The Antonello Brothers: Immortal series - #MMRomance #SciFi #FreeBook @KayelleAllen

The whole series is available at last! 

Kayelle Allen’s Antonello Brothers: Immortal series consists of three books, Surrender Love, Ring of the Dragon, and Forever Love, and includes a bonus story for each title.

Surrender Love, the first book in the series, is free May 12-13, 2021 to celebrate the release of Forever Love.

 

Surrender Love by Kayelle Allen

He's the most powerful man in the Empire, and he's immortal. When his mortal lover walks away, the smart thing is to move on and forget. But how can he bear this loneliness, life after life?

Until he meets an adorable Kin, a race of fierce, catlike humans with perky cat's ears and eyes, an intense curiosity about the world, and the almost superpower ability to smell every subtle change of emotion. This might be the soulmate he's hoped for. The one person to whom he can surrender his heart.

But to bring his beloved closer means revealing every damning secret, every twisted truth, and every hidden lie.

With no guarantee their love can survive that kind of truth...

Amazon worldwide https://books2read.com/surrender-love-immortal

Comes with bonus short story “Forbid My Heart”

Ring of the Dragon by Kayelle Allen

For millennia, they fight side by side. Now one king faces a lonely quest.

As Light and Shadow, King Pietas and General Cyken share every battle, as well as a fierce and passionate love.

But, torn apart by the king's rage, Cyken ends their stormy relationship.

When General Cyken falls in love with another man, Pietas undertakes a perilous quest on the dangerous world of Felidae to prove he is the better choice for Cyken.

If he succeeds in his quest, it will either bring Cyken back, or drive him even closer to his new love. Pietas must try, for he cannot face eternity without a shadow to balance his light...

Amazon worldwide https://books2read.com/ring-dragon-immortal

Comes with bonus short story “Just Desserts”

 

Forever Love by Kayelle Allen

For their love, forever is not long enough...

Izzorah is a Kin, an alien race of fierce, rugged humanoid felines possessing enhanced sensory perception to changes in emotions. When Izzy learns the truth about his fiancé Luc's immortality--and his own--the familiar world he knows will vanish. He must pass an immortality test designed by the immortal king which will engage Izzorah in the ultimate treasure hunt, where failure to find hidden targets in the vast, sprawling capitol of the Tarthian Empire can end in instant death.

If he succeeds, he will be accepted into a warrior society he wants no part of. If he fails, he's banished from the galactic empire forever, away from his home and the man he passionately loves. And, if the test wasn't bad enough, Luc is also the king's ex, and the king refuses to part with anything--or anyone--that he loves.

Fair test? Not in this immortal lifetime....

Amazon worldwide https://books2read.com/forever-love-immortal

Comes with bonus short story “Leaving Tarth”

Book pages

Surrender Love https://kayelleallen.com/abi-surrender-love

Forbid My Heart https://kayelleallen.com/abi-forbid-my-heart

Ring of the Dragon https://kayelleallen.com/abi-ring-dragon

Just Desserts https://kayelleallen.com/abi-just-desserts

Forever Love https://kayelleallen.com/abi-forever-love

Leaving Tarthhttps://kayelleallen.com/abi-leaving-tarth

Cloned Heat Chapter Two! -- #MM #EroticSciFi #Merman #Fantasy

Blurb

While fleeing fearsome Pingucury raiders, hunky roughnecks Iker Macauley and Peregrine Varga encountered Ohannes Hertz, a pleasure clone left for dead at Lord Gabriel Blackwood's ranch. The grateful Ohannes offered the pair a place to hide and refresh themselves, and the trio became intimately acquainted.

Iker and Peregrine hope to get Ohannes to the safety of the monastery before they return to company headquarters for their new assignment, but their mission is interrupted by a group of randy renegade soldiers under the command of the rogue general Darden Bissette.

Finn Storm is an amphibious pleasure clone created by Bissette to fulfill his merman fantasies. Finn is full of surprises and Ohannes swiftly falls under the seductive siren's spell.

Excerpt

“Is Master Blackwood all right?” Ohannes inquired, taking a glass of sparkling pink beverage from a compelling young man with fair skin, ocean-blue eyes, dark, wavy locks, and a compelling smile.

“Lord Blackwood is alive. He and the others rescued from his compound are in a safe location. You were presumed dead, Mr. Hertz. I am sure that he will be pleased to know that you are well. Why don’t you and Finn get to know each other better while I chat with your benefactors?”

