Brian Burt - Speculative Fiction
Novels
Most of my career has been spent writing short fiction, but I'm firmly committed to writing novels now (despite the fact that starting one feels like shivering at the base of Mount Everest without any cold-weather gear ;-). Here's a list of the books currently available from online booksellers or in the works.
AQUARIUS RISING TRILOGY
In the Tears of God (Book 1) — On an Earth ravaged by climate change, human-dolphin hybrids called Aquarians have built thriving reef colonies among the drowned cities of the coast. Now their world is under siege from an enemy whose invisible weapon leaves no survivors. Only Ocypode — half-human and half-Aquarian, marooned in the genetic limbo between species — knows why. Disclosing the reason could be as deadly to Aquarius as the Medusa plague itself. Ocypode and his comrades face the perils of flight into the open ocean, a friend's betrayal, a killer storm, a lethal kelp forest haunted by mutant monsters, and a fundamental challenge to their most cherished beliefs as they fight to save Aquarius from destruction. They are forced to enlist allies of the most unlikely sort. Even when they risk everything to stop ruthless enemies determined to resurrect the land by slaughtering the sea, it may not be enough. [This novel won EPIC's 2014 eBook Award for Science Fiction.]
Blood Tide (Book 2) — Megalops is an Aquarian, a human-dolphin hybrid who lives in one of the many reef-cities that thrive beneath the waves on an Earth ravaged by climate change. Some of the Humans who cling to the barren lands blame Aquarius for their plight and unleashed the Medusa Plague that entombed Megalops's wife and daughter in stone. Tormented by that loss, Megalops dedicates everything to avenging his murdered family, no matter what the cost. He unleashes a Vendetta Virus as cruel and lethal as the Medusa Plague, a bio-weapon that transforms living Humans into Aquarian corpses. Ocypode — one of the heroes who stopped the Medusa Plague — and his band of Human and Aquarian allies battle desperate odds to prevent Megalops from committing an act of genocide that will escalate into global conflict, dragging the Earth's other humanoid species into the chaos. War demands sacrifice. If Mother Earth and Mother Ocean wage war against each other, will anyone survive? [This novel won the 2016 Readers' Favorite Gold Award for Science Fiction.]
The Price of Eden (Book 3) — The covert war between humans and Aquarians is exposed by a woman consumed by guilt and grief over the destruction of her enclave. Forced out of the shadows, the battle for control of Earth escalates. If Ocypode and his comrades don't find a way to bridge the chasm between humanity and the hybrid child species humanity has spawned, the planet may be rendered uninhabitable for all. Salvation has a price... and that price can be terrible to contemplate.
Aquarius Rising Character Artwork — a very talented theatrical artist from the UK actually brought the characters from Aquarius Rising to life as part of her final major project. Feel free to check out her stunning creations and find out more about her artistic endeavors on this page devoted to her images.
