The debut novel from a exciting new voice in SF—about what happens after ninety percent of humanity leaves Earth There is an artificial ring around the Earth and it is empty after the Singularity. Either all the millions of inhabitants are dead, or they have been transformed into energy beings beyond human perception. Earth’s population was reduced by ninety percent. Human civilization on Earth is now recovering from this trauma and even has a vigorous space program. Apollo Papadopulos is in training to become the captain of the starship Consensus. Apollo is a unique individual in that he/she/it is not an individual at all, but five separate teenagers who form a new entity. Strom, Meda, Quant, Manuel, and Moira are a pod, as these kinds of personalities are called, genetically engineered to work as one and to be able to communicate non-verbally. As a rare quintet, much relies on the successful training of Apollo, but as more accidents occur, the pod members struggle just to survive.
Author
Paul lives in Ohio with his beautiful wife and four fairly wonderful children. He is an active member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, where he sits on the board of directors as the South-Central Regional Director and is chair of the Grievance Committee. Paul’s fiction has appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy, Spider Magazine, The Year’s Best Science Fiction, and other magazines and anthologies. His work has been translated into Spanish, Hungarian, Czech, and Russian. A collection of his science fiction stories, TEN SIGMAS AND OTHER UNLIKELIHOODS, is scheduled for release in 2008. Paul’s work has been nominated for the Sturgeon, Nebula, and Hugo Awards. SINGULARITY’S RING (Tor Book, Feb 08) is his first novel, the protagonist of which is actually five humans who can chemically share thoughts, allowing them to act as one entity. Strom’s story, “Strength Alone,” (part of SINGULARITY’S RING) made the Nebula preliminary ballot. Paul’s novella “The Walls of the Universe” was nominated for the Hugo in 2007. It is the basis for his next novel.
