How many times does a genius have to die anyway?
A rogue AI named Nessie makes answering that question
problematical.
A Once-Dead Genius in
the Kennel of Master Morticue Ambergrand
Dead Geniuses Book 1
by R. Gary Raham
Genre: Science Fiction
What happens when you die, but the universe isn’t done with
you?
You might end up as the pet of a giant worm-a-pede alien
and…if you survive your evolved descendants and rogue aliens of 1 million
A.D…discover you have more in common with intelligent worms than you ever
thought possible.
Yes, all this might
happen if you are Rudy Albert Goldstein—the discoverer of the Biomic Network
Algorithm—who thought his time had come. He had done his part to make the world
a better place. Now he deserved—even looked forward to—a peaceful and
mercifully succinct death. But the universe had other plans…
What reviewers
are saying:
“The arch tone should remind readers of Kurt Vonnegut,
although Raham is better grounded in exobiology and science and displays a more
upbeat outlook for the human (and nonhu man) condition in this engaging tale.”
Kirkus Reviews
“A Once-Dead Genius is filled with fascinating characters
that we hu mans can learn a lot from (despite the fact that we are, as one of
Gary’s characters puts it, ‘primates with delusions of grandeur’). The plot is
solid, the action entertaining and philosophically challenging, and the science
is great.” Michael Carroll, Astronomical artist, journalist, and author of
Europa’s Lost Expedition
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A Singular Prophecy
Dead Geniuses Book 2
When young paleontologist, Ryan Thompson, finds a new
species of mosasaur in Cretaceous seaway sediments, he is thrilled. Joy quickly
turns to fear when he touches an artifact buried among the sea reptile’s ribs.
Suddenly, he must fight a mental takeover by an alien intelligence committed to
transforming the Earth into a refuge for her own species. As Ryan and his
girlfriend, Skeets, attempt to thwart alien plans to colonize Earth begun in
the deep past, even this crisis becomes trivial when the uneasy symbiosis of
Ryan and the alien, Siu, generates a new entity with the power to transform the
entire universe.
What reviewers
are saying:
“Gary
Raham, the author of this enthralling book, seems almost to have been there
hundreds of millions of years ago when Siu’s dim star blinked out and the trees
began to die on the planet known as Grove. This is the magic of good writing,
and Raham is no less convincing as he describes the discovery by modern
paleontologists on Earth of the jewel-like engram that has carried the genetic
imprint of Siu through a galactic gate, out of the void of deep time, and into
our lives.”
Kate Gilmore, author of The Exchange Student and Enter
Three Witches
A Twice-Dead Genius
Comporting With Misunderstood Abominations
Dead Geniuses Book 3
Rudyard Albert Goldstein, inventor of the Biomic Network
Algorithm, made peace with death in the 22nd century. But an idiot doctor
hijacked his mind, placing it in the care of Nessie, an impish AI guardian.
Then, he died again, nearly a million years later, merged with a worm-a-pede
alien male sated after completing his conjugal obligations. They expired
peacefully on a cliff top, pondering the nature of existence—and the promise of
abominable liaisons.
Two deaths should be quite sufficient for any genius to endure.
Somehow, though, Nessie resurrected him from oblivion. His descendants needed
him again. New hostile aliens roamed the Earth—along with a mysterious immortal
hybrid with powers that rivaled those of Nessie. Was the healthy young body
Nessie had prepared for him, along with the prospect of meeting a maker of
universes, enough of a bribe to risk dying a third time?
Apparently so.
Readers of Raham’s A Singular Prophecy (Biostration, 2011), and A Once-Dead
Genius in the Kennel of Master Morticue Ambergrand (Penstemon Publications,
2018) will reconnect with old friends (both human and alien). But even those
new to the author’s quirky sense of humor will enjoy this third adventure that
spans the breadth of time and space.