“Don’t you hate it when the masters act like we concubines don’t have a functioning brain in our silly little heads?” the sylphlike pleasure clone inquired, extending a graceful hand to the dumbstruck Ohannes. “Ah well, I find business circle jerks terribly uninspiring anyway. Come, I am sure we can find more interesting things to occupy us.”

“I…I’m sorry for staring,” Ohannes stammered as he followed the sleek young man. “There’s just something unusual about you. I mean, you…you’re very impressive.”

“Well, I’m very impressed with you as well,” the youth returned, running his long fingers over Ohannes’ cheek. “I am Finn Storm, and I am one of the new generation of pleasure clones. I am part of the Men of Mythology series. I am a merman or siren. I was cloned to Master Darden’s exacting specifications.”

Buy Links

Amazon

99 cents

http://bit.ly/CH2Kindle

LBRY

15 LBC (approximately $0.45)

http://bit.ly/MermanAndSubsLBRY

 

About the Author

Lil DeVille is a boring middle-aged lady who writes exciting stories. When Lil isn’t turning up the virtual heat, she enjoys baking and crafts. Lil does not like to share pictures of herself. The image by artist Dina Dee represents Lil’s inner spirit.

Websites

http://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com

https://bit.ly/nnpLBRY (Naughty Netherworld Press LBRY Channel)

Review Tuesday: Neurogarden by Bryon Vaughn -- #sciencefiction #thriller #ReviewTuesday

 

Neurogarden by Bryon Vaughn

Brenna Patrick, CEO of upstart company NeuralTech, believes that she’s smarter than everyone else. In general, she’s right. However, it’s not just her exceptional intelligence that has enabled her to build the most advanced AI system on the planet in a just a few years. Credit also belongs to her single-mindedness in pursuing her goals, her formidable talent for psychological manipulation, her almost unearthly beauty – and her willingness to ride roughshod over anyone who gets in her way. Her cold-bloodedness is matched only by her vanity, perhaps her single biggest weakness. Though she’s only in her forties, she spends a fortune on the latest anti-aging fads, scrutinizing her mirror each day for any evidence of the ravages of time.

Brenna’s technology, funded by the deep pockets of the Defense Department, makes it possible to locate any individual on the planet, in seconds, given a single image. Obviously the military wants this capability to neutralize terrorists, criminals and anyone else deemed to be a threat. Brenna realizes the applications are far more varied, that her AI “Garden” provides her with the potential to effectively control the entire world.

Jenny Mercado and Leo Marino, grad students in business at Columbia University, seem an unlikely pair to challenge Brenna’s power. Indeed, their original goal is to impress the high-flying executive with their pitch deck. When Brenna offers Jenny a NeuralTech internship, the gutsy Puerto Rican woman is thrilled, even though she senses Brenna’s interest has as much to do with Jenny’s physical attractiveness as with her competence. In fact, the lust is mutual. Jenny is fascinated by the older woman’s beauty and her brilliance. When Leo inadvertently discovers the terrible truth underlying NeuralTech’s innovation, though, both he and Jenny find themselves mortal danger.

In Neurogarden, Bryon Vaughn has created a dynamite cast of characters and set them loose in a world barely different from our own. His New York City includes bagels and perpetually packed subway cars, skyscrapers and Spanish Harlem tenements. Once you accept the core technological premise of Brenna’s Garden (a bit of a stretch, but this is science fiction), the rest of the story becomes frighteningly believable.

I loved the fact that novel is largely narrated from the perspective of Brenna, the monomaniacal genius. She is complex and multidimensional, even evoking some sympathy despite being utterly amoral. Mr. Vaughn understands that most villains do not see themselves as evil. They view their actions as completely justified; indeed they may see themselves as persecuted.

Meanwhile, Jenny is brave, sexy and smart – a kick-ass woman who proves to be a match even for the formidable Brenna – and ex-marine Leo is simultaneously loyal and stubborn, naïve yet wily, especially when dealing with the familiar mindset of the military.

The plot is tight, with plenty of action, and just enough bizarre tech to remind you you’re not in Kansas anymore. I was surprised to realize the book is less than two hundred pages long; a lot happens in that short span. The characters grow and change, and the stage is set for what I assume will be a sequel. There’s no cliff hanger – the immediate conflicts are resolved - but one gets the sense that Brenna, Jenny and Leo aren’t finished with each other.

