Zenith: Aftermath—Is the End of the Human Era in Sight?

If you know my writing, you’ll know I like to tackle big issues and concepts through good stories. So, it won’t be surprising that I’d write a book exploring the question of life without a physical body, whether that’s some form of artificially created digital intelligence or uploaded human consciousness, or something else entirely. You can’t escape the current AI boom these days, though I wrote my newest published novel, Zenith: Aftermath, a few years back, before all this took off.

In Zenith: Aftermath billionaire philanthropist and showman Griffin St. Clair and a select group of VIP guests are participating in a promotional stunt aboard the hyper-speed underground Zenith Train (think Musk’s Hyperloop idea, except my St. Clair character is much more Richard Branson than Musk!) when an unknown phenomenon hurls them into a world where the train has lost power, and its tunnel is crumbling. They emerge into a world apparently without humans—an uncanny forest of silent clearings and brooding trees, devoid of other life. Their prospects for survival look grim until, suddenly, a voice speaks to them from the air.

There are countless science fiction treatments of artificial intelligence and/or digital life, from movies like The Matrix and The Terminator, to TV shows like Upload, and many good short stories and books, including Robert J. Sawyer’s WWW trilogy and his recent The Downloaded with its coming sequel. So why dip into that well again?

It feels like most of the stories go big—they’re large-scale warnings about how AI run amok could wreck the world. I wanted to go small and personal: to explore how—or even if—ordinary people could relate to a disembodied being. What would the interaction be like from the perspectives of both the humans and the other entities? What would be the “life experience” of such a being; what would it feel like, or could you even talk about feelings at all? What if you could experience both forms of existence: how would they be similar and how would they be different?

You can see what rich material that can be for a fiction writer, especially set within a survival situation with a group of strangers thrown together to sink or swim. But even beyond that, I wanted to touch on the aspect of duty: duty to our very species. If you were among the last people on Earth, would you have a responsibility to try to revive the human race?

Big questions—very big questions, indeed. That’s why Zenith: Aftermath was so much fun to write and, I hope, to read. You can sample the first chapter of the novel here or find it at your favourite online retailer to get your own copy here.

I hope you enjoy it, and it makes you think about how these technologies could change everything we know. Because they are coming.

The Downloaded by Robert J. Sawyer

Since I don’t blog much anymore in a general sense, I’ve decided I should fill some of that gap by posting my reviews of science fiction and fantasy books by other authors. And what better place to start than the latest offering from Canada’s most successful science fiction writer (and one of my favourites) Robert J. Sawyer? I give it Five Stars.

Robert J. Sawyer writes my favourite kind of science fiction: the concepts are thought-provoking, sometimes disturbing, and the themes are rich and important, but the stories are always about the people. Fully-fleshed people, too—equal parts warts, wit, and wisdom. But whether it’s an astronaut with all the “right stuff’ or a convicted murderer, you can relate to each one. And that’s how stories have emotional impact.

The title The Downloaded refers to human consciousnesses that have been ‘uploaded’ into digital storage, and then returned to their original bodies which have been cryogenically frozen. Some of these frozen and revived characters are convicts who’ve been offered a chance to serve their sentences in computer simulations at sped-up time, so they experience a years-long incarceration, but only lose several months of real time before being released back into society. The others are astronauts meant to take a long space journey to colonize the planets of another star. But when disaster strikes the Earth, both groups are downloaded into physical bodies again and have to face a drastically changed world.

Is it intellectually stimulating? Sure! In The Downloaded Sawyer skilfully combines the concepts of cryogenically preserving humans while they await future medical cures or travel to distant stars, uploading consciousness into digital storage, adapting human biology to conditions on other planets, and more. Yet, what keeps us reading isn’t just the ideas, it’s caring about what happens to Captain Letitia Garvey, murderer Roscoe Koudoulian, even robot Penolong.

The Downloaded is different in structure from other Sawyer books, written in a kind of interview format that reflects how it was first published as an audiobook. But all the qualities we’ve come to expect are there, the ones that keep us seeking out Robert J. Sawyer’s books time and time again.

