Eight hybrid shapeshifters emerge from confidential quarantine in 2111 to enact an age-old reconnaissance mission that will rescue humanity from new Cloud hallucinations. A talented photographer named Alex Harper, and a visionary scientist named Dr. Helena Clydene get drawn into a secret society of artists and engineers who have discovered a way to augment their eyes with AI implants. It is a transient virtual experience based on confiscated Cloud biotechnology. They call it the Reverie Machine. Meanwhile, crewmembers of the international starship Disc-Hoover are trapped at the galactic frontier, on the desolate planetoid Zeta-9, the Frontier Research Outpost of squadron Epsilon-5. Dr. Naomi Clydene, Helena's sister, is researching the unique predatory instincts of space bugs inhabiting the region when workers report weird whispers echoing through the cavernous mines, and shadows seem to move with a life of their own. The Cryosolarium Pulse, sensing a threat to its existence, begins to manifest itself through the cryosolarium network, intertwining its dark energy with the corporation infrastructure of Cryonocloud Cast Manufacturing Company. On Earth, the eerie phenomenon also affects the Reverie Machine. Guided by their virtual assistant on Earth, Nirvana Cyberius, the eight shapeshifter chimeras venture through different realms of the Cloud and space to stop the Cryosolarium Pulse from taking over the galaxy and face off against corrupted NPCs (Non-Player Characters) guarding the path to human Cloud cryo chamber consciousness. Michael Tillman, Valerie, and their rival remain deserted collateral inside the original Virtual Reality Cloud game environment, and paradise is in danger.
Tales from the Juggernaut #1. Complete. Wattys 2018 shortlist.
WHAT IS THE SECRET OF THE JUGGERNAUT?
*PRAISE FOR THE JUGGERNAUT*
*** Good story, great setting, and well fleshed characters. *** Gripping from the beginning...cannot wait for the next one... *** ...a hint of John Scalzi... *** I really enjoyed this book *** I love the characters *** ...brilliantly captures my curiosity. *** captures your imagination right from the start *** Unique and really drags you in.... I can't wait to see what comes next. *** A great, exciting, fast paced read *** Can't wait for the second installment! ***
The Juggernaut
A city in space built from the twisted wreck of a thousand ships, in a decaying orbit around a dying star.
The last refuge of the dispossessed.
The place Tila Vasquez now calls home.
When a distant colony of stars lost contact with earth, they descended into the fires of a civil war. From the ashes rose the Commonwealth - Eleven systems struggling to survive the aftermath and rebuild civilisation with the remnants of the technology they once had.
The mission to colonise Baru was to be the first step forward in a hundred years. Three colony ships set out to discover a new star and build the first hyperspace beacon in three generations.
But the mission failed.
The Far Horizon vanished through the unstable wormhole. The Rising Star and New Dawn were destroyed.
Tila's parents were among the thousands lost. Now she has joined the ranks of the dispossessed.
So when Tila finds the impossible - a shuttle from the Far Horizon buried deep within the Juggernaut - she sets out with her friends Ellie and Malachi to uncover the truth behind the colony mission.
But some things are buried for a reason, and some secrets should never be revealed...
**The Juggernaut is part one of an exciting space action-adventure mystery series.**