Given how much I enjoyed Neurogarden , I’ll be looking out for the next book in the series.

Sizzling Sunday: Super Hot Gay Romance! #mmromance #scifi #SizzlingSunday

For today’s Sizzling Sunday post, I’ve got an intensely erotic, X-rated excerpt from my latest release, a sci-fi, MM romance entitled The H-Gene.

About the Book

When love is forbidden, the whole world’s a prison

After a gay plague killed millions and sparked brutal riots, the Guardians locked up all H-positive men in remote quarantine camps – including Dylan Moore. H-negative guard Rafe Cowell blames the lust he feels watching prisoner 3218 on loneliness and isolation. When he finally meets the young queer, he discovers that Dylan is brilliant, brave, sexy as hell — and claims to be in love with Rafe.

Excerpt

“Relax,” said Dylan. “Sit down.” He seated himself on the bench, the polished wood cool against his bare buttocks. Like an automaton, Rafe did the same. The black man kicked off the biohazard gear. For a moment they simply stared at each other.

Dylan felt his nipples tighten and his cock lift under the guard’s scrutiny. It really was lucky the guy was so attractive. It made everything easier.

He could read the emotions shuttling across Rafe’s face. Hell, the guy was an open book. The anger was mostly gone. Now fear, guilt and lust battled it out on those noble features. Dylan sat quietly, holding Rafe’s eyes, his own cock growing harder with every passing second. 

Rafe’s nostrils flared. He breathed through his mouth, panting as though he was running a marathon. His gaze flicked down to the rod of flesh rearing up from Dylan’s groin.

“What do you want?” he asked finally, his voice almost a whisper.

“You know what I want. You.”

He leaned forward, brushing his lips across Rafe’s. The other man started. Dylan seized the guard’s shoulders and pulled him into a fierce kiss. Rafe did not resist. In fact, he opened his mouth to allow Dylan’s questing tongue inside.

Exultation flared in Dylan’s heart. Still devouring the guard’s mouth, he slid his hands down Rafe’s massive biceps and then over his solid chest, pulling at the Velcro that kept the shirt closed. The guard’s skin was smooth, warm, and moist with sweat. Dylan’s fingers skimmed over the patch of tight frizz between Rafe’s breasts, then fastened on one fat nipple. Rafe gasped, grabbed Dylan’s head, and deepened the kiss.

This was almost too easy. Dylan cupped the huge bulk of Rafe’s erection, trapped inside the tight trousers. “I want to see you naked,” he said, close to Rafe’s ear. “Please, baby…”

Rafe abruptly broke the embrace. Damn. Had he moved too fast for the homophobic guard? Rafe turned his broad back to Dylan and shucked off his shirt. Dylan licked his lips at the sight of the muscles shifting in that sleek, chocolate brown expanse. Rafe kicked off his boots then yanked his pants down to his ankles. Finally he peeled off the gloves and tossed them onto the concrete floor.

When he faced Dylan again, his eyes were glowing coals. His cock rose like a pillar of basalt between his powerful thighs. His abdomen rippled as he sucked in breath. He was magnificent, like some ancient god. Dylan wanted to worship him.

Sinking to his knees in front of the naked guard, Dylan kissed the glistening bulb of that formidable cock, tasting soap and sweat. He was about to swallow as much of that engorged length as he could manage when a heavy hand gripped his skull. 

“No,” Rafe commanded. “On the bench. On your hands and knees.”

Dylan hastened to obey, his lust almost smothering his sense of triumph. He presented his rump for Rafe’s inspection, spreading his thighs as much as he could, given the width of the bench. His cock twitched when Rafe palmed one buttock. He nearly came when the man spread those cheeks, exposing his rear hole. He held himself still, struggling for control, as Rafe ran a spit-moistened finger up and down his crevice.

He’d be tight. It would hurt. Nobody had taken him there since Miguel had died, years—centuries—ago. And Rafe was so huge—but Dylan knew he could bear it, for the sake of his plan. In fact, the thought of that enormous cock ripping into him made him harder than ever.