A Deep Dive into Oceanus

OK, the title of this post is mainly a pun I just couldn’t resist (the novel is largely set in a prototype habitat at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, after all). Oceanus is my newest novel, scheduled to be published May 4, 2024. You can read a sample chapter here and it’s available to pre-order—use this Universal Book Link to find it at your favourite online bookstore. But if you want to know more about Oceanus than just the tongue-in-cheek back cover teaser, here we go.

I’m a writer who starts with a theme or concept, usually both, and builds my characters and plot to serve those. At the time I conceived Oceanus I’d written a few science fiction thrillers and was in the mood to try something more like an adventure (though the line between the two is blurry). I love scuba diving, and there are a few great SF stories that take place in the ocean depths, but not nearly enough. It was time for me to take the plunge. And as possibilities swirled in my mind, a couple of strong themes called out to be explored.

One theme was the way humans tend to dismiss intelligences other than our own. There are a lot of other smart creatures in this world, from whales and dolphins, apes to crows, and the list goes on, and we just don’t know how smart they really are because our intelligence tests don’t fit their mental processes. But I’m convinced we shouldn’t underestimate other forms of life just because they don’t think like us.

You can see this play out in Oceanus: a passenger jet is struck by a powerful blast of unknown energy over the Pacific. The energy has either come from the ocean or was aimed at the ocean, but the ‘where’ doesn’t seem as important as the ‘from whom?’ Could it have been produced by some previously unknown Earth life? Nobody thinks that’s likely, so the other strongest possibility is intelligent aliens from another world.

The first person brought into the picture is the main character, Alex Rhys, a gifted freelance troubleshooter (think MacGyver but not so gadgety), because a creative approach will be needed to save the jetliner passengers and time is running out. But as Alex stays on to investigate the phenomenon, he’s solidly on the side of believing advanced extraterrestrials have come to Earth. And Alex thinks that’s a good thing—he figures humans have screwed up our planet so badly that we need outside help to save ourselves. So, you could maybe articulate another main theme of the novel as: “Should we look to someone else to solve our problems?”

Will a visit from aliens make everything right? That’s one of several deep questions explored by the characters as they physically descend into the utter blackness and hellish pressure at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean searching for answers. Oceanus is definitely a thinking person’s action tale.

I’ve always loved SF stories that feature a team of exceptional specialists brought together to solve a crisis. In Oceanus the cast of characters includes a reluctant telepath named Elle (Alex and Elle are the ones on the Oceanus cover), an experienced Navy diver named Gary, a brilliant engineer named Lee-Anna, plus a couple of men with exotic adaptations to address physical challenges: Mattheus, a sociotheologist (I might have made that up), and Bheru, a xenobiologist.

Quite a team. In a very dramatic setting. Facing a world-threatening emergency.

SO many things I love in a science fiction story.

I hope you’ll love it too!

Get a taste of the opening of the novel here, or use this link to pre-order your copy of Oceanus.

MY TWO NEW FAVOURITE SCIENCE BOOKS

As a writer of science fiction and a de facto ambassador for science, I consider it a duty to share my discoveries when I come across must-read books about science. And two of my newest favourites come from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ed Yong. Yong has written science articles for top magazines for years, but then put his gifts and experience to work on book-length projects beginning in 2016 with I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life followed in 2022 by An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us. Both are remarkable achievements.

Since I Contain Multitudes has been included on more than a dozen prominent “notable books” or “best of the year” lists, my opinion may not mean a great deal, but I still want to encourage lovers of science as strongly as I can to read this book. First, it’s written the way I wish all popular science books were written: with terrific enthusiasm, unimpeachable diligence and scholarship, impeccable balance, and humour. Second, it’s collection of scientific findings is mind-blowing—you’ll learn not only that bacteria, viruses, and archaea colonize every square centimeter of our planet (and ourselves) in unimaginable numbers, but also that bacteria are brilliantly effective in producing antibacterial agents. You’ll discover wasps that spread an antibiotic paste over the eggs they lay; how mammalian mothers (including humans) provide lifetime protection to their babies via natural births and breast milk; how much we need good bacteria to help our bodies function normally, and why; and how pests like wasps and mosquitoes can be used as disease-fighters thanks to their microbiome (the collection of microbes living on and within them).

