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

Dhungwana 2117

The year is 2117. Dhungwana, the only remaining dry land on the planet Earth, is governed by the Federal Communities. Humanity, organized through a strict social reputation index, lives to the dictum "I belong, ergo sum". Ian and Dayla, the main characters, have a brilliant social life until Dayla accidentally intercepts classified financial data concerning her employer, the BlueGray Corporation, while Ian identifies genetic modifications that have appeared in one of Dhungwana’s main food sources. As a result, their lives and social reputations become complicated and their crystalline everyday life is filled with an obsessive and terrifying sense of the authorities, force Ian and Dayla to open their eyes and discover their only allies are the banned of Dhungwana, and their only option is to fight against the reality of a world that is no longer theirs. It is a fight for the survival of the human race.
Dhungwana 2117 by Baibin Nighthawk and Dominick Fencer is a captivating sci-fi novel that combines a unique and truly fascinating plot and compelling characters to deliver a true sci-fi thriller. I especially loved how Baibin Nighthawk and Dominick Fencer portrayed both the human and nonhuman characters, giving each a unique persona that added something extra to the story. The intriguing setting of the story was another exciting factor of the novel that completely blended in with the whole plot and perfectly fitted in every time a new part of the plot was added. Dhungwana 2117 will make a thrilling read for fans of the sci-fi genre, with a dose of romance and hi-tech action.

Dhungwana 2117 (SF/Utopia)

Book 1

By Baibin Nighthawk & Dominick Fencer

Independent Publishing Platform

Price $6.00 (Paperback)

Price $1.99 (Kindle)

ASIN #B00VKTDWD2

ISBN #978-1511527743

Rating 4-Stars

“A Utopian Society”

The year is 2117, and the planet’s sea level has risen until there’s only one land mass again, called Dungwana. Ian and Dayla are lovers, and both feel they have achieved success in a society that praises success. But they soon learn that, like George Orwell’s 1984, the perfect society may not be what it’s cracked up to be. They discover their immune system is being changed by genetics. Genes are inserted in their food, turning them into self-repairing humanoid robots. The Federal Community and the BlueGray Corporation is even killing those who discover the situation. Now, Ian and Dayla must rebel and join others in the fight against this utopian society if they are to survive.

This was an interesting concept, and I certainly liked the idea of Dhungwana, a single continent of dry land surrounded by the ocean. But there is really nothing new here. Perhaps the erotica content takes it a step ahead of Orwell’s 1984, but the authors plan this as a long series of books, and I’m not sure it will be able to sustain the story line for that long, and keep readers’ interest. But if you like futuristic science fiction with an apocalyptic feel, and rebels fighting to beat a government gone mad with control of its people, then I highly recommend this book and it’s sequels.

Tom Johnson

Author of THESE ALIEN SKIES

Love In The Cretaceous

Love in the Cretaceous takes place in a dinosaur park in Oregon a hundred years in the future. Ted Beebe has lost the love of his life and must suddenly find his way alone in old age. He finds young people to take the place of his wife and himself in assuring the survival of Cretaceous World, the park his wife and he created. Global warming has proceeded as predicted, and the fate of Homo sapiens has become obviously uncertain. People come to see the genetically engineered recreations of dinosaurs and are made more aware of humanity’s own vulnerability to extinction. Ted succeeds in creating a new family structure whose three generations will guide the park through the immediate future. He also keeps alive his wife’s memory while coping with the challenges of the uncertain future.

Love In The Cretaceous (SF/Apocalyptic)

By Howard W. Robertson

Anaphora Literary Press https://anaphoraliterary.com

Price $20.00 (Paperback)

127 Pages

Rating 1 Star

“Boring Dinosaur Yarn”

Cretaceous Park in Oregon a hundred years in the future. Ted & Becky Beebe run the dinosaur park like a movie studio, with actors playing their parts. There are nine pairs of genetically created dinosaurs, such as Dorothy & Roger the T-Rex pair, and Bruce & Phyllis the Brontosaurus pair. When Becky dies of Stander’s disease, Ted is left to run the park, and at 68 he needs to find a couple to take their place, and soon.

Unfortunately, I just couldn’t finish this book after buying it on Amazon. The writing is like a teacher explaining everything to students, and the class is bored to death. Even when there is sex you go to sleep. I never thought I would encounter a dinosaur adventure as boring as this. There is nothing about the characters that make you like or remember them, and the dinosaurs come out of a textbook, with the author explaining them like in a classroom. Giving them names didn’t help. I can’t recommend this book, as it put me to sleep.

Tom Johnson

Author of JUR: A STORY OF PRE-DAWN EARTH

Reaper's Run

When US Marine Sergeant Jill Repeth's blown-off legs begin to regenerate, she thinks it's a medical miracle. But the breakthrough that heals her war injuries is exactly what the government desperately wants to quash - by any means necessary. Hunted, she must cross an America wracked by strife to try to find a family who may already be dead, searching for the inhuman secret of what started it all.

Reaper's Run is an origins story and apocalyptic novel, the beginning of one warrior's journey from tactical cop to freedom fighter and beyond. It leads the reader into the acclaimed Plague Wars science fiction series.

Reaper’s Run (SF/Thriller)

By David Vandyke & Ryan King

Plague War Book #1

Castalia House

ISBN #978-9527065983

Price $14.99

222 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Well Written, And Memorable Characters.”

Marine Sergeant Jill “Reaper” Repeth was given a “wounded warrior’s” a ticket on a cruise ship for her injuries. A Marine Military Police trained in quick reaction SWAT tactics. She lost both legs below her knees. The cruise seemed like a good thing until the passengers came down with the new Eden Plague; a plague that healed. Unfortunately, the government doesn’t want the healing plague, and they target the ship for destruction. But Jill escapes before the ship is destroyed, with three thousand passengers killed by a missile. She plans on heading home, to California, but hears that nukes were dropped on L.A. and other areas. Now she needs to survive as her legs slowly rejuvenate, growing again.

This is her story of traveling across America, a homeland filled with S.S. (Security Services) and Unionists out to kill or imprison the Sickos, as those with the Eden Plague are called. Captures and escapes, and the people she meets along the way tell her story. It’s her knowledge of police and military tactics that keeps her motivated to continue her long journey to find others in her own predicament.

Okay, this one surprised me. I was an Army MP with the same training as the main character, so I found this novel a treat from the first page to the end. So how could I not like it? This was a well-written story, with a main character that was three-dimensional, and other characters that kept me interested and turning the pages. One of the best apocalyptic action yarns I’ve read in a long time, and one I highly recommend.

Tom Johnson

Author of PANGAEA: EDEN’S PLANET