Dylan expected violence. Based on their last encounter in the control room, he expected the guard to force his way into Dylan’s ass. He was astonished when, instead, he felt the wet prodding of the other man’s tongue wriggling against his sphincter. The slick pressure sent tendrils of electricity spiraling through him to tighten around the base of his cock. After a blissful while, the tongue was replaced by a careful digit pressing into his hole, circling, massaging, luring him to relax. He arched back, opening himself to the second finger that Rafe had inserted. Rafe pushed deeper, spreading his fingers to stretch the ring of muscle. Every movement transmitted itself to Dylan’s cock.

“God, that feels good!” he moaned. “More. Please!”

Rafe did not speak. Dylan heard him spit. The probing fingers were replaced by a rounded mass Dylan knew was Rafe’s cock head. The guard rubbed the bulb back and forth over the loosened entrance. Dylan shivered at the sensations. The man was driving him crazy.

Steady pressure built at his rear entrance. Dylan’s muscles screamed in protest as Rafe’s cock breached him. Then, in the wake of the pain, pleasure rushed in, full and deep, as deep as Rafe’s prick buried in his ass. Dylan clenched around the invading bulk, reveling in the sensation of being filled. Rafe pulled partway out, then slid smoothly back in to the hilt. Dylan felt the weight of the other man’s balls swinging against his butt cheeks. Oh, God, it was good, so good…

Dylan sank down onto his elbows, elevating his ass and allowing Rafe to plunge deeper. The guard thrust steadily, hard but not too hard, exactly the way Dylan craved. A big hand reached around his hips and squeezed his cock. He whimpered, overcome by the pleasure.

“You like that, boy?”

Dylan knew he didn’t need to answer. He wasn’t sure that he could. He felt fingernails scoring his butt flesh as Rafe picked up the pace. The guard rammed his cock into Dylan’s hole, again and again, each stroke more savage than the last. But Dylan was ready now, warmed up, loose and hot and hungry for whatever the guard dished out.

Get your copy today!

Kinky Literature – https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/7233-the-hgene-after-the-plague-book-1/

Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CVNK6NL

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08CVNK6NL

Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1032512

Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-h-gene-lisabet-sarai/1137338272?ean=2940164186050

Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/th/en/ebook/the-h-gene

Add on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54529211-the-h-gene

Into the folds of darkness... #ScienceFiction #Reincarnation #Apocalypse

Blurb

January, 2022: A dark monstrous twin-headed apparition – Apophis – feverishly races past the expanse of the Milky Way galaxy and bolts to the edge of the solar system. Recklessly accelerating, the sinister rock-dyad enters the gravitational keyhole of the blue planet and continues its resolute inebriated journey – to soon arrive with an apocalyptic impact on Earth.

December, 2012: Five sentient beings born in different cities – New York, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Azores Islands and Istanbul, discover amongst haunting memories of their phantasmal past lives, that it is their destiny to save humanity from the evil forces unleashed by the alien fiends – the Skyllats.

And now, the reincarnated 9-year-olds must rely on their shared, ancient wisdom to prepare humanity for the war across the galaxy that is imminent.

Excerpt

28.032848N, 85.530342E

Helambu. Langtang National Park, Nepal

January 23, 2022 (1100 hours)

“Agasthi, you must learn to draw the sacred symbol accurately,” implored the Ban-Jhakrani or the forest shaman, wrapped in a resplendent white dress with a crown of tall peacock feathers. Her extraordinary life etched on a relucent wrinkled face, she continued to pry stirring sounds from her shaman’s drum that reverberated across the mountains.

“Nata, what does ‘sacred’ mean?” asked the playful six-year-old moon-faced Agasthi with light gray eyes. Her loose, white, flared top and pants, twirled in the wind along with her.

“The ‘sacred’, is a space and thought held within the folds of the benevolent earth mother,” explained the Ban-Jhakrani.

“Nata, what does ‘benevolent’ mean?” the left-handed Agasthi, wondered.

The forest shaman laughed, “You are certainly an inquisitive young shaman; blessed by the primordial essence that unites us all. Now help me to place these peacock feathers, rice, and leaves within this sacred space. For I have much to teach you, but my time in this form…is limited.”

The large geometry drawn vividly on the forest floor, with red and yellow colors, was part of an ancient shamanic invocation to contact the mysterious forest spirits that remained nestled within these thick jungles. The forest adorned with the reverberant sounds of birds, animals, cicadas, scrambling waterfalls, and a bone-chilling wind that swooped across the Himalayan mountain range.