To me, two of the most important takeaways of I Contain Multitudes are that 1) microbes don’t automatically mean disease—there are many more necessary or neutral microbes than there are pathogens that do us harm; and 2) when we wipe out existing colonies of (mostly harmless) microbes with antibiotics and antimicrobial chemicals, we’re opening up niches for the nearest opportunistic microbes to take their place, very likely harmful ones (in hospitals, that’s almost a certainty). So, over-sterilizing ourselves and our environments is a bad strategy.

If you’re easily grossed-out, there is a significant “ick” factor in much of what Yong relates, but it’s information very much worth knowing. And I think it’s safe to say that you’ll never look at the world and the people around you in the same way again!

As outstanding as I Contain Mutitudes is, I like An Immense World even better ( I read it first and recently read it a second time).

What an astonishing book! This time Ed Yong takes us on a tour of the senses—not just the five we usually experience, but all the incredible ways animals, fish, birds, and insects perceive the world around us. With notes and a bibliography that runs to dozens of pages, it’s clear how Yong spent the Covid pandemic! Yet he delivers these reams of research in prose that’s always clear and easy to digest, leading the reader from one amazing discovery to another with the flow of a compelling novel. You’ll be gobsmacked by all the things you never knew about vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. But then there’s echolocation, electrolocation, magnetic fields and more.

There are startling revelations on every page—so much so that you’ll feel compelled to share them (my wife insists I’ll be the ‘pride of the old folks home’ passing on bits of trivia. I can only wish I could retain half of all the fascinating stuff to be found here.)

Bravo, Ed Yong! Thanks for helping to illuminate the world.

(SOME OF) THE STORY BEHIND INDIGENT EARTH

Unless you buy the hardcover edition, you won’t see all the gorgeous artwork my cover artist provided, so here it is.

Readers often wonder where writers get our ideas. Well, in the case of my newest novel Indigent Earth, a number of sources came into play.

Worldwide, the year 2023 has been a year of fierce heatwaves, devastating droughts, rampant wildfires, and horrendous floods.

Climate change is upon us.

At the time I wrote Indigent Earth, things weren’t quite this extreme, but I knew they could get to be. I’d already taught a college course about climate change for a semester (I didn’t enjoy the experience enough to continue, but that’s another story). I was also watching the rise of private sector space companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic. I don’t consider them a bad thing, but depending on billionaires for all our space technology might have risks. Plus, economic studies were showing that the world’s 2000+ billionaires hold as much wealth as 60% of the rest of Earth’s population. That divide is increasing, with no end in sight.

Could conditions on Earth get so bad that the rich and powerful might abandon the planet?

On another front, two of my grandkids are part Cree (on their father’s side) and that heritage is very important to them. It’s special to me, too—I have a deep love for the natural spaces of my home country, Canada, and inevitably link them with our indigenous peoples, for whom I have great respect. But, as in many places, Canada’s history with its indigenous peoples is troubled, to say the least.

Indigent Earth is set in a North America of six centuries from now, at a time 500 years after the world’s wealthiest people abandoned our damaged planet to live in space colonies and have now chosen to return. Killian Morningcloud feels like a prisoner in his constrained Earth community (known as an Allocation) and has bright hopes for the colonists’ reappearance. Celebrated citizen of the colonies, Natira Celestia, looks forward to meeting the “noble primitives” she’s sure must inhabit the home planet. Both will have their dreams dashed; thrown together, they will struggle to survive long enough to uncover dark secrets that powerful people are desperate to keep hidden.

Yes, I’m afraid that the face of colonialism may change, but it’s something our species will find hard to escape. My Dedication for the novel reads:

To the indigenous peoples of the world

who have been displaced and marginalized.

I can’t speak your truth; I can only acknowledge it.

