The idea for this novel stemmed from my fascination with Neanderthals. A while back we were not the only species of humans on this planet. We shared with a variety of other human species. Then, one by one, they all died off. Then there were two.
For some reason the Neanderthals suddenly disappeared. There are many theories:
Did we, with our violent, aggressive, warlike ways simply kill them all?
Was it due to climate change?
Did we interbreed them out?
Or was it that they could not compete and were displaced?
It was strange. The Neanderthals had much larger brain capacity than us. That indicated to me that they were much more intelligent. That set my mind ticking. What if these highly intelligent people were just so disgusted and repulsed by us that they decided to take themselves away? What if they were so much more intelligent that they took science to a whole new level? What if they had a far superior culture and spirituality and had used their science to remain hidden away in remote areas?
What if we stumbled across them? What if we came across a race of people who were incredibly advanced? It would be like coming face to face with aliens.
I have never felt so utterly alone. A raging storm of nausea was gnawing at my belly as I began my routine morning broadcast – except that there was nothing normal about this one.
‘Good morning everybody,’ I said cheerily, putting on my best smile. ‘This is Helen Southcote beaming down to you from the United Nations International Space Station.’
I was totally unsure of the wisdom of continuing these tridee broadcasts, particularly on such an auspicious day as this. Who on earth was tuned in? Surely they’d all be in a panic, desperately seeking safety for themselves and their loved ones. Nobody would be at all interested in any platitudes from me. But the powers that be, in the form of mission controller Brad Noone, had assured me that it was necessary. The psychologists thought that it might help to continue with normality and reduce panic. Who was I to argue? They’d provided me with a script. I suppressed my anger and upset. Put aside my personal feelings about what had happened to my friends. The show had to go on. I was doing it for the kids, I kept reminding myself – it was for the kids.
‘The earth sure looks beautiful spread out there below me.’ I showed them images of the planet below me with its green seas and swirling white clouds.
With a lot of trepidation, which I hoped did not show too much, I turned my attention to the subject that was foremost in everybody’s minds. ‘Preparations are well underway to deal with the remaining threat from Chang’s comet,’ I assured them. ‘Missiles are poised to destroy the largest incoming rocks but President Khun Mae Srisuk has urged everyone to either seek sanctuary in the prescribed shelters or to evacuate to designated regions of safety. There are bound to be some meteorites that will cause some collateral damage. Better to be safe than sorry.’
I offered them one of my best smiles. The cheery tones sounded so phoney to me.
‘This promises to be one of the most spectacular shows you’ll ever see,’ I promised them. Be reassuring I’d been instructed – be upbeat. Lie. Even the most optimistic reports were predicting widespread damage across the United States, Canada and into Russia. The earth was going to be bombarded with the biggest deluge of rocks in recent history. Chang’s comet was a monster and even broken up as it was, presented a real danger to the survival of the planet. They just had to hope that this time the scientists had got it right and every single major threat would be neutralised. It was a big ask. They had not managed such a brilliant job up to now. This last ditch effort was to target all the remaining large rocks and pulverise them in the upper atmosphere so that the remains would burn up on entry. If all went to plan it was certain to be the most amazing display. The worry was that if a single one of those chunks of rock was missed……………….……….. well that didn’t bear thinking about. ‘Make sure you watch from safety!’ I chastised them. There were always some thrill seekers who sought to put themselves in danger. ‘As for me, well I’ve got the best seat in the house, a real grandstand view. UNISS will be in exactly the right place to record the whole sequence of events and you can bet that I’ll be relaying it to you live as it happens!’
I then proceeded to give them a dull and boring update on the various experiments taking place, the weather, solar activity and conditions in space. Normality. That’s what I’d been instructed to do.
‘This is Helen Southcote signing off until tomorrow. Be safe! See you soon’
The politics and satire continues as our humans are set free from control and find themselves in a very different world. While the aliens continue to argue about the future of pornography and the sentience of human beings, life for the unshackled humans is becoming very grim. In the tridee film-making studio everything is fraught. The populist Director General, with her advisers, is being devious. The Minister for Arts is stoned out of her mind. A campaign to give humans rights is being fought. Will the humans find themselves controlled and back in the sex movie, or will they be free?
The System is made up of thousands of planets housing trillions of people in tiny doms arranged in tiers. The people are fed drugs to keep them happy and are plugged into immersive tridee.
The Consortium are a group of wealthy capitalists who live above the metropolis in floating mansions.The name of the game is expansion and profit.
The Qships cross quantum space in search of planets to either colonise or plunder for resources in order to maintain the system.
Quantum Fever is a disease that affects people who jump the weird reaches of quantum space. Was Tahsin Roeg suffering from Quantum Fever or were the Consortium seeking to control her?