Agasthi, her name embodied in an indecipherable wisdom, followed her grandmother’s instructions while the Ban-Jhakrani added her chanting to the pulsating sounds of her shaman’s drum, to open the doorway of a limitless realm beyond time. And a beguiled crested goshawk swooped down and perched itself on her left shoulder.

The Ban-Jhakrani’s ancient incantations to initiate the young shaman began to increase in pitch and intensity as Agasthi sprinkled water over the rice, leaves, and peacock feathers. Soon the young girl became assiduously immersed in the spirits of the forest, before her eyes began to dilate and magnified all that surrounded her.

Agasthi, held within a trance, became drawn to a prodigious green leaf lying within the sacred space. She dropped to her knees and meticulously examined the giant blade; her dilated eyes following the mid-rib and the veins that branched off it as well as an occult dewdrop, which hovered just above the surface of the leaf.

Mystified, Agasthi peered deeper into this amplified, spherical, translucent world – seeded with infinite moons and stars – when an eerie, dark colossus with a serpent-like head and carmine eyes emerged. Swimming within this dark sea, it swallowed entire moons and numerous stars, before it turned and glared at a petrified Agasthi.

The charred monster abruptly shot across this uncommon convex world with its fangs bared, and a roar that pierced the young girl’s skin. A trembling, horrified Agasthi let out an unrelenting, terror-stricken scream that echoed across the forest before she collapsed, unconscious.

The Ban-Jhakrani stood over her granddaughter and smiled. What she had hoped for had become – the forest spirits had acquiesced. Agasthi had travelled across an immeasurable realm, and experienced an epiphany – a vision – for the very first time. The forest shaman patiently waited for several hours for the young girl to step out of her dreamworld.

“What happened, Nata? Did I fall asleep?” Agasthi asked when she finally stirred.

“No, my dearest Natini,” the Ban-Jhakrani whispered. “You drifted into a shamanic dream. An unerring state of being when multiple truths are revealed if your heart is pure. Search yourself and then speak of what you saw, for it is very important.”

The young shaman stared at her grandmother, while the recondite, eerie charcoal-black serpent reappeared and a petrified Agasthi began to quiver.

“Do not be afraid, my child,” assured the grandmother and held her left hand.

“A darkness that shamans have meditated upon…for thousands of years…has arrived,” mumbled Agasthi, lost within her trance.

“Why?” the bewildered forest shaman inquired.

“For a balance disturbed for so long…must be remedied…a justice delivered,” answered the swaying Agasthi and turned to stare in the direction of the sun.

“Who delivered this message?” questioned the Ban-Jhakrani, overwhelmed by the young shaman’s inconceivable first pronouncement.

“It was the Whisperer!”

About the Author

Savinder Raj Anand is an architect and has been teaching Architecture & Design at various Universities in India for more than 12 years. A long-distance runner with a wanderlust to explore the world, and write stories that traverse across diverse cultures. He lives in Goa with his daughter, a dog, and two cats.

Inspired by his then 18-month-old daughter – when she quoted Socrates – while they together sat in a children’s bookstore in Bangalore (LIGHTROOM) in early January of 2015, he has completed this – his first book – as she turns 7 years old.

The book is $0.99 During the Tour

https://www.rajanandbooks.com/

https://www.instagram.com/rajanandbooks/

https://www.facebook.com/rajanandbooks/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXPA0eY42VQ

One randomly chosen winner via Rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

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Every desire can be fulfilled ... #SciFi #AlternativeReality #Giveaway @dreamphaze1

Blurb

Everyone dreams.

All Saxon Zynn wanted to do was dream, not for himself, but for everyone. Back in 2037, Saxon stated, ‘Dreaming is a reality to be experienced.' A decade of research later and his Dream Immersion technology is poised to become the major entertainment medium of the 21st century, but will unforeseen obstacles prevent him from achieving his purpose?

Dream Phaze is about the inception of engineered dreams and the evolution of indulgence. Set at the crossroads of alternative realities in the near future, it plunges into a world where every human desire, no matter how heroic or evil, can be fulfilled… dreaming just became an adventure.

Excerpt

Twilight was ending as night beat day and engulfed the barren landscape. They gingerly entered the water.

‘It’s stinging my legs, Saxon. What’s that smell?’

‘Sulphur. Under no circumstances should we dive, splash, or put our faces into the water,’ Saxon instructed. ‘Unusual tactile sensation; it’s sort of thick and soupy. What’s your pain threshold on?’

