Gliese 581: Departure

In the final days of the 21st century, Daniel Medry and a crew of brilliant and talented scientists and researchers leave Earth on a mission to the Gliese system - the first extra-solar journey of its kind. Shortly after their departure, a terrible virus is unleashed upon Earth, highly infectious and nearly 100% fatal. Soon the colonists will learn that they are some of the last unaffected humans left. And if the challenge of establishing a colony on a distant alien world and re-creating the human race wasn't enough, someone on board is trying to kill them all. Will Daniel and the rest of Calypso's crew survive the journey?

Gliese 581: Departure (SF/Apocalyptic)

Book 3 in the Kapalaran Universe

By Christine D. Shuck

Independent Publishing Platform

ISBN #978-1523820498

Price $13.95 (Paperback)

Price $2.99 (Kindle)

312 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

It’s the later part of the 21^st century, and our planet has all ready experienced a second Civil War. Monsanto has become EcoNu, and America is readying the Calypso, a space ship to take 250 top scientists to Zarunina’s world, a newly located planet identified as Gliese 581, where humans might live and start a new civilization. EcoNu hopes to conquer the pork market on Earth by introducing genetic viruses into pigs. The project goes awry after Calypso leaves the Earth for space, and the virus decimates the population left behind. It’s a Level 5 extension event, killing 99.95 percent of the population, which hasn’t occurred since the Permian-Triassic extension over 250 million years ago. Now it’s up to the men and women of Calypso to start that new civilization on a distant planet, if they can survive the voyage, while the 15 million survivors left on Earth try to repopulate the planet. And the virus in interfering with births at an alarming rate.

The author did her research on many subjects, including viruses and their effects among world population. The story begins on the Calypso after someone has sabotaged the bay where 200 men and women rest in stasis. And if the system can’t be corrected, they will die. From there the story jumps back and forth to different people and places before the virus and after, and back and forth to the Calypso, also before the sabotage. Normally, I don’t like stories that jump around so much. It’s too easy to forget characters and why we met them in the first place, but the story line keeps the reader involved, and the pure immensity of the situation makes you want to learn more. This was a chilling prediction of what could actually destroy the human race, if we aren’t careful. I highly recommend this to fans of apocalyptic science fiction. You won’t be disappointed.

Tom Johnson

Author of PANGAEA: EDEN’S PLANET