More broadly, I believe that being on the wrong side of the ‘privilege gap’ could happen to any of us in the years to come.

So those facts provide some explanation of where the novel came from.  

That said, Indigent Earth isn’t a rant or a lecture! It’s an exciting adventure story with vivid settings and characters including a fire-and-water pairing if there ever was one. Killian and Natira are about as different as two people can be, so it was a lot of fun to write such a charged relationship!

With a publication date of September 30th, I hope you’ll use this Universal Book Link to find Indigent Earth at your favourite online bookseller (or ask your local bookstore to get it for you) and give it a read. I really think it’ll grab you.

A NEW WAY TO FIND GREAT BOOKS

Do you read books…sometimes?

Or do you love books? Devour books?

’Cause if you’re the devouring kind, the process of finding your next great book to read is pretty limited. Friends recommending books to each other can go a long way, but we don’t all have the same tastes. Bestseller lists and the top offerings on the landing pages of sites like Amazon just channel us all toward the same few dozen choices that a lot of strangers have been led to (by the same lists and headers). Even book awards are pretty limiting—there are always biases toward certain kinds of books (I’m not talking about “wokeness” or race, but just trendiness in general—that’s inevitable). And don’t get me started about search engines like Amazon’s or even Google’s. If you haven’t noticed by now that most of your top search results are “sponsored”, then you haven’t been paying attention. I mean, in theory Amazon’s “also bought” recommendations are supposed to be a way to say, “because you liked this you might also like this.” But I find they work about as well as those algorithms on Netflix. The ones that make me think, “are you kidding?”

So what to do?

Well, I was recently made aware of a new website that at least offers a different way of approaching the hunt for books we’ll enjoy. An “if you liked this, you might like this” method that doesn’t use algorithms but suggestions by actual humans. In fact, by authors themselves.

The site is called Shepherd.com, and their approach is that they ask authors to post about one of their own books and then recommend five other books that kind of match. By “match” I mean they might fit into a similar topic, theme, or category. And the categories can be broad or quirkily specific.

Here’s my list of “The best thriller books that combine medicine with technology.” (Pretty specific, right?)

The idea is that if you like my SF thriller The Primus Labyrinth about using nanotechnology to travel through the bloodstream of a VIP facing death, you should check out these other five books, or vice versa. The books on my list aren’t new. Some are really old. But a great book is a great book. Maybe the pleasure you’ll get isn’t from discovering something new but remembering a classic you loved.

Sure, it’s a way for authors to promote their own books, as well, but the recommendations are sincere. We loved these books, you might too, especially if the topic or theme is one that really grabs you. The site even offers links to previews and retailers where you can buy the recommended books (especially Bookshop.org, which supports smaller independent bookstores).

Shepherd.com is a work in progress but growing quickly. It already has searchable separate topic pages featuring, for example, the best books about technology or medicine or dinosaurs, all recommended by other authors. You have to admit that, as a group, authors are pretty discerning and committed to books, so their recommendations ought to be worth something. But don’t just view my list, take the search engine out for a spin. Just plan to spend some time—it can be addictive.

And there’s a really good chance you’ll find your next favourite book.

THE LAUNCH DAY BLUES (AND HAPPIER SONGS)

In my newsletter I called it “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”. Alas, the launch of my newest novel Augment Nation did not go smoothly.

Two technical issues with Amazon/Kindle Direct Publishing, panicked waiting for books and book bags, a 2-week postponement, the coldest, wettest day of the Fall (at an outdoor market!) and the ensuing three-weeks-and-still-going battle with a wicked virus, all added up to a launch that’s been memorable in all the worst ways. Mind you my virtual book launch only had a few rough spots and I invite you to take a look here, so thanks to my author buddy Mark Leslie Lefebvre for hosting it for me.

None of this changes the fact that Augment Nation is a good book, and the response by readers has been very gratifying. So that’s the bright side. And there’s other happy news, too.