‘I’m on three,’ Kris said.

‘Me too,’ Wendy confirmed. ‘I shouldn’t have shaved my legs this morning.’

‘Don’t go in too far, you might have trouble putting your feet back down on the bottom.’

The three of them lolled in the dense Dead Sea water, looking up at the burgeoning night sky. Small foam bean pillows supported their heads.

‘So, besides the floating sensation, stinging cuts, and the danger of swallowing this muck, what are we doing here, Saxon?’

‘Relax, Kris, enjoy the experience for a moment, we have time. Notice there are very few sounds here.’ Saxon heard someone entering the water behind him, but didn’t look back.

‘Hello, Saxon.’

He instantly recognised her voice. ‘Evening, Lena,’ he smiled.

‘Hi, Lena,’ Wendy chimed in.

‘Lovely night for a dip.’ Lena waded into the water beside Saxon and reclined.

‘Look up there,’ Kris pointed at a faint glow in the eastern quadrant of the night sky. ‘Meteoroid?’ The radiance grew in intensity, then an abrupt flash exploded into flares rippling out like fireworks.

‘Exploding meteoroid,’ Wendy agreed, watching tens of thousands of shooting stars pepper the heavens. ‘Spectacular!’

‘Wow, it’s beautiful,’ Lena whispered, as the sound wave touched them with a faint crack.

‘About 13,000 years ago, just north of this region,’ Saxon explained, ‘early nomadic tribes, hunter gatherers, began staying put in the one place. They collected plants, animal meat and skins, and settled down around their larder to became hunter collectors.’

The others bobbed, mesmerised by the light show above as they listened to Saxon’s lecture-style storytelling.

‘At that time, a sizable meteoroid entered the atmosphere and exploded into a massive meteorite storm covering almost a third of the planet.’

‘So, we’re going to have meteorites rain down on us?’ Wendy asked.

‘One theory goes, this event changed the planet forever,’ Saxon continued. ‘It helped initiate a 1300-year cold period that wiped out the megafauna across North America. Tonight, we will be re-testing the–’

‘Involuntary death exit protocol,’ Kris finished.

‘Correct.’

‘I don’t know, Saxon,’ Wendy said, concerned. ‘Being hit by a meteorite is not my idea of entertainment.’

About the Author

Matt lives in Sydney, Australia and works as a course developer and writer in the Community Services sector.

'This narrative began as a short story in 2014. Over subsequent years it evolved through several plot, character and title iterations until Dream Phaze emerged as an episodic series published online in 2018. These episodes, collectively known as Germination, are now an ebook.

Dream Phaze - Imagination, the second ebook in the series, will be released in September 2020.

Matt is a member of the Australian Society of Authors and Alliance of Independent Authors.

Dream Phaze website: http://www.dreamphaze.com

Buy Dream Phaze – Germination here: https://books2read.com/dreamphaze1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dreamphaze/

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/dreamphaze1

Goodeads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19559598.Matt_Watters

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Review Tuesday moved to Wednesday: Different Senses - #MMRomance #SciFi #ReviewTuesday

Different Senses by Ann Somerville

Smashwords and Amazon KDP, 2011

Javen Ythen loves his job as a cop, doing his part to foster justice and community safety. He also gets some satisfaction from thumbing his nose at his powerful father and high-society mother, who feel police work isn’t an appropriate occupation for the son of the state governor. When Javen is seriously wounded in the line of duty, his world falls apart – not due to his physical injuries, but because the trauma triggers his genetic predisposition for empathy. It’s bad enough having everyone’s emotions clamoring in his mind, but for Javen, being matos has far more dire consequences. First, his new talent is an unwelcome sign that he is not pure Kelon, but of mixed race, since only the despised banis people, indigenous to the planet, carry the empathy gene. Second, privacy laws mean he’s no longer welcome in the police force. Worst of all, his long-time lover Kirin breaks off their relationship. It seems the man can’t bear the notion of being emotionally transparent – or perhaps Javen’s newly revealed racial background has some influence.

