to protect the country from Blackwolf.

Book Reviews

The Disposable Soma: Book 1 of the Disposable Soma Trilogy

The year is 2164 and politics has become unrecognizable. Democrats have become conservative, Republicans have become liberal, and an upstart party called the Empathy Party blames all the world’s ills on sociopaths. An assassination leaves the Empathy Party’s candidacy wide open and a clown car of candidates vies for the nomination. One, hotel heir and failed comedian Jim Liu, stands out from the others when he chooses a genetically modified, super-intelligent, opium-addicted parrot as his running mate. This book follows his quest to become the Empathy Party’s nominee for the 2164 presidential election. His campaign takes him through an America where most days are public holidays, psychedelic drug use is widespread, and the last uncontacted people on Earth are the unknowing subjects of a reality show whose fans have tuned it into a new religion.

Book Reviews

Sketching Rebellion

Conformity is mandatory. But seventeen-year-old artist Breel rebels anyway.
In the city of Lexum, personal choice is nonexistent, and defiance is severely punished. Breel is alone in seeing the injustices in her world. Isolated due to her beliefs and haunted by the disappearance of her uncle, she finds solace in the forbidden act of drawing. Creating art is a rebellion against an oppressive regime that stifles self-expression.
When a glimmer of hope emerges in the form of a resistance group, Breel faces a decision. Will she risk execution to join their fight for a society which would celebrate rather than condemn her artistic skills? Or will she continue hiding her non-conformity?
The outcome of her choice will not only define her own fate but may also set in motion a revolution that could reshape her world forever.

Book Reviews

SIMBiotic

t’s 2088 and tech has infiltrated every aspect of our lives: from the cyber-rich decked out in elective prostheses, to every Cybro-controlled citizen hooked up to their holographic heads up display. Humanity has become dependent on tech: SIMbiotic. Now, it’s starting to go wrong.
Trino, an under-the-radar specialist offering HUD alternatives and facial recog mods, can help you disappear. Just ask any of her anti-establishment, privacy-seeking clientele. But when a Cybro guard goes rogue at a nearby riot, her under-the-radar operation gets compromised, forcing her to run.
As the Cybro dragnet tightens, Trino receives an unexpected message that makes her question the authenticity of her father’s death. Desperate and alone, she turns to former client, Neb Fink, cyber genius and suspected Anonymous sympathizer, to help track down the truth only to discover more deception and mysterious death.
Compelled to work alongside her sworn enemy, Trino learns the startling truth about her father while struggling to overcome an even bigger challenge, one endangering humanity’s very future.