Pornography Wars takes political satire and social comment (with a liberal dash of humour) into a new dimension. Sex is the essence of everything. Is human history contrived by aliens? Are we in a film set for an alien pornographic soap opera? Is all human culture nothing more than an alien psych-master’s program? What happens when the aliens argue over the future of pornography on their tridee sets? What is going to happen to the future of human beings?
It’s the sixties – the three thousand one hundred and sixties. The Federation is in conflict with the Confederation. The Troman war rages. There is a civil rights issue with the Androvians. Youth all across the galaxy are in revolt. Rock Music, on an intergalactic scale, is the medium of the rebellion Zargos Ecstasy and the Terminal Brain Grope are providing the impetus for the rebellion. Zargos, a larger than life character based on Bob Dylan, Hendrix, Jagger, Jim Morrison and Bowie, struts the stage, putting his poems to music and rousing the spacefreaks to seek social justice.
If you lived through the sixties you’ll recognise it all.
“Neanderthal” by Ron Forsythe is written in a compelling and engaging style that blends science fiction with historical elements. The narrative is fast-paced and thought-provoking, making it a page-turner for fans of speculative fiction. Forsythe’s writing is known for its vivid descriptions and well-developed characters, which help bring the story to life.
The book also incorporates scientific theories and historical facts about Neanderthals, adding depth to the fictional elements. This combination of scientific accuracy and creative storytelling makes it a unique read
If you enjoy thought-provoking science fiction with a mix of historical mystery, this might be a great read for you!
As with all my novels this started with a couple of ideas which bumped together.
The first idea began with an idle thought: could I write a novel with just one character?
That led me to wonder where that character might be. I came up with the idea of them being marooned on a space station. That led me to question how they had come to be marooned.
The second whimsy was: could I get a novel to work, to have development and dynamics, if I started at the end?
Before I knew it I had the scenario for God’s Bolt – a Sci-Fi novel.
I invented my character. Then I ran into the problems. She had to have a back story and that necessarily involved other characters. My first idea became slightly adulterated by other characters.
By then it was too late. The juices were flowing. I had a plot. One thing led to another and I began trying to catch up with where my mind was taking me.
While I did not quite succeed at just having one character I did get quite close. I was more successful at starting from the end and did think the dynamics worked.
I write my Sci-Fi novels under the alias of Ron Forsythe. I have a site set up for Ron. It has many of the books up there but I’ve got to find time to update it with the last four or five!
It’ll make my day if you have a look and leave a comment!
An ambitious sci-fi novel packed with serious ideas and amusing moments. The alien perspective on humankind is sometimes hilarious and often thought-provoking in this racy, zany and sometimes politically-satirical story. It’s never sentimental and creates convincingly detailed worlds, with a solid biological and scientific feel. The novel explores multiple viewpoints with the thoughts and reactions of a huge range of characters and I sensed many influences, from the American sci-fi greats to – particularly, I think – British writers like Douglas Adams and Michael Moorcock. But it’s never other-worldly and I liked it that the question of what it is to be human is central to this stimulating story.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 December 2019
This was one of those books I couldn’t put down. Ron Forsyth writes with clarity and power creating a novel that is truly enthralling. The central character Helen is well drawn and bears witness to an ever greater threat to the planet. The author’s command of events and creation of characters, Eunice being a fine example, underpins the catastrophic journey through hope, science and eventually despair. This is more than a science fiction novel. The characters are well created and never superfluous to the dynamic pace and plot. The writing is powerful and emotions are evoked by the credible, though thoroughly undesirable occurrences. The author writes with authority, knowledge and clarity on the scientific basis of the events and their implication. I applaud that. His empathy and passion and an ability to hold me as a reader made this a great read. I highly recommend it.
SF writer Ron Forsythe gets to the story’s climax in the first chapter. A giant asteroid hits Earth, wipes out all life, and breaks up tectonic plates. Above the Earth is a space station, and in that space station is humanity’s last human, Helen Southcote.
From that climatic first chapter, Forsythe has story arcs alternating from before the collision to after the collision. In the end, we come to Helen’s decision.
The story moves nicely through its many time shifts. It is a relaxing read. A good way to kill some time.
But there is more. Forsythe has also put together at least 10 sub-themes for readers to question their values and society’s values. Forsythe touches on morality, religion, science & technology, war & peace, media, sociology, political science, and artificial intelligence. If this book finds its way into a book club, its members will have lots to talk about.
The sub-theme that grabbed my attention was the decision-making process from the world government to deal with the asteroid. The asteroid came up to Earth quickly. The government did not have much time to get the facts and prepare. Ad-hoc solutions were discussed, tried, and, in the end, did not work out. I think Forsythe is trying to tell us that, in the real world, many decisions are made with decision makers not too certain of their outcomes. They are just making their best guesses. I think there is a big lesson in that.
I highly recommend this book. It is both entertaining and can make you think.