I recently hired Creative Edge Publicity to help me get the word out about my books, and this season has turned into a very busy one. So if you’d like to get to know about me in a lot more detail, here are some of my appearances so far:

Heather Weidner’s popular blog on November 3rd.

J.M. Northup’s comprehensive website November 4th

I had a great conversation with Alan R. Warren and David North-Martino for NBC’s House of Mystery radio show scheduled for broadcast at 9:00 pm Pacific time on Nov. 9th, live-streamed and then posted on the website. (It was a lot of fun.)

I’ll be interviewed in the Literary Tribune November 25th (for North American readers).

I’ll be featured in the December issue of the Books n Pieces e-zine, another excellent place to read all about new books.

And I’ve been invited to guest on the Blasters and Blades podcast as soon as we can schedule it.

There’s more to come, so I’ll be taking my Geritol and babying my vocal cords, but I’m loving it. The more readers I can reach, and tell them about my books, the happier I’ll be. I hope you’ll check out some of the above sites and keep watching this space for updates.

I think all my books are worth your time and money, but I think Augment Nation will carve new territory and get people talking. I hope you’ll read it and help me spread the word.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

The publication date for my newest novel Augment Nation is now set for Saturday October 1, 2022. I’m thrilled to be able to bring this book to you, and very happy to be able to say that you can pre-order your own copy of Augment Nation today! The book’s Universal Book Link is https://books2read.com/Augment-Nation which means that when you click on that link it’ll take you to a page with links to find Augment Nation at any of the major online platforms where books are sold. If you have a preferred retailer, just click on that retailer’s logo, or even customize your choice so a UBL will always take you to that retailer.

The novel is available just about everywhere as an ebook, and a print-on-demand edition can be ordered from a number of sellers (like Amazon and Barnes & Noble). POD means the book isn’t stocked in bookstores, but when you order a copy, it’s printed and shipped to you. Some of us still love printed physical books best! And if you’re one of those, you might be excited to know that, for the first time, I’ve produced a hardcover edition of one of my books! It’s something I’ve been itching to try, and when my cover artist, Juan, created two very different covers that I loved, I decided to use one for the hardcover version. The hardcover isn’t available for pre-order just yet, but should be by the launch date of October 1st. Fingers crossed!

Augment Nation is an important book to me. A New York literary agent who represented many of the top science fiction writers in the world during her career, called Augment Nation a “powerful novel” and offered her agency’s services in submitting it to the publishing industry. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t with us, and that relationship didn’t end up producing a book deal for me (science fiction publishing is in a very strange state these days), but I appreciated the effort, and the vote of confidence. If this lady doesn’t know what good SF is, no one does!

I could say the same for my friend Robert J. Sawyer, the dean of Canadian science fiction and winner of every major SF award (and most of the others too). Of Augment Nation, Rob says,

"Scott Overton is a terrific writer and his vision of tomorrow is both realistic and frightening. Read this book!"

So what is Augment Nation about?

Since the age of fourteen Damon Leiter has had a brain-computer interface implanted beneath his skull to correct a neurological disorder. As a teenager, it branded him as an outcast—as an adult it endows him with extraordinary abilities: he may represent the next step in human evolution. When computerized brain augments replace smartphones as the must-have status item, mega-corporations and governments conspire together and marketing becomes mind control. Damon is the only one equipped to lead a global resistance movement. Caught between the fervour of his followers and the tide of rampant consumerism, he can’t be sure he isn’t playing into the hands of the rich and powerful. They may even be in the right. Maybe the real enemy of humankind is Damon Leiter.

That’s the plot, but the essence of the book is about consumerism, marketing, and especially the privacy and personal access we’re willing to trade for sparkly tech “baubles” and convenience these days. It’s a slippery slope, and truly frightening. That doesn’t mean that Augment Nation is a diatribe—far from it. It’s a story of a flawed, very human being, who learns that his exceptional abilities have come at the price of a heavy responsibility and great personal danger. Take a look at a sample chapter here.

