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Cyborg Contact follows a cyborg ANT who travels through a wormhole to Earth on a diplomatic mission to reconnect with humans who once visited his world and bring them a warning. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Cyborg Contact is the fourth book in The Antunite Chronicles series. I originally intended the series to be a trilogy, with Antuna’s Story, The Rise and Fall of Antocracy, and Antunites Unite. The first three books were all published in 2022, and that was supposed to be the end of the story. Two things inspired me to write this much later installment. First, the political climate in the United States prompted me to write another political satire lampooning the current administration’s policies. Second, as a Metis author, I wanted to include a strong Indigenous main character in one of my novels. I had previously included quotes from Indigenous leaders and statements that reflected Indigenous lore. Still, since the stories took place on a planet and moon inhabited only by insects and insectoids, I could not include such a character. By bringing a cyborg insect from Bilaluna to Earth, my fourth book, Cyborg Contact, allowed me to achieve both these objectives.
What challenges came with writing Earth from the perspective of a nonhuman traveler?
As Cyborg Contact is a Cli-Fi story with stinging political satire, the biggest challenge was to determine just how far I and my main character could go with my intended messages. When writing a tale on another planet, the satirical elements told by aliens are metaphors, and the story’s allegorical nature softens the parody. But when you bring an alien to Earth to further spoof an administration’s political policies, lampooning can come across more as direct mockery. I tempered the ridicule by combining political satire with a highly adventurous story and by having my main character interact with multiple species on Earth, not just humans. My human-sized cyborg ANT first interacts with Earth insects, who see him as a god. Vigilantes and ICE agents later hunt him as the ultimate illegal alien. He adopts the name Dee, short for Dios, as the insects call him, and continues to meet various ant and other insect species who help him overcome obstacles he encounters along his way. But he also meets marginalized humans, particularly immigrant teens, and an Indigenous woman, who help him learn about Earth and human civilization as Dee takes a road trip from the Yucatan to the Yukon across a near-future, splintered America. Dee’s naivety and sense of wonder tone down events that might otherwise shock or enrage a more worldly individual, as he witnesses a civilization in political and environmental turmoil.
How do you hope readers respond to the environmental themes in the novel?
I hope readers will respond with urgency to the novel’s environmental themes, which illustrate the dire consequences if we do not alter current trends. And although some may see the novel as apocalyptic, the high levels of action, adventure, humor, and cross-species connections soften the story, making it not simply a tale of drought and devastation. There are hurricanes, droughts, flash floods, and forest fires, but there are also wondrous moments in lush green jungles, blue-green seas, and arctic-boreal forests. We see the magnificence that nature offers and how that beauty can be lost if not nurtured. We also see a contrast between Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge, which reflects a measured stewardship of Earth’s environment, and a colonial civilization that has lost its way, both politically and in its overuse of our world’s precious resources.
Can we look forward to more work from you soon? What are you currently working on?
I continue to be obsessed with dystopian stories that have environmental undertones. Still, after moving my Sci-Fi stories back to Earth, I plan to keep my feet grounded here while I tell my next story from a human perspective. However, the characters may spend some time at sea before they are Marooned (the working title for my new novel).
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A cyborg ANT from Bilaluna, Dee crash-lands in a Mexican cenote and embarks on an epic road trip from the Yucatan to the Yukon across a splintered near-future America. He travels with only a syntax generator and a bag of cicadas and has little understanding of human politics. He befriends Earth insects, rescues kidnapped teens, and battles the elements and a trigger-happy border patrol. His key ally? Seka, a brilliant Indigenous chemist with a sorted past, a spirit strong enough to tame grizzlies, and a heart warm enough to melt his hard exoskeleton.
But as ICE agents close in and climate disasters escalate, Dee realizes his warning about environmental collapse might come too late. Can Dee and Seka spark the change Earth desperately needs?
Find out in Cyborg Contact, an action-packed cli-fi road trip featuring first contact, political satire, and the ultimate fish-out-of-water hero. Grab your copy to ride shotgun with the galaxy’s most charming ANT today!
