Virtual Destiny

by R J Reiber

Overview

Unable to walk due to a spinal birth defect, Kaylee Parker has devoted her life to science, hoping to find a cure for her condition one day. However, right when she's on the cusp of a breakthrough, a freak solar event destroys most life on Earth and devastates civilization. Kaylee survives, but it seems like her dream of walking has been destroyed as well. The surviving humans prove to be remarkably versatile though, and soon they are hard at work rebuilding their world, housing people in two domed cities known as New Washington and New Los Angeles.

As a top scientific mind, Kaylee is soon recruited to work in New Washington's cutting-edge science department. Through a seemingly miraculous twist of fate, she is also able to recover some of her pre-disaster research and continue her experiments, though she must do so in secret. Unbeknownst to her, another major technological breakthrough is on the horizon. Fearing another potential calamity, scientists have developed a virtual world that humanity can escape to in the event that the domed cities fail, and life in the real world is no longer tenable. The hope is that if that worst-case scenario ever occurs, people will eventually be able to download themselves into new bodies and return from their virtual exile. While most people are content with their new lives in the domed cities, those stuck on the outside are determined to bring the cities down. Just as Kaylee is on the verge of another breakthrough in her clandestine experiments, terrorists attack the cities, placing Kaylee's dream and humanity's survival in peril.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781039142978
Publisher:	FriesenPress
Publication date:	02/24/2023
Series:	Virtual Earth
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

R. J. Reiber has spent most of career in the high-tech realm and lives in Kitchener, Ontario. Virtual Destiny is his debut novel.

Editorial Reviews

2023-03-21
A group of rebels plans a deadly attack in a devastated future America in this debut SF novel.

Scientist Kaylee Parker, born with a spinal cord defect, has relied on a wheelchair all her life. She works with human DNA at a lab in Los Angeles but furtively explores tissue regrowth so that she can walk. Just when she’s made progress, a cataclysmic “solar fireball” in the mid-21st century renders Earth’s surface uninhabitable. The survivors take refuge underground, form a new government, and later build “less-cramped” domed cities—New Washington and New Los Angeles. Once the new chief science officer recruits Kaylee, she has the chance to return to her secret tissue-growth experiments. But not everyone is content in this new world. A band of rebels disapproves of the governing body’s control, especially with recently developed tech that invades citizens’ privacy. These insurgents plan a strike against one of the domed cities, which will likely kill thousands. Kaylee vows to stop the attack, though finding someone to help won’t be easy. Reiber packs this tale with delightful SF. Copious technological details abound, unveiling such digital endeavors as the Dream Palladium, which allows an audience to experience a person’s dream (“The audience will not only see what the dreamer sees, they will also experience other sensory inputs such as audio, smell, emotional responses, and feelings such as hot or cold along with their chosen dreamer”). But all this tech takes precedence over the story’s human side. And the scenes that do focus on the characters sometimes feel strained, such as two women blatantly and pointlessly discriminating against Kaylee for her disability. Kaylee, on the other hand, is a sympathetic hero; her experiments are for her own benefit, but she doesn’t hesitate to put herself at risk when others are in danger. In addition, a few characters make surprising choices that turn the plot in unexpected directions. The bracing novel’s latter half gathers considerable steam for an action-laden sequence and an ending that aptly sets the stage for a probable sequel.

A stellar protagonist shines in this rousing dystopian tale.

Kirkus Reviews