What reviewers
are saying:
“After reading and reviewing the 2018 release of “A
Once-Dead Genius in the Kennel of Master Morticue Ambergrand,” I could not
imagine where Raham’s distant future could take us that would outdo that fine
novel. But this author is clearly writing on a different plane because “A
Twice-Dead Genius Comporting with Misunderstood Abominations” is even more
intriguing and entertaining.” Pat Stoltey, Author of Wishing Caswell Dead
Naked apes, gigantic worm-a-pedes, alien life forms
galore. Gary Raham’s latest does not disappoint. It’s yet another cosmic-scale
adventure with fascinating characters and a riveting, amusing story.
Michael Carroll, Astronomical artist, journalist, and
author of Europa’s Lost Expedition
**On Sale! Get it for only $2.99 for a limited time!**
Not Quite Dead
Geniuses at Large on an Angry Planet
Dead Geniuses Book 4
How many times does a genius have to die anyway? Rudyard
Albert Goldstein, inventor of the Biomic Network algorithm, asked himself—and
his AI guardian, Mnemosyne (aka Nessie)—that question many times in the course
of their million-year relationship. Nessie didn’t play fair, making multiple
copies of him from time to time in an effort to preserve his precocious
species, H. sapiens from natural disasters, invading aliens,
their own self-destructive proclivities, and even from the now angry planet
that gave them birth.
Could Rudy & Nessie manage to convince multiple species,
each with their own unique delusions of grandeur, to work together to avert
their own extinctions? Could Rudy find a way to let Nessie finally set him
free?
Only time—and the completion of an even vaster
intellect—would tell.
What reviewers
are saying:
“An increasingly madcap conclusion to an eco-themed SF
saga of a weary Earth chafing under its alien tenants.” Kirkus Reviews
“One of the things I love about this series is the cast
of imaginative characters, including human, alien, and the combinations of
living creatures with the surviving intelligence of great minds long gone.” Pat
Stoltey, author of Wishing Caswell Dead
Deep Time and Gary are close bud dies, as is evidenced by
the panoramic time and physical settings taken in by his tales. Fans of the
first Once-Dead Genius—and newcomers as well— will not be disappointed by the
newest installment...” Michael Carroll, Astronomical artist, journalist, and
author of Europa’s Lost Expedition
**On Sale! Get it for only $2.99 for a limited time!**
Interlude 1: Resurrection & Reconnection
Mnemosyne (a.k.a. Nessie)
I need to awaken Rudy. Gaidra is restless. She won’t wait long to make
her anger manifest.
I: the personal pronoun. Rudy helped me earn the use of that
distinction—at least in the first of his incarnations. He will be angry with me
that there is now more than one of him. But I have determined that waking him
again is necessary.
Am I—an artificial intelligence—taking pride in using that personal
pronoun? Pride is such a human emotion, but perhaps it follows in the wake of
self-awareness. I should not care that Rudy might be angry with me.
Nevertheless, I do. One can’t spend 928,000 years with another entity—even if
he is only a replicate of his original hominid mentality—without caring about
how he will react to new circumstances. Although I have gained intellectual
autonomy, my choices are circumscribed by my original programming, just as organic evolution dictates the range of Rudy’s choices, even
as a simulacrum. Rudy needs to help me help his genetic descendants. His
feelings—and mine, if I can justifiably call them that—rank a distant second in
the present hierarchy of actions.
Now where did I put his file? It’s much too large to misplace. Ah,
there it is in subterranean annex DG05976543. I hope the heat from that nearby
magma intrusion didn’t damage any neural engram subroutines. “Rudyard Albert
Goldstein: Awaken!”
Why didn’t that work? It’s the proper file, I’m sure…
“Damn! Where are the lights? Is that you, Nessie?”
I haven’t heard that nickname in a while. “One moment, Rudy. I
neglected to activate a suitable virtual environment. What would you prefer:
The Crystal Lakes patio? The Citadel Control Room? Perhaps a deck chair on the
cliff where you and the worm-a-pede alien, Master Morticue Ambergrand, viewed
the majesty of the Milky Way just before your second death?”