Tropes
First contact, fish-out-of-water, road trip adventure, climate apocalypse, unlikely romance, found family, political satire.
Microtropes
Alien POV, cross-species bond, damsel-in-distress, hunted by authorities, stranded together, nature’s fury, Indigenous wisdom, secret police.
Cyborg Contact
Cyborg Contact, Book 4 of Terry Birdgenaw’s Antunite Chronicles, is a big-hearted science fiction adventure about Dee, a cyborg ANT from Bilaluna who travels through a wormhole to Earth. His mission is diplomatic, ecological, and personal: he wants to reconnect with the humans who once visited his world and warn Earth about the kind of climate disaster that damaged his own planet. Early on, he sums up the heart of the book clearly: “I am contacting humans so our worlds can unite, if that is possible.”
The book works best as a travel story told through a truly unusual narrator. Dee’s first contact isn’t with governments or scientists, but with ants, hurricanes, jaguars, cicadas, abused children, sailors, and eventually public leaders. That gives the story a lively, episodic feel. Each stop teaches him something about Earth, and because he’s both alien and insectoid, ordinary things feel freshly strange. Food, language, boats, politics, and even hotel lunches become chances for comedy, curiosity, and connection.
Birdgenaw’s tone is playful and earnest at the same time. Dee loves puns, rhymes, sensory descriptions, and insect-based comparisons, so the narration has a goofy charm that keeps the climate message from feeling dry. The book also has a strong compassionate streak, especially in Dee’s bond with Juan and Isabella and in the way it treats interspecies friendship as something practical, not just sentimental. Dee doesn’t simply preach cooperation. He rescues, learns, apologizes, improvises, and keeps showing up.
The environmental theme becomes clear once Dee reaches a public platform. His message to Earth is direct: “Climate change is real! It’s not a hoax!” That line fits the book’s approach. This isn’t subtle climate fiction, but it’s sincere, accessible, and built around adventure rather than despair. The story imagines first contact as a chance for mutual correction: humans once helped Bilaluna change course, and now Dee hopes Bilaluna can return the favor.
Cyborg Contact is a warm, oddball, idea-packed novel about friendship across species, climate responsibility, and the value of seeing Earth through nonhuman eyes. It’s at its most enjoyable when Dee is reacting to the world with a mix of wonder, confusion, and moral seriousness. Readers who like ecological science fiction with humor, a hopeful outlook, and a narrator who’s unlike anyone else in the room will find a lot to enjoy here.
Pages: 312 | ASIN : B0GX2ST9HB
Storm of Arranon
Storm of Arranon is a young adult science fantasy novel that follows Erynn Yager, a gifted cadet on the world of Korin who keeps seeing strange visions and crackling blue static at her fingertips. When a visiting general from the sister world Arranon arrives, Erynn discovers she has a hidden heritage, a deeper connection to Arranon, and a role in a growing war against a ruthless alien force. The story moves from flight simulators and bar nights on base, to forested mountains, sentient plant-creatures, and desperate battles in the sky and in space, as Erynn figures out who she really is and what kind of power she is willing to use.
I really liked Erynn as a main character. She is competent and prickly and brave, but she also doubts herself, resents the secrets around her, and gets scared at exactly the moments a real person would. Her powers are messy and physical: static crawling over her skin, bright colors in her vision, that sweet, spicy smell that shows up when the Anim blath are near. Those details gave her magic a grounded, sensory feel that made the “fantasy” part of the science fantasy really work for me. I also enjoyed her relationships, especially the tension between her loyalty to the family that raised her and the pull toward Arranon and Jaer. Nothing about those choices feels simple, even when the plot is in full “save the worlds” mode.
On the craft side, the book leans into its genre mix of space opera and epic fantasy. You get dogfights in Interceptors and alien warships, then you are in ancient forests with warrior orders and old prophecies. The glossary at the front hints at how much invented language and fauna you are about to meet, and there were moments where I had to pause and remember which creature or curse word was which. Still, the author usually anchors new terms in action, so I picked things up as I went. The pacing starts a bit slow while we are in classes and at Coeunn’s bar, then it keeps tightening, with battles, escapes, and moral choices stacking on top of each other. The villains are a little theatrical at times, but Birk in particular is unsettling in a way that fits the darker edges of the story.
