I have always believed that the most terrifying dystopias aren’t the ones about broken worlds, but the ones about broken humanity. For example, imagine the ultimate dystopian question: when the planet is dying, the oceans are lost to space, and few of us remain, what is more important—our survival, or our humanity?
Imagine trying to answer that question, and the danger it would pose having the debate. Imagine how it could lead to exposing a darkness within us.
In my new novel, Scorched Earth: The Library of Power, I invite you into Elizabetha, which is such a world. It is the last city on Earth—a subterranean, windowless fortress of 50,000 souls surrounded by endless, blistering sands where daytime temperatures surpass 100°C.
In Elizabetha, survival requires absolute conformity. Citizens wear white jumpsuits, carry badges marking their societal roles over their hearts, and are strictly banned from forming human connections. To feel is a crime punishable by death.
But behind this cold, rigid order lies a deeper secret. The city’s crown jewel is a strange, windowless, heart-shaped building. Once a theme park ride, it has become something far more sinister: a virtual reality library of feelings, where citizens escape to experience Earth as it once was.
My main character, Josephine, loves the library but suppresses a secret desire to make real-world connections, to be a feeler. When she crosses paths with Charlene, a uniquely odd and very young teenage girl, she is forced to make a choice: protect this strange girl or expose her to save herself.
The result is an epic life-and-death journey for the ages that will redefine both the future and meaning of humanity.
As a writer, I tell you, building this world was a deeply intense, personal battle.
Due to long-standing hand and wrist injuries, I can no longer type. For a long time, that reality broke me. It made me question what a broken-bodied person with limited use of his hands could really contribute to the world. How do you build a sprawling sci-fi universe when you can’t even hold a pen or strike a keyboard?
The answer came when I stopped trying to type and started speaking.
I wrote this entire book hands-free.
Yep, I wrote it using voice dictation software.
Dictating this epic adventure into reality gave me a profound appreciation for the power of the human voice and our desperate, built-in need to share stories.
More than that, it taught me the true meaning of humanity. Josephine taught me the true meaning.
Through her journey, and her immense internal strength, she gave me back my voice.
Scorched Earth: The Library of Power is officially live. If you love fast-paced dystopian sci-fi with a massive beating heart, I hope you’ll join Josephine and Charlene in the sands of Elizabetha.
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