We’re living in a world where technology progresses at a rate us humans can barely keep up with. But what happens when we take technology a step too far? In I, Human, neural implants have become commonplace. These implants make users far more intelligent, but they also suppress feelings. Not everyone has embraced this ‘brave new world’, however. Bornies have rejected the implants in favour of a low-tech life.

Alan Reynard, a corporate intelligence analyst, is sent to the Arizona desert to infiltrate a Borny community. He discovers more than he bargained for, and also finds himself forming a relationship with a former operative. A relationship that goes far beyond the normal, detached partnerships that he’s used to.

As Victor Smith, from the Visionary Fiction Alliance says, “I, Human is not merely a good read; it is food for thought and action.”

Read on for an extract from the first chapter of I,Human…

I don’t know when I first crossed the boundary between human and what 20th-century Neo-Luddites would call transhuman, but I do remember, while in college, running over a cat in my new cruiser and wondering if I got any blood on my fender, with only mild concern about the animal whose life I had so abruptly ended. This was revealing, given my childhood affection for my Siamese cat, Slink, even given the usual callousness of youth. Of course those feelings—my school psychologist said I was feeling oriented—arose before puberty, after which my first neural processor was implanted. They do repress feelings but the trade off in computational functioning is amazing. Later, when we were preparing to move to a techno-housing complex that didn’t accept animals, my mother fed Slink rat poison and had animal control dispose of the remains. I was upset, even cried about it, but soon recovered—there were so many enticing distractions for a teenage boy with heightened technical proficiency in the new complex.

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Read an interview with I, Human author, John Nelson.

Reviews

“I definitely recommend this novel for people looking to explore the bounds of humanity.” Bill Lawhorn, SFRevu

“John Nelson, in I, Human, imaginatively gives another apocalyptic scenario about the dark sides of pharmacogenomics and neural implants. He tackles a ticklish question. What exactly is a human being, and is there an invisible line inside that splits the human biocomputer into part man and part machine? And how will governments of the future manipulate it?”  Henry David Abraham, M.D., author, co-founder of PSR and IPPNW, and recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize

“The characters are lived-in and detailed, and the drama plays out while also asking tough questions. That's a rare feat.” Joe Crowe, Revolution Science Fiction

“An intriguing and superb futuristic spy thriller.” Andrew Kaplan, author of the Homeland and Scorpion spy novels

 

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