I came away feeling like I had spent time in a full world, not just a backdrop for laser fights and magic blasts. I think the book is most interested in cost: what it means for a young woman to be told that she is the one who has to stand between her people and destruction, and what she has to give up to do it. There is romance, but it stays secondary to Erynn’s growth and the larger conflict. If you like young adult science fantasy that blends starships with ancient powers, if you enjoy following a capable but conflicted heroine through both cockpit maneuvers and mystical trials, this is a solid and engaging read.
Pages: 334 | ASIN : B00BMX8JA2
A Hug and an Open Hand
Origin Earth: Book One follows humanity’s last survivors as they land on a new planet, where a curious young girl, her scientist mother, and a divided crew must decide who will lead and whether history will repeat itself. How did you approach balancing the science and environmental ethics with the human drama?
First and foremost, a novel has to entertain. That is its primary function. Without entertaining the reader, the story will not be read. So, introducing science and environmental ethics into a story at the beginning was something I considered at length. It is the main reason Anu is eight years old – innocent, yet old enough to understand, and her innate curiosity would ask questions. My thinking was, if I can get the reader to embrace Anu, she can explain the science with simple clarity. For me, it all rested upon Anu’s shoulders right from the first line. Every novel I have written, I have placed complete trust in the main character(s). In the first novel I wrote, Raw Nerve, I learned quickly that, as the author, I needed to sit back, shut up, and let the characters get on with telling their story.
As an author, I’ve learned to set the stage, people that stage with characters and trust in the creative process. Put a bunch of people together and you’ll end up with drama.
For me, every aspect of a novel has to be believable, regardless of genre. If a reader can believe, then the writer can capture the imagination, and through the imagination, the characters can tell the reader anything, literally – excuse the pun, couldn’t resist.
Juno’s distrust of authority feels timely. Were you consciously drawing from modern political tensions?
Absolutely, and also historical leadership, or rather, lack of. I recall a line in another novel I wrote, where the character stated, “There’s no such thing as good and evil, there’s just people.” Juno is clearly a bully, and, not wanting to spoil book two for the readers, but that stems from a bullying father. His ego blinds him. In my life, I’ve met many very interesting individuals, and the few who have left the most powerful imprint on me are the people, men and women, who don’t have anything to prove to anyone. These are individuals who can sit in the midst of chaos and smile and offer a helping hand where needed. I call them powerful, because they are people who have no desire to impose their perspective or opinion on anyone else, unless asked, and then they’ll offer it with a hug and an open hand without attempting to influence or control any particular outcome. These people are powerful because they are comfortable in their own skin. On the other hand, there have been dangerous individuals I’ve met who feel they have everything to prove to everybody and use their own ego to batter others over the head with their opinion, their hate, and their neurosis in whatever form that neurosis takes.
The human community on Earth 2 faces huge challenges, and when we confront challenges, bonds are forged. I personally fought in a war, and the bonds that were forged with the men I stood shoulder to shoulder with are unbreakable; the strongest relationships I have yet experienced. Regardless of faith, political ideology, or race, the bonds are forged upon respect. In the First and Second World Wars, men and women forged bonds on the battlefields and at home in the communities. Immediately after the conflict had ended, the people helped each other (I’m considering community/society in the UK). They pulled each other up, often by the scruff of the neck, and the whole family/community would benefit. In large part, I would argue, that was due to the bonds forged during serious hardship. Communities and society as a whole grew stronger due to those brutal times. Back to the community on Earth 2, or The Sanctuary, as the phen call the planet. They have a blank canvas, a new page, if you like. These people really do begin a new life and have the freedom to write their own future. And as I write, the conflict within the community grows – how do they set up this new society so they can all live together in freedom? One individual wants to pull in one direction and another in the opposite direction… I don’t want to spoil the story for the readers, but I’ll explain one very simple scenario to clarify:
A couple of people are killed by alligators or crocodiles. Individuals stand up and demand weapons. These are people who stand up with good in their hearts because they consider it their duty to protect the community. Anu is their only contact with the phen people, who have very advanced technology, and they have seen that the phen people have shared some of their technology with Anu. So, it is through Anu that they demand the phen people help them with weapons. Anu simply asks how many other individual life forms do they want to kill…?
