My new book is written! Inhuman Contact the first Galactic Arena Prequel novella is currently being proof read and I hope to get the final copy, with all corrections, completed by this coming weekend (22nd/23rd October). The story is about the first mission to the alien orb at the edge of the solar system and explores the ethics and practicalities of using genetic engineered humans in space travel.
I also hope to get the final version of the cover completed in the same timescale and if so I will publish in just a few days. Here is an unfinished version of one option.
What do you think of it?
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I will also have to finalise the precise wording of the blurb / synopsis / product description but this is the draft version.
A freak accident threatens humanity’s first contact mission to the outer solar system. Each of the genetically engineered backup crew of Artificial Persons knows only their own job and nothing more. They must learn to work together if the mission is to be completed and direct contact with the alien race is to be made.
In 2060, Mission Zero is launched. Humanity’s first great, long-distance voyage to beyond the orbit of Neptune. Invited by the vast alien space station at the edge of our system, the crew of seven elite astronauts sets out with the hopes and expectations of billions back home on Earth.
Max (Medical Assistant XIII) was designed, grown and conditioned for this mission and this mission alone. He is capable of performing complex medical tasks, administering drugs, running blood tests and even assisting in minor surgeries but Max knows nothing more about the mission, the ship or the other Artificial Persons onboard. Only, there is something wrong with Max’s brain.
He is beginning to learn.
The first prequel in the Galactic Arena Series, Inhuman Contact explores the story of Mission Zero and humanity’s first encounter with Orb Station Zero. It examines the origins of the Artificial Persons Program and why there is pro- and anti-AP terrorism on Earth in the main series. It can be read before or after Orb Station Zero or as a stand-alone story.
Does this make you, as a scifi fan, want to read this book?
I am really looking forward to hearing what people think of this story. It is a 40,000+ word novella (technically, when it inevitably wins the Hugo and Nebula awards, it will presumably be classed as a novel, even though it is a novella in spirit i.e. rather focused in location, theme, character etc. Although, the distinction isn’t important in reality…). I first sketched an outline for this book back in 2007 (I still have the notebook) so I am very please to have it done. Finally.
Or almost done.
Coming soon.
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And if you haven’t got it yet, make sure to grab Orb Station Zero now for just $0.99c on Amazon US | UK
