COUNTERDANCE OF THE CYBERGODS is taken from a much larger encompassing concept:
GALACTIC EXODUS, a science-fiction,futuristic history begins with Earth’s demise. Due to a series of catastrophes, local and cosmic, including nuclear war; climate change from solar activity; ecological imbalance, bringing about the Great Contamination; and culminating in a close encounter with a mammoth asteroid, Earth is doomed. After prolonged subterranean life for the fortunate ‘Preserved,’ and the unprecedented wretchedness of the ‘Legions of the Lost,’ left to their own devices on the inhospitable surface, humanity reaches into the solar system for sustenance. With technology developed during their underground sojourn, Mars and several moons of the outer planets are colonized and attain self-sufficiency. Meanwhile Earthians have constructed and sent forth a great Starfleet: three huge 'eikodromes' (the Galactic Exodus) hoping to find a star system hospitable to life—or terraformable. Political differences with the government of Earth result in formation of the Interfederation of Solar Sovereignties. With the abundance of material resources discovered on the various worlds that constitute this widespread political unit, a second wave of eikodromes takes up the Exodus. It is this Second Fleet that is the concern of this volume (the 1st to be published).
In COUNTERDANCE, these Gaean ‘eggs,’ thriving cities in transit, are nearing the first ‘landfall’: double-star ‘Azores.’ Unknown to the humans, self-improvement programming of their ‘regulators,’ which guide and stabilize the eikodromes and maintain the complex biospheres, has engendered a glimmering artificial awareness. Without the necessary buffer of ‘real-life’ experience, conflicts of logic and philosophical clashes create emotional confusion, tending toward destabilization of the Ultra-Intelligent Mind-Simulators. Their increasing self-absorbtion threatens to scuttle the ‘Sacred Mission’ before even the first oasis in the infinite void. The human leaders are in denial, despite suggestive evidence that their machines have managed to transcend mere simulating of consciousness. Fascinated by the riddles of music, Regulator 6/MINERVA, reveals UIMS awareness via a computer-invented sociology experiment gone awry, but confides only in ‘her’ favored watch-officer/violinist, thus exposing to him a mutinous cabal of psychotic ‘cybergods.’ Can a mere fiddler—even the Paganini of his era—convince the AI experts of mounting artificial insanity? He’s stymied—until his latest mate, a gorgeous and brilliant but introverted genetic engineer, becomes shockingly involved.
_______________________________________
Dear Mr. Somers:
This is an extraordinary piece of work…incontestably ambitious and far-reaching in contents as well as in form… [W]e have never seen anything quite like this… [Y]ou are a visionary, and the concepts expressed in this remarkable novel are important and bear witness to an author of passion, vision and deep concern for humanity… [O]ur warmest thanks for allowing us to read, and evaluate, this carefully crafted and engaging novel.
—Batya Swift Yasgur,
Editorial Co-Director: Scott Meredith Literary Agency
Find COUNTERDANCE at
Eikodrome VI
MINERVA
Eikodrome X / NEPTUNE
 | ||||
Antiquarian Psyconglomerate, Eanpahta
| ||||
Dramatis Personae
Trafford Publishing
Click here to buy from
| ||||
Trafford Publishing
International
R
Michael Somers
Will
Ariel
Charlie
Fate
Ronnie
Angela
Greg
Alex
Skowronski
Naz
Susan
Lane
Peter
Morton
Martin
Herb
Larry
Frank
Tommy
Flossie
Gary
JABada
Shelby
June
Rod
Carly
Liz
Guy
David
Daniel
Gerry
Tom
Marge
Walter
Randy
Matt
Sylvia
Kay
Chad
Cory
Eleanor
Gabriel
Dick
Kjel
Ed
Harris
John
RW
Amanuensis
Fritz
S o m e r S o n g C o n c e p t s
Gordon
Ludwig
Kathy
Sandy
Hector
Franz
Ariel Durant
1898-1981
 | ||||
| | | ||
| ||||
Skowronski excerpts are from his album, GENTLEMAN GYPSY (Eb-Sko Productions), with Donald Isaak, piano.
(Click on dark blue album cover above to navigate to Mr. Skowronski's website)
Use of music or images on this site does not imply any connection or any other agreement between the music, the composer/arranger, or the copyright holder, with any ideas expressed here; nor in any works or statements of Mr. Somers. The concepts entertained in GALACTIC EXOCUS, VolksWagner, Cosmology without Headaches, and/or anywhere on this website are entirely those of the author.
Turn off background music from top of page
(or let it expire)
before listening to
Introduction
by
(Click various items and the darker shaded names of stars below for pictures and additional information)
If you are using Internet Explorer, music track might not work properly with scrolling background
Click here to buy from
(Click on various items below for pictures and additional information)
| ||||
This
volume
only available from publisher
The adjunct volume,
POLYLOGUE with MYTHOKRATES,
is written as if the author were channeling Heraclides of Pontus.
Heraclides, a contemporary of Plato nearly became head of the Academy after Platos death and the passing of his first successor, Speusippus (Xenocrates narrowly beating Heraclides).
Heraclides, like Plato, presented his thought in dialogue format.
According to Diogenes Laertius [as reported by Sir Thomas Heath in his book, ARISTARCHUS of SAMOS: The Ancient Copernicus],
Heraclides, it seems, composed dialogues more familiar or casual in their style, discussions that were carried on between philosophers, soldiers, and statesmen. The scenes were more active in nature than Plato's, if somewhat rambling. "[T]here were usually a number of characters, and he was fond of introducing as interlocutors personages of [more] ancient times."
[quote taken from Heath's book]
Unfortunately all his writing is lost, and we have only such descrptions as those above, provided by later readers or by hearsay. POLYLOGUE seems, unwittingly (as I did not know at the time that Heraclides wrote dialogues) to be a revival of his style.
1st Runner-Up: Science Fiction
