Movies, Shows, & Books: BLOG TOUR: (CON)SCIENCE by P.J. Manney

Welcome to the Official Blog Tour for Bestselling Author P.J. Manney's (CON)SCIENCE, the third and final book in the Phoenix Horizon trilogy. Today, on our tour stop, we have an exclusive chapter excerpt AND a tour-wide giveaway to share. So... Be sure to check it out and grab your copy now! Follow the tour, HERE.

Genre:

Adult

Science Fiction/Thriller

Series:

Phoenix Horizon, #3

Publish Date:

April 27, 2021

Publisher:

47North

Synopsis:

P.J. Manney concludes her visionary Philip K. Dick Award–nominated series of a world at war, a virtual search for identity, and the future of humanity.

Five years ago, bioengineer Peter Bernhardt spearheaded an innovation in nanotechnology that changed the course of evolution. Until everything was taken from him—his research, the people he loved, and finally his life. Uploaded as an artificial intelligence, Peter is alive again thanks to a critical reactivation by fellow AI Carter Potsdam.

But a third sentient computer program, Major Tom, is tearing the United States apart, destroying its leaders and its cities. Major Tom’s mission: rebuild a new America from the ruins and reign as uncontested monarch. Carter knows that only a revolutionary like Peter can reverse the damage to a country set on fire.

Caught in a virtual world between an alleged ally and an enemy, pieces of Peter’s former self remain: the need for vengeance, empathy for the subjugated people of a derelict world, and doubt in everything he’s been led to believe. To rescue what’s left, he’ll need to once again advance the notion of evolution and to expand the meaning of being human—by saving humanity.

*FREE on Kindle Unlimited*

*Excerpt*

CHAPTER EIGHT

Peter Bernhardt woke up again. He felt odd, unlike anything he had yet experienced as a digital entity. His peripheral vision registered a clean engineering room’s wipeable acoustic tile ceiling and walls.

From the ceiling hung three accordioned mobile ventilation ducts. He focused on the square mouth of one duct. The image was clear but edgy, as though his digital vision tried to blend each pixel together into an approximation of human sight, but had not quite succeeded.

He lay supine in the center of the room, probably on a workbench or table. Raising his index finger, he tapped the surface three times and heard the muffled thud of a thick silicone skin on metal. The table seemed real, tangible, yet his finger felt jerky, electronic.

He lifted his head and heard the faint sound of servos as he stared down along the length of the table at an android body. The skin appeared to be high-end silicon, with body hair tastefully punctured into the surface. The build was athletic, but not pumped. Slim, but not skinny. Pecs had definition and the stomach was flat, with a subtle six- pack. He lifted his head two centimeters more. Below his waist was an anatomically correct set of genitals. The legs were well developed and defined, with the appearance of strong quadriceps. He could see feet and tried to wiggle his toes. They didn’t move.

“Hey, m-m-man,” he called out. “What the hell?” His voice was a close re-creation of his human tenor. “C-C-Carter? Are you there? When did you sample my v-v-voice? And why am I st-st-stuttering?”

“Look to your left,” said Carter.

Peter carefully turned his head. The mechanical eyes registered a monitor on the wall, displaying a digital rendering of Carter that looked as real as he had in their virtual world. Around the monitor was a workbench covered in mechanical and electrical engineering gear, jam- packed but neatly organized by type. There were a couple of hundred little clear-plastic parts drawers, containing tiny screws, bolts, sensors and optical bits, servos, circuit boards, and soldering material. More clear drawers contained artificial eyeballs and little machines that might be tiny cameras for those eyes. Pliers, screwdrivers, crimping tools, wire strippers, soldering guns of all sizes and shapes. Wrenches from the sizable to what he knew must be the microscopic. On one end of the room sat an oscilloscope, metal machining and forming tools, a laser cutter/ engraver, a mill, lathe, band saw, sanders, and buffers. On the other end of the room were two 3-D printers, one to produce the smaller parts and one twelve feet long with a huge suspension rig for printing body- sized parts to extrude in one continuous piece. Wheeled boxes on the floor overflowed with printed body parts.

Praise for Phoenix Horizon trilogy

“(R)EVOLUTION builds momentum to a rollicking chase through hope and terror, fast-looming biotech, and a tasty-paranoid look at who ‘actually runs’ the USA.” —DAVID BRIN, Author of The Postman and The Transparent Society

“Manney’s intricate worldbuilding includes... a nation reconstituted from fragments of the former U.S. This near-future science fiction thriller should have broad appeal.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY on (ID)ENTITY

“PJ Manney has written the techno-thriller for the 21st century. Trading in robots for nanobots, (R)EVOLUTION deftly evokes a believable future in which nanotech gives the hero his best and only chance against enemies foreign and domestic. It’s a pulse-pounding thriller too, with a marvelously satisfying battle between those who would enslave the U.S. and those who would liberate it.” —MICHAEL CHOROST, Author of Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human and World Wide Mind: The Coming Integration of Humanity, Machines, and the Internet

“Futurist lecturer Manney’s intriguing and fast-paced debut takes a close look at possible consequences of sophisticated bioengineering. [...] With poignancy and sensitivity, Manney constructs an intricate and adventurous plot. The characterization is rich, with an uncommon and welcome depth found in the protagonist... Fans of gosh-wow SF will devour this novel all the way to the startling ending.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY on (R)EVOLUTION

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Phoenix Horizon trilogy:

(cover link to Goodreads)

*FREE on Kindle Unlimited*

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**About the Author**

Photo Content from PJ Manney

P.J. Manney is the author of the bestselling and Philip K. Dick Award nominated science fiction technothriller, (R)EVOLUTION (2015), published by 47North in the Phoenix Horizon trilogy with, (ID)ENTITY (2017), and (CON)SCIENCE (2021). Set as alternate, future American histories, the novels chart the influence of world-changing technologies on power and nations.

A former chairperson of Humanity Plus, she helped rebrand the organization, launch H+ Magazine and organize the first multi-org conference on futurist topics, Convergence ’08. She authored "Yucky Gets Yummy: How Speculative Fiction Creates Society" and "Empathy in the Time of Technology: How Storytelling is the Key to Empathy," foundational works on the neuropsychology of empathy and media.

Manney presented her ideas to National Geographic, the Producers Guild of America, Directors Guild of America, NASA-JPL, M.I.T., Huffington Post, The H+ Summit, and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, is a frequent guest on podcasts/webshows including StarTalk, The World Transformed, Singularity 1on1 and Amazing Mind, and has published in BoingBoing, Live Science and Tor.com. She is also the first person to create and transfer a digital autograph for a novel verified by the blockchain. Manney consults for varied organizations about the future of humanity and technology, including artificial intelligence, robotics, cyborgs, nanotechnology, biotechnology, brain-computer interfaces, space, blockchains and cryptocurrencies.

Manney graduated from Wesleyan University double majoring in Film and American Studies. She worked for over 25 years in film/TV: motion picture PR at Walt Disney/Touchstone Pictures; story development for independent film production companies; and writing as Patricia Manney for the critically acclaimed hit TV shows Hercules — The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. She also co-founded Uncharted Entertainment, writing and/or creating many pilot scripts for television networks, including CBS, Fox, UPN, Discovery, ABC Family and Comedy Central.

Manney lives with her husband in Southern California and is a dual citizen of the US and New Zealand. She is a member of the WGA, SFWA, ITW and PEN America.

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