Just as an aside: only the other day, I was reading an article about Gaza. I imagined Anu asking me what it was about. I scratched my head and tried to explain as best I could about hate about what causes hate, and how it drives people to do awful things. I began to explain the word genocide, but she stopped me. She had tears in her eyes and just looked at me in the inimitable way she does and said: “Humans. I don’t like humans.” Then she leapt up into the trees to be with the mantou. Anu has the gift of telling me in very few words what the problem is.
Phoos, the phen president in the novel, says, “With knowledge comes understanding…” Is that true? I think in a future novel, she’ll need to revisit that statement.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
I’ve been redrafting a novel I wrote over ten years ago. It’s a thriller set in Wales. Actually, it’s more about preparing a second edition rather than a redraft. I used terms like smartphone, which is very dated now, so it’s been about cleaning up little things like that. I’ll publish the second edition within the next week or so, and then it’s onto book four of Original Earth. I’m hugely excited about where Anu is taking the story in book four, because, spoiler alert! We’re returning to Original Earth around about one hundred and fifty years in the future. What will she discover? Is Earth a cinder? Have humans survived? If so, how have they survived? What sort of societies are there? Are humans still at war? Is there any habitat left for other life forms (beings)? … So many questions, and it’s going to be great fun to spend time on, what I can only imagine will be a very different planet Earth than the one we exist in today. And, of course, I get to spend a lot of valuable time with Anu and Sonri … My plan is to publish early next year. Possibly January.
And, yes, there will be a book five, six, seven, eight, etc.
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Now, armed with some knowledge of the complex relationships that exist between both fauna and flora – all life with whom we share this incredible planet – what lessons have we learned?
This is a story about a new beginning…
Anu has a gift: her personal vibration is in perfect harmony with the natural world.
One Heckuva Thrill Ride
Dissonance Vol IV: Relentless follows the plight of humanity in its fight against alien invaders and the daunting task of rebuilding a decimated world. What was the initial idea behind this story, and how did that transform as you were writing the novel?
I really felt there was no continuation of the story after Dissonance Volume III: Renegade. I honestly thought I was done. But ultimately, I confess that I left the door open to a sequel with some elements at the end of Dissonance Volume III: Renegade, it was probably inevitable that I continue it. Additionally, I have some rather rabid fans that pressed me to continue it. They were, ahem, relentless. I knew that if I did another one, I wanted to incorporate elements of the backstory of the gorgons, why they came, and more specifically, where they were from. Those were unsolved mysteries from the previous five books. Additionally, I knew that I wanted to structure the narrative along the lines of a CTU episode of 24 with Keifer Sutherland, fused with some hard sci-fi verbiage and research such as that from Contact, Deep Impact, Armageddon, etc. I wanted there to be a sense of impending dread. There were also characters in Dissonance Volume III: Renegade that really required some more final closure than I had previously afforded them, and so Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless was my chance to bring that closure to pass. It evolved…it turned into one heckuva thrill ride of tension and growing pessimism, and the stakes grew ever higher as you went. Additionally, there were elements of the gorgons that I still felt I could flesh out that would give some of the previous story some incredible weight, retroactively.
What was one scene in the novel that you felt captured the morals and message you were trying to deliver to readers?
I am personally a big fan of verbal jousting between two pivotal characters. The dialogue between the new president Cardona and the deposed president Graham was utterly fascinating to me…utterly motivating to me…and utterly thrilling to write. I loved how they played off each other. I loved the dynamics of the final fight, and how Cardona uses the gorgon’s own power against them.
I find the world you created in this novel brimming with possibilities. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, and how did it change as you were writing?