Depressed and bitter, Javen drifts into working as a private investigator. In his first case, he solves the mystery of a stolen jewel and clears the name of a young woman from the banis community. His new connections with the banis – or Nihan, as they call themselves - give him the opportunity to research his genealogy and find out more about his Nihani ancestors. He also begins to see, first hand, the many ways in which the original inhabitants of Uterden face discrimination and oppression from his own race. Over time, he adds Nihani interns and staff to his business, and as a result, becomes increasingly involved in their struggle for justice and equality. When a crooked court rules against Nihani interests and triggers violence and civil unrest, Javen finds himself in a life-and-death race to find the real terrorists, before the Kelon masters crush the Nihan and bury their aspirations for a better life.

Meanwhile, throughout the book, Javen struggles with his desire for the clever but hostile Nihani lawyer Shardul Hema Rishabh. As the only member of his people to have a Kelon law degree, Shardul seems to be involved in many of Javen’s cases. There’s an undeniable attraction between the two men, but Shardul could never love a Kelon, even one with some Nihani blood.

I downloaded Different Senses from Smashwords for free, during the Authors Give Back event, at the start of the Covid-19 epidemic. Though I’d never heard of the author, the book sounded appealing – science fiction is a long time favorite genre for me, and it had been too long since I’d read any MM romance. I’m so glad I followed my instincts. Different Senses is amazing, one of the best books I’ve read this year.

I loved everything about the novel. Ms. Somerville builds a believable world and a complex society, complete with customs, religions and language – a world ultimately not that different from our own. Every character is richly imagined and skillfully drawn. This is true not only of Javen and Shardul, but also more minor players such as the voluble Doctor Nihar and the blind Nihan elder Roshni. Everyone changes and grows over time. In particular, Javen’s father gradually transforms from something of a villain to an unexpected hero.

The oppression of the Nihan felt so familiar – especially given the events of the last month or so. The Nihan face the same sort of institutional racism endured by people of color in the United States. With few economic or educational opportunities, they’re viewed as backward and ignorant. Police and other representatives of state power are quick to suspect the Nihan of wrong doing and brutal in their reactions. At the same time, the Kelons admire banis artifacts, wear banis textiles, and create vast collections of works essentially stolen from the colonized culture.

In a neat little twist, by the way, Ms. Somerville has given the Kelon master race dark skins. The Nihan are red-haired, fair-skinned and green-eyed. That doesn’t stop them from being viewed as barely human.

The author doesn’t hit you over the head with this. There are no polemics in this book, although the underlying political themes provide one critical thread in the story. We learn about the Nihan situation through the eyes of Javen, as he gradually becomes closer to the people and their ways. The transition is subtle, sensitive, and extremely compelling.

The copyright page of Different Senses makes it clear that the different “chapters” in the book were originally published separately. Despite this, the book feels unified and has an integrated narrative arc, with an overarching conflict and resolution. I’ve referred to the book as a novel because that’s what it feels like: the story of Javen’s cultural enlightenment and his search for love.

Before concluding, I should mention the attitudes toward homosexuality on Uterden. The Kelons show themselves to be extremely prejudiced against the Nihan, but there’s no apparent negative feeling about same-sex relationships at all. Javen and Kirin are accepted as a normal family unit by everyone in the society. Javen and Shardul will have greater problems, due to their races, but not because they are both men. I loved this feeling of comfort.

This is a fantastic book. I will definitely be checking out some of Ann Somerville’s other work.

The Demise of Truth - #ScienceFiction #Digitalization #Truth

 Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I’ve been reading science fiction all my life, starting with the Mushroom Planet books when I was seven or eight, graduating to Heinlein and Asimov as a teenager, and branching out from there. Back in the eighties and nineties, I sampled a lot of cyber-punk: Pat Cadigan, Neal Stephenson, Bruce Sterling, William Gibson and their comrades. These authors imagined (or predicted?) many aspects of the modern Internet, decades in advance, and a startling number of their visions have become part of our everyday life.

A vast, worldwide, constantly accessible network of knowledge? These days, who could live without Wikipedia, Quora and YouTube? Voice queries, reminiscent of “2001: A Space Odyssey”? Siri and Alexa do quite a bit better than H.A.L. Instant notification about events? Telepresence? Synthetic on-line worlds where you can interact with avatars and artificial agents? Trends and fads that emerge, take control of the popular psyche then die off a matter of days? I first met all these ideas in science fiction stories.

There’s one aspect of today’s digital world, though, that no author whom I read predicted: the demise of truth.