Augment Nation takes place only a few years from now. It’s one of our many potential futures. It’s also an exciting and absorbing thriller. I’m proud of it. So I hope your next stop on the internet is to pre-order Augment Nation and get excited about the launch day October 1st when I’ll be presenting a virtual launch via Facebook and YouTube (with my buddy Mark Leslie Lefevbre) plus an in-person event.

It’s almost here!

Why My Next Novel Is Important

Although I’ve mostly stopped writing regular blog posts, it’s still the best way to describe the next novel of mine to reach publication. And I truly believe this novel will be important.

Why?

Well, because Augment Nation takes place in the near future—probably during your lifetime—when projects like Elon Musk’s Neuralink will expand from addressing the needs of those with neurological impairments to the consumer population at large. I think implanted (or closely connected) brain-computer interfaces will become the next smartphones: devices that will provide such extensive augmentation of our information gathering and processing abilities that we’ll wonder what we ever did without them.

But a future like that is not without serious risks. Here’s the novel’s back cover blurb:

This is your brain on silicon.

The mid-21st Century:

Computerized brain augments are the newest “must-have” consumer product. They make smartphones look like a rock and a chisel.

But there is a dark side.

Governments dream of compliant sheep.

Corporations see a marketing El Dorado.

When consumerism rages unchecked, the human race needs a leader to save us from ourselves.

Damon Leiter has had a brain-computer interface since he was 14. It gives him extraordinary abilities; he may be the next step in human evolution.

But Damon can’t be sure he isn’t playing into the hands of the rich and powerful.

They might even be right:

Maybe the real threat to humanity is Damon himself.

Sound scary? It could be, at least if we allow free markets to make all the important decisions and continue to let laws and regulations fall woefully far behind advances in technology. Don’t get me wrong—I think technology is great. I’m a science fiction writer! But I also recognize that it has its pitfalls, and the sooner we see them, the better we can correct them.

Augment Nation is about a young man who comes to realize that, not only is a groundbreaking technology going awry, but he may be the only person uniquely equipped to raise awareness of the problem before it’s too late. It’s a cautionary story (think Fahrenheit 451, or even 1984) but also a deeply human one, and an exciting thriller as well.

There are a number of reasons that a date for the publication hasn’t been finalized, but look for Augment Nation everywhere you buy books this Fall of 2022. I invite you to read the opening of the novel here.

It’s important.

Another New Book Takes Flight!

My novel The Dispossession of Dylan Knox is now available, tackling questions about love, trust, duty, and even our responsibility to the future of humanity. Especially the universal question: “Who do we really fall in love with? The person we see, or who they are inside?” Do we fall in love with someone because we like their looks? Or does real love require something deeper: a connection to the inner personality? Can our attraction to that ‘inner self’ be strong enough that outward appearance doesn’t even matter?

When Brooke Chappelle, an assistant to the secretary general of the United Nations, encounters her old high school flame Dylan Knox, Dylan doesn’t remember her. His personality has changed—in fact, over the course of several days he acts like three very different people. Brooke fears he could be an impostor intending to harm the secretary general or sabotage a sensitive space energy project where Dylan works. Or he may suffer from a serious mental disorder. Either way, he could be a threat to national security.

Dylan’s own explanation is too bizarre to believe, especially when he claims that Brooke’s own actions will shape the future. She realizes she’s going to have to choose whether to trust her former lover or to betray him.

Falling in love is the last thing she needs.

Mind you, the novel covers a lot of other ground, too, like the nature of time, and the relationship between consciousness and the physical body. It is science fiction, after all, and to me that means important themes and cool concepts!

I invite you to read a sample opening chapter of The Dispossession of Dylan Knox, and you can use this universal book link to find it at your favourite online retailer.

I also hope you can join me this Friday February 2, 2022 at 7:00 pm Eastern time for the Virtual Book Launch live-streaming on Facebook or YouTube including a reading from the book and a conversation with my friend and fellow author Mark Leslie. You could buy the ebook at a great discount, or even win an autographed print copy.

Oh yeah, and this novel also features a much stronger romance plot than I’ve ever done before—a great fit for Valentine’s Day. Just sayin’.