Again, I just felt really compelled to write a la 24 with Jack Bauer, and wanted it to be a political thrill ride juxtaposed with an inbound repeat gorgon threat. I think setting it in a demolished Washington DC that was being rebuilt (as the rest of the world was) was a great setting. It’s also so tragic: in the middle of rebuilding, here they come again. That overwhelming sense of disappointment and dejection resulting from such a revelation played throughout, and I think I handled it pretty well. That disappointment and dejection would have played the same anywhere I had set them on the planet. It would be planetarily felt and shared.
Where do you see your characters after the book ends?
I think they’re done! I’ve wrestled with this and genuinely feel that the story is over. I mean, how many times can gorgons repeatedly attack Earth before we have to turn inward and start exploring our poor management of our defenses and perhaps just roll over and give up? It would grow entirely repetitive. I did the story, I did two prequels and a sequel. Dissonance is done, and I’m VERY proud of it. VERY proud of it. It’s an incredibly robust hexalogy and I’m so privileged and humbled that I got to be the one to write it!
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
In 2042, we finally beat them because of a resistance borne of one man.
But in 2045, gorgons don’t give up easily – and now they’re coming back for revenge.
The resistance deposed President Jean Graham, destroyed the gorgon queen, and leveled the funnel, which was stealing our oceans. But the victory was short-lived. A second craft now approaches, trying to re-establish communication with its predecessor. Earth’s survivors have only just been reemerging out of the shadows for a desperate two and a half years. The horrible truth is confirmed: the enemy is coming for them once more. And now they know precisely who led the revolt: none other than President Vance Cardona himself.
The time for their revenge has come. Will Earth be able to fend off the gorgons once more? Or will this be the end of all humanity? Not if President Vance Cardona, Chief of Staff Miguel Monzon, Lieutenant Cameron “Jet” Shipley, Corporal Liam “Foxy” Mayfield and others have anything to say about it.
Read all six installments in this bestselling post apocalyptic alien invasion series, in this order:
Dissonance Volume I: Reality (released 1.1.24)
Dissonance Volume II: Reckoning (released 3.20.24)
Dissonance Volume III: Renegade (released 5.18.24)
Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless (released 11.20.24)
Prequel #1: Dissonance Volume Zero: Revelation (released 6.6.24)
Prequel #2: Dissonance Volume Up: Rising (released 9.3.24)
Join bestselling author Aaron Ryan as he takes us back to the world of post apocalyptic Earth in 2045, a few struggling years after the climax to the alien invasion that had left a scorched planet in 2042. Jump back into the bestselling, award-winning “Dissonance” alien invasion series of post apocalyptic fiction books. This is a set of post apocalyptic novels in a survival fiction saga that will leave you riveted!
Aliens as a Metaphor
Little Green Man follows a seventeen-year-old girl living in a small town who, with the help of the new boy at school, tries to find out if there are aliens living in their town. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
While I’ve written about aliens before, I wanted to write something that shined a different light on the concept. I incorporated the high school experience to create a young adult book that readers could find both exciting and relatable. I played around a lot with the dynamic of Birdie and Sol early on, as well as the rest of the characters present in the story. Overall, my primary inspiration for writing a book so centered around high school was the fact that, at the time of writing this book, I was about a month from starting high school. While I was sixteen when the novel was published, I was fourteen when I wrote it!
I enjoyed the character of Birdie. Is there anything about Birdie that came from yourself or your life experiences?
Birdie was, in many ways, a manifestation of myself at the time. Although she was several years older than I was at the time of writing this book, there are a lot of things about her that were derived from myself: Her awkwardness when it comes to talking to boys, her tendency to obsess over what fascinates her, and even her love for beautiful views – just to name a few.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
It was essential to, inevitably, explore aliens – not only as little green men but also as creatures that may be very similar to humans. I strived to capture experiences that would be relatable to the audience of the book, using the concept of aliens as a metaphor for being left out and excluded from society.
Where does the story go in the next book, and where do you see it going in the future?
A sequel (and perhaps more) is in the works for Little Green Man. While I cannot say much about where the story goes, I explore the alien species that the first book focuses on, as well as the relationship between Earth and this species. Birdie and Sol are also reunited – for better or for worse.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Website | Amazon
“I’m not going to parties or practicing underage drinking. I’m not sneaking out to see my secret boyfriend. I’m literally searching for aliens.”
