Welcome new fantasy/science fiction author (to me) Alex Hurst to Moonbeams over Atlanta! I was contacted by Alex regarding this illustrated, serial science fiction novella called D.N.A. and about futuristic world in which nanotech is the norm. An illustrated story about science fiction was not something I have review requests for normally. Intrigued, I read the blurb, liked the ideas, and that it’s short. So, I decided to review it, but it releases… today. 🙂 Two days notice for a review is a little tricky despite the fact that I do read fast. I offered to post a cover reveal and the author has provided a #giveaway of 10 Kindle codes (yes, 10)! Stay tuned for the review to post here in the near future.
Contest rules for the 10 Kindle codes are at the end of the post.
Blurb:
The story chronicles the adventures of Alta Williams, a woman of a future where genetics dictate quality of life and scientific discovery advances at an inconceivable rate. Alta is known to the media as the Human Doll, the first successful case of a full nanoCell organ transplant.
Alta appreciates the technology around her: without it, a chemical fire would have killed her in her early twenties. Though the fire destroyed her extracellular matrix, scientists from the medical behemoth nanoTech were able to replace her ruined skin with their patented nanoCell material, giving her a second lease on life.
However, with nanotechnology now advanced enough to alter the human genome, and a company determined to capitalize – and control – the endeavor, it is up to Alta to expose their plans.
And she’s not alone.
Helping her every step of the way is D.N.A., the Digital Nanocell Accelerator, a self-learning computer program charged with telling synthetic cells which tissue they should build. D.N.A. fuses with Alta’s fully-synthetic skin and convinces her to fight against those who would otherwise oppress society as she knows it.
Of course, it helps that D.N.A. can change the genetic makeup of Alta’s skin at will, gifting her with the characteristics of any living recorded in the Genome Project. With the world’s genetic code at her whim, Alta has the power to overcome anything…
…but at what cost to her humanity?
**Please note that this is a novella with illustrations, not a comic or full-length novel**
Buy Link: Amazon
Title: D.N.A.: Alta
Author: Alex Hurst, Illustrated: Kevin Nichols
Series: D.N.A. Book 1
Print Length: 24 pages (Novella)
Publisher: Bookmark Comics
Published Date: July 15, 2015
ASIN: B0101Y6Z9Y
Excerpt:
Alta’s hands couldn’t protect her face from the wild winds of the rooftop. The sharp, chilly gusts across the high-rise felt like tiny knives against her skin.
[Head to the eastern end of the building. The force of the winds will be blocked by the building’s mass.]
Talking about the risk of the wind didn’t make the prospect of sliding down the wall any more appealing, but she followed D.N.A.’s instructions. “There’s really no other option?”
Down below, Alta saw nothing but quiet streets. There were no police lights, no security vehicles. Of course, it was expected: nanoTech wouldn’t want the intruder caught publicly. There would be no telling what she’d heard; what she knew… should she be apprehended by law enforcement, a public
statement could follow. They needed to handle it internally. The thought made her shudder—how many times had nanoTech made a pest disappear in the past?
[I need you to focus, Alta. Uroplatus fimbriatus had reversed knuckles. That’s how they climbed walls.]
But I only have regular knuckles. What do you want me to do, break all of my fingers?
The length of silence that followed did nothing to ease Alta’s tension.
I was joking, D.
[Yes. Right.]
Did D.N.A. understand her fear? Did he recognize what he was asking of her? Maybe for him, her physical limitations were only an algorithm, her emotions an illogical outlier––for her, those very things were what made her human.
[I will adjust my program to be more responsive to emotional stimuli.]
Not particularly encouraging, D.
Shivering again, Alta clasped her arms across her breasts and looked over the edge of the eighty- story building. Vertigo settled deep in her gut and she jerked back, fighting the sensation that the whole building was lurching. I don’t know if I can do this, D.
Author Bio
Alex Hurst writes primarily character-driven fantasy, in such sub-genres as urban, Gothic, uncanny, and regional fantasy. Sometimes, she dapples in science fiction, horror, and LGBT literature.
She was raised in the wilds of the south. Lightning storms and hurricanes created the playpens of her youth, and in the summers, she used to spend all of her time dodging horseflies in a golden river, catching fish and snakes with her bare hands, swinging from vines, and falling out of magnolia trees.
In the dawn of her adolescence, her family took her on a journey across the United States, from the white sands of Pensacola, FL, to the razor’s edge of the Hell’s Backbone in Utah. They finally landed in Marin, CA, where lotus eaters tried to make city folk out of them (but miserably failed.) She currently lives in Kyoto, Japan, working as a writer and dream-smith.
She also freelances as an editor for the Writers’ Anarchy anthology series, designs book interiors at Country Mouse Design, and admins on the Fiction Writers community on Facebook, assisting emerging writers.
Feel free to stay a while, leave a comment or send her an email. If you feel so inclined, you can also follow her on any of the links below.
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10 Kindle/Amazon code Giveaway!
To Enter, comment on this post and the first 10 commentators will receive D.N.A for free via Amazon. If more than 10 unique commentators, then Moonbeams over Atlanta will use Random.org to pick the 10 winners. Contest ends 7/22/2015 11:59 PM EDT. Please provide email address with your comment where you would like to receive your prize, and the author will contact the winners directly.
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I’m so excited to read this novella, as I’m a huge fan of Alex’s writing. It sounds wonderfully engaging and I’m looking forward to seeing Kevin Nichols’ illustrations as well!
Thank you, Shelley! I’m so excited to get a chance to read your work soon. I think you’ll love Kevin’s illustrations, even if my writing falls short! 😉 Golden Age influences, with science fiction undertones.
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