Hunter S. Thompson once said, “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a ride!'” That’s exactly how I feel as I put the finishing touches on this draft of gen-O-pod(™) Wars.
What started as a silly toss-off to explain why all those pesky humans who used to live on this planet were dead, a dystopian MacGuffin if you will, took on a life of its own, unlike the humans it documents. The number of emails I have received over the years containing lines similar to, “There is still good in people, blah blah blah” makes the Iliad look like a post-it note.
Between reactions to it and its theoretical predecessor, The Plato Wars, people seemed to think I had a couple hundred thousand words hiding under my desk, and I was denying access to them because I am an old cruel meany, with a teeny weenie peeny, who has no use for my mortal coil other than to cause pain.
Both story lines, while referenced ominously in The Brittle Riders and Goptri of the Mists, were meant to be mysteries. You know, like D.B. Cooper and the Mary Celeste. But ya’ll kept paying my bills and wanting to know “WHY DID YOU KILL ALL THE NICE PEOPLE?”
Waves arm around. Duh!
The Plato Wars and gen-O-pod(™) Wars are, if looked at properly, a single story. A stupidly, and dangerously, long prequel. The former showcases how quickly a society can and will accept rule that is not remotely beneficial to the whole. See “History of Civilization” as Example “A”. The latter takes a hard, dark look at how humans have traditionally treated people it was able to classify as “lesser.” You know what? Just bookmark Example “A”.
So, your question becomes, “How hard and how dark are we talking?” Well, golly, Timmy, if I’m going to kill every man, woman, and child on the planet, that means I have to kill the nice ones, too. And, if I’m going to drill things home, that means I need some scenes that will make more sensitive readers whimper and shift uncomfortably.
What I got was a book that is perfectly fucking dark but too fucking long. Over 130,000 words. Once I got that out of my system, I started trimming. And compiling. And altering. And praying. And telling my beautiful bride (who is doing much better, thank you) I promised to come to bed eventually.
This version is wrapping up at a little over 100,000 words, about the same as each book in The Brittle Riders. Those would be 100,000 words typed by my loving fingertips that are so dark that the history of a female serial killer who likes removing men’s genitals and sewing them to their hearts is just an ambient backstory to everything else.
That dark.
All of this brings me to you. And only you. I am assembling a list of people who might wish to be beta readers. If you would like to be on that list, simply reply to this email with your preferred mode of document delivery. This particular document will be a PDF.
Should you risk your emotional stability by doing so, you will receive your copy within fourteen days of this email. Like all authors of Beta Reads, I am going to be a whiny bitch and … ahem …. ask for your review as soon as possible.
When the Sominids – towering, blue-skinned pansexual aliens with a taste for indulgence – visited Earth, they left behind new ideas, forbidden pleasures, and a desiccated moon. Generations later, after finally realizing the lack of FTL travel denies them the stars, humanity wrestles with its own decline and a legacy of lost ambition, one prodigy rises: Edward Q. Rohta. With genius and audacity, Rohta engineers the gen-O-pods(™), chimeric beings forged from human and animal DNA, designed to serve, entertain, and, perhaps, surpass their creators.
As Rohta’s creations spread across a world desperate for meaning, power, and escape, buried divisions erupt into new conflicts. From sybaritic power-brokers and Machiavellian lawyers to self-aware gen-O-pods(™) plotting a non-human future, the struggle for purpose, freedom, and identity explodes on a global stage. Wickedly satirical and wildly imaginative, gen-O-pod Wars(™) is a biting exploration of what it means to be human-or something more-in a world where evolution is for sale and destiny is just another commodity.
gen-O-pod(™) Wars
The sexiest, most violent Armageddon you’ll ever read
This book will complete all the parts of the 8-book trilogy;
The Plato Wars, gen-O-pod(™) Wars, The Brittle Riders, & Goptri of the Mists
Again, thanks for all the prayers. My wife and I appreciate every single one.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