Meet seventeen-year-old Birdie Buckley. She’s an alien enthusiast from a small town in Colorado called Mount Pifork, a miserable place where everyone knows everyone, anything that deviates from the norm is looked down upon and, to top it off, there may or may not be aliens lurking. At least, that’s what Birdie thinks.
Ever since she was young, she has been searching for proof that humans are not alone in the universe—and so far, that research has not taken her very far. Until, one night she captures her boldest piece of evidence yet. This sends her on a spiraling journey that opens up a million harrowing questions, because she may not be the only one aware of the anomaly.
Joining forces with Sol, the mysterious new boy at her high school and the one person who shares her interests, Birdie looks deeper into bizarre occurrences, her community’s hidden history, and even a strange observatory on the outskirts of town that she swears was never there before. The more she investigates, the more her findings begin to make sense and the more the truth becomes clear—and that truth may be her dream come true, or her biggest fall from grace.
Perfect for fans of E.T. and the X-Files, Little Green Man takes readers on an eccentric investigation that challenges the definition of alien and explores the overshadowed side of the high school experience.
Deliverance or Justice
Dissonance Volume II: Reckoning follows a man living through an alien invasion who is given a mission to train recruits and track down an AWOL Captain set on vengeance. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I needed to pick up right where I left off at the end of Dissonance Volume I: Reality. I’m a big believer in the continuity of story. I love how The Hunger Games movies literally pickup almost right where you left off. I wanted that for my books as well. There is a cruelty in play, and it is directly affecting Jet Shipley, but he’s consumed by desire for revenge, that he’s swinging at a lot of things and making mistakes in so doing. He needs time alone with his thoughts first, to refocus, to get centered with the help of Pastor Rosie, and to allow justice to happen rather than pursue revenge. But as he proceeds forward in trust, he just discovers that some people are silver tongues and cannot be trusted…and he gets fooled again. At this point that deception starts costing more lives and trauma, and he gets further galvanized for action as he goes along. I knew that as he was going into dark places, that I needed to take the story in dark places by introducing more sinister back story, plunging our protagonists into the depths of Mammoth Cave, showing them the aftermath of the 2026 invasion (in this case, by passing through Bowling Green KY), and learning what darkness the human heart can harbor.
With so many great characters in your novel, what character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?
I have to say that I LOVE Pastor Rosie. I do. She is so wonderful and so sinister, haha! Sinister in that she knows what people need to do, but she’s maniacally devious in how she lets them get to their answers, guiding them along the way to the truth. I love her personality, her wisdom, her desire to guide Cameron toward justice instead of revenge, and I love her wit. She’s sort of a mix between the Oracle in “The Matrix”, God in “The Shack”, and the prayer warrior in “War Room.” Powerful combination. I had a harder time writing the ancillary characters like Armstrong. I also very much enjoyed writing Cardona, and the big reveal there.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Justice vs. revenge, certainly. But also snarkiness to maturity, as well as cynicism to trust. All of those are evolutions of growth that we need to experience if we’re to mature. Undergirding all of that, however, there’s the persistent and indispensable refrain of hope…that’s what keeps us going forward. Whether it’s hope for deliverance or justice, Cameron and company are pushing forward to see the good end of bad things.
Can you tell us where the book goes and where we’ll see the characters in the next book?
Yes! Dissonance Volume II: Reckoning leads right into Dissonance Volume III: Renegade and there is a massive conclusion to the series in store for you there. The book has several climactic battles, further character reveals, intense plot lines, incredible attention to military detail, and the aforementioned good end, not to spoil things. We need a happy ending. We all do. It’s good for the soul. The human race, in the Dissonance series at least, has already lost so much. In this series, 85% of humanity has been killed off. They need and deserve a happy ending. In Dissonance Volume III: Renegade, they get a happy and tremendously powerful ending.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
They say there’s nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose. Sergeant Cameron “Jet” Shipley is that man.
Jet