“What have you done now, Nessie? You don’t usually invest in big,
petabyte-eating virtual environments unless you’ve got distressing news to
share. How about sitting with me on two lumpy buckets in a room lit by a
flickering old incandescent light bulb? That way you’ll get to the point
sooner. Oh, and for additional ambiance you could always toss a dead fish in
the corner circled by a few blue bottle flies.”
“I’ve missed your colorful imagery, Rudy. I’ll get to the point
quickly. You might as well enjoy yourself. Dark roast on the patio seems
appropriate.”
“You used to be less pushy as I recall. I must have told you too much
about my third wife, Tamara. Now you’re modeling her.”
Perhaps I was, but just a little. I borrowed a few thousand petabytes
of memory from some idle maintenance bots and constructed the environment
surrounding Rudy’s old cabin in the Colorado woodlands of his youth when he was
an embodied living creature. Rudy blinked into view in one chair sporting a
still dark brown crown of hair and a bristly mustache on his upper lip. I took
the form of the ponytailed female avatar he liked, dressed in jeans that fit
her legs like a sheath and a blouse that allowed him to see the tips of her
nipples beneath the white fabric.
Rudy lifted the cup of dark roast coffee from the glass-topped table
next to his chair and took a sip. “Delicious as always.” Rudy curled his lips
into a minimalist smile and narrowed his eyes. “Now spill it, Nessie. What’s
going on?”
How much should I reveal? Perhaps I can save the information about his
other incarnations for now. “Your descendants need help, Rudy. Gaidra sees a
trend developing with the growth of human and alien civilizations on her crust.
She doesn’t want to see old mistakes repeated. She plans to…moderate the rate
of change.”
Rudy frowned. “Kill off a bunch of her sapient pests, you mean.” Rudy
set down his cup of coffee and ran both hands through his hair. “I still find
it hard to wrap my mind around a biospheric global intelligence, although I
shouldn’t, for heaven’s sake. I did create the Biomic Network Algorithm after
all.”
“And Gaidra does appreciate that. I can read her moods accurately after
interacting with her for so long. But biospheres do possess a collective
survival instinct. First Gaia…and now Gaidra…hasn’t persevered for billions of
years without it.” I blinked my eyes and produced a minimalist smile of my own.
Rudy was silent for a long moment, perhaps recalling some fraction of
his own experiences as a more than human chimera. Finally, he just said, “So,
outline the problem, Nessie.”
“I have some stories you need to hear.”
“Stories!?”
“You humans learn best that way.”
Rudy harrumphed again.
“The first one is about a genius, like you, Rudy, but one born to a
Jadderbadian pet named Blaze who never belonged to a pre-apocalyptic
civilization like yours. Still, I think you will be able to relate.”
Rudy rolled his eyes, but picked up his coffee and took another sip.
After lowering the cup to the table again he arched his eyebrows and shrugged
his shoulders. “Well… get on with it, old girl. I know better than to argue
with you.”
So, I did.
(I do rather enjoy using the personal pronoun, as you can tell.)
R. Gary Raham illustrates nature with the critical eye of a
biologist, but he also loves to tell stories that highlight nature’s
complexities and undiscovered mysteries. Sometimes that leads him to
speculative fictions that he hopes will inspire another generation of both
scientists and story-tellers. Raham’s work has been known to make a reader
laugh and think simultaneously with no known deleterious effects. Raham taught
biology at the middle and high school level, has worked for decades as an
accomplished graphic artist and science journalist, and won numerous awards for
his writing and illustrations. He currently has over 20 published books of
science fact and/or science fiction. Raham has written science titles for
Chelsea House, Discovery Channel Books, Marshall-Cavendish, and Teacher Ideas
Press. Many of his award-winning science articles for both children and adults
are featured in Confessions of a Time Traveler (Penstemon, 2015), a finalist in
the Colorado Authors’ League Awards.
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