You can find literally anything on the Internet – including completely contradictory sets of facts, multiple conflicting descriptions of events, alternative histories. It’s scary to realize that there is no such thing anymore as an authoritative source. We tend to believe and trust people who agree with us, but fundamentally that is just bias. Anyone who can tell a convincing story (and the Internet has nurtured and rewarded individuals who have this skill) can acquire a following of believers, no matter how absurd that story might appear to someone outside their circle. Some people are certain the moon landing in 1969 was a hoax – that the Holocaust never happened – that Elvis is still out there somewhere, shaking his hips and breaking hearts.

“Ah, but there’s evidence,” you might say. “Photographs. Historical records. Documents that support some stories and debunk others. Data that can be consulted and analyzed in order to choose one interpretation over another.” Alas, that might have been true a decade or two ago, but the digitalization of our existence means that absolutely everything is mutable. Photographs can be doctored without leaving the slightest trace, or even generated de novo – not just by humans but by AI systems who’ve been fed millions of similar examples. Deep-fake video technology makes it possible to literally put words in someone’s mouth. Software bots can invade social networks to manipulate so-called “popular opinion”, influencing elections and changing history. (But in fact, there is no one “history”. Even before the Internet, every country, culture and group had its own historical narrative.)

Most information needed to keep the world running is currently stored in digital form, in databases of one form or another. That information is unbelievably vulnerable to corruption, both accidental and deliberate. Given today’s technology, it would not be that difficult to erase all primary records of the moon landing to support the hoax claim. One doesn’t have to be a tech wizard to fabricate a totally believable case for almost any wild theory. It’s happening all the time, right now – as you read this blog post.

Now, I remember that initial walk on the moon with great clarity. I was in my senior year in high school, an enthusiastic science geek as well as a reader of science fiction, and from my perspective, this was definitely our first step toward a bright future in an expanding universe. Time corrodes our memories, though. When I compare notes with my husband of forty years about some past event we both experienced, we often have wildly differing recollections. The older I get, the less certain I am that even my most cherished and vibrant memories are accurate.

As prescient as the authors of my youth turned out to be, I can’t recall any of them portraying a world where it was impossible to know what was true. Honestly, this wreaks havoc with almost any philosophical perspective.

As a former researcher and computer professional, I’ve been aware of the malleability of truth for quite a while, but the COVID-19 epidemic has shown me just how impossible it has become to discern “the truth”. Every day we are bombarded with “scientific data” and presented with the conclusions of so-called experts. The same statistics will be interpreted in completely opposite directions, depending on the nationality, the politics or the predispositions of the person offering up conclusions. The average person has probably looked at more graphs over the past three months than in the previous two decades. Is he or she any closer to the truth about this crazy disease? What a ridiculous notion!

So where does that leave me – or us? How can we cope in an environment where we’re bombarded by information, any and all of which could be manufactured to serve someone’s agenda – or simply in error due to sloppy programming? Sounds pretty hopeless, doesn’t it?

Well, I have two answers. First of all, we can trust our direct experience, more at least than we can trust something we read on Facebook, USA Today, or The New York Times. Be observant; use your eyes and ears; keep an open mind. If someone claims that immigrants are criminal degenerates, think about the immigrants you know personally. (And if you don’t know any personally, perhaps you should seek some out.) If you read that anyone who likes to watch porn is psychologically diseased and incapable of having normal relationships – well, ask yourself whether the examples you have in your environment confirm this claim.

Second, we can educate ourselves about the fragility of truth in our digital world, be skeptical about every claim, and examine the mustered evidence as objectively as possible. I noted above that almost any sort of information can be faked, but consistency is still a reasonable criterion for evaluating a story. It’s possible to construct an intricate edifice of lies to support a false conclusion, but it’s difficult to make all the pieces fit together perfectly – at least right now.

There is one prediction that shows up a lot in eighties and nineties scifi that hasn’t yet come to fruition – the idea that neural stimulation could create artificial sensory experiences so vivid and convincing that you couldn’t tell the difference between a stim-dream and real life. There are advances in neuroscience that point in that direction, but we’re not there yet.

I rather hope we never get to that point. Already I lament the way so many of our experiences have switched from direct to mediated. Why go out on a date when you can chat on Messenger? Why bother to travel when you can browse Instagram or binge on YouTube? Why have sex when you can sext?

As I see it, some things can be imitated, but not truly replaced. I cling to that life-preserver as I navigate the shifting seas of today’s digital existence.