The Singularitive Scenarios
Blends the enigmatic alien encounters and
resulting societal conflicts in
The Three-Body Problem
with the monumental breakthroughs and
intense personal struggles of the scientists in
Oppenheimer.
A team of scientists must
prove their surprising discovery
or surrender it to conspiracy
in this breakout soft sci-fi epic
exploring the pitfalls and virtues
of human nature.
In 2033, a rogue experiment in a Berkeley astrophysics professor’s lab leads to discoveries that astound humanity—but have uncertain consequences for the planet.
Those uncertainties incite a popular conspiracy theorist to spread apocalyptic doom. The discoveries also stir heretical ideas that provoke a firebrand religious crusader and her acolytes to vilify the leader of the Berkeley lab, a young professor striving to advance her career.
While battling to overcome all that often violent backlash, the roller coaster lives of the professor and her colleagues careen into even more chaos when their collaborations with a gutsy biotech entrepreneur, an alt-lifestyle activist, and a divergently-developed child reshape society—in beneficial but also divisive ways.
As the intimate stories of this cadre of trailblazers unfold in the face of this changing world, some will be triumphant. Others tragic.
The First Contact Last Resort series dramatizes how civilization is revolutionized by a chain of new technologies, scientific discoveries, and social movements. This crisply written saga of raw human experience will make you question our destiny—and our origins.
A Berkeley professor
at the forefront of
scientific progress
must stand up to
violent confrontations
in humanity’s battle over
an enlightened or medieval future.
In the wake of recent astounding discoveries, uncertainty about environmental catastrophe is roiling society. The vitriol leads to an unimaginable backlash against the scientific community, especially the Berkeley professor most associated with the discoveries.
Meanwhile, the secret nighttime use of a prototype medical device by one of the professor’s students leads to a breakthrough—that will be an abomination to some. When the leader of the biotech company developing the device realizes the breakthrough’s life-saving potential, he’ll risk death threats, prison, and his company’s survival to use the device before it's proven safe.
This second story in the First Contact Last Resort soft sci-fi series dramatizes how our society and leaders cope with massive progress and upheaval. Some will be heroic. Others vile.
Humanity’s responses to
monumental
opportunities and problems
hang in the balance
as scientists and trailblazers
clash with extremist
populist leaders
and their depraved enablers.
A decade after the Extraterrestrial Singularitive, scientists identify a looming natural disaster. Even though the technology exists to avert the disaster, governments lack the political will to implement the costly solution.
When a large, peaceful rally against that government neglect turns violent, unprecedented contempt permeates society, undermining democratic elections and political leaders.
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Meanwhile, a genetic engineering company unveils a body-modification technology that solves the last biological hurdle to crewed deep space travel. Now the company wants to popularize another use of the technology because—some hypothesize—it will diminish societal tribalism. And generate large profits.
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At the center of the maelstrom are two young women. One is a brilliant scientist navigating first love, disability, and responsibility. The other is an idealistic scientist-turned-business executive trying to save her marriage while leading a movement. Together, these women confront the global dilemmas and their personal struggles.
This third story in the First Contact Last Resort series dramatizes how risky societal endeavors could be revolutionarily successful. Or recklessly disastrous.
In this fourth installment
of the sprawling soft sci-fi series,
alums from Berkeley’s
Earth Collision Lab,
their children, and colleagues
grapple with a maelstrom of
personal, global, and galactic
dilemmas.
After establishing two-way communication with an advanced extraterrestrial civilization, a leading scientist struggles to reach a consensus on humanity's first message to the aliens—especially because the potential for acquiring world-changing knowledge is also fraught with the potential for misinterpretation and resulting hostility.
Even before interacting with the extraterrestrial civilization, the United States president clashes with forces within our civilization who have fundamentally opposing values and are scheming to splinter the nation and render democracy unviable—all while the president’s son becomes yet another teenager addicted to a VR world.
Meanwhile, a novel medical technology that has permeated society begins to manifest itself in unforeseen ways, including a debilitating disorder for a frequent user of the technology, a strange neurodivergence for a child prenatally exposed to the technology, and a leap in evolution for a pregnant alt-lifestyle activist who wants to experiment with the neurodivergence on humans—starting with her fetus.
Packed with engaging and thought-provoking drama, the First Contact Last Resort series continues to interleave our world’s amazing beauty and goodness with its stunning absurdity and evil.