Mind-reading elephants; Giant snakes devouring their worshipers.
A love story of such intense passion, it outlasts the catastrophic wreckage of a frightening future society.
All this, and much more, is found in Pandora’s Promise by award-winning author -- and longtime member of Science Fiction Writers of America -- Kathryn Lance. It's the much-anticipated third novel, just released, in her “Pandora” trilogy, which in 1985 took the post-apocalypse genre to a new place.
A catastrophic oil spill sets off Lance’s darkly imagined future. But the cleanup, using genetically altered bacteria, leads to the total destruction of modern technology. Experimental life forms escape from germ-warfare labs. Extinctions and mutations -- both plant and animal -- spread around the globe. Tattered remnants of civilization struggle to endure, as another new disease selectively kills women and threatens to exterminate the entire human race.
Throughout the trilogy, pro-science survivors scramble to save their world, fiercely opposed by forces of ignorance and religious fundamentalism. In the new Pandora’s Promise, the effects of galloping climate change compound the many perils originally posed by “The Change.” Yet now, as the story reaches its conclusion, an unexpected ray of hope can be seen, hinted at by the mysterious “Eye,” whose symbol beckons only those with sufficient wisdom.
On its original release in 1985, the first book in the trilogy, Pandora's Genes, received the “Best New Science Fiction Novel” award from Romantic Times, and was named to that year’s “Locus Recommended List.” In the years since, the second book, Pandora’s Children, as well as the first, have become cult classics.
The first two books closely examined societies that develop disparate ways to deal with the lack of technology and the critical shortage of women.
In the new book, readers encounter a cult of primitive snake-worshipers...villagers who re-enact ancient sporting events they have transformed into lethal struggles...and families of telepathic elephants, descendants of those that escaped from zoos, circuses, and animal refuges.
Those empathic elephant “Dream Tasters” are perhaps the most endearing of the author’s newest imaginings. The majestic creatures eventually team up with the book’s main characters to offer wisdom and perspective, as the humans race to preserve what is left of civilization.
All three novels are notable for their adherence to hard science, since Kathryn Lance makes full use of her scientific background and rock-solid research ability to mingle a character-driven plot with fact-based action.
Lance is the author of fifty other books, both fiction and nonfiction -- along with dozens of articles -- on science and technology, medicine, health and fitness, nutrition, consumerism, and lifestyles.
Her broad writing experience lends immense believability to her story’s complicated love triangle, among a poet-warrior, a headstrong political leader, and a beautiful young scientist whose bravery is matched only by her brilliance.
Of everything I have written, says Lance, a resident of Tucson, AZ, this is my favorite book. But I give full credit to my characters, who really wrote it for me. Once they came to life, they seemed to create the plot, their interactions, and the outcome. All I had to do was listen to them and write it down.
What They’re Saying...
"A beautifully-written combination of tribal violence, human and animal friendships, and a startling look at our possible future. PANDORA’S PROMISE is an unforgettable book!"--R.L. Stine, author of Goosebumps and Fear Street.
“A solid conclusion to the Pandora’s Trilogy!”--Nebula Award winner Jack McDevitt.
About this Kindle ebook:
Pandora’s Promise by Kathryn Lance
ASIN: B00T3O0676
Publisher: Amazon
Date of publish: February 2015
Pages: 306
S.R.P.: $3.99
Readers can learn more about Lance and her work at her website: http://www.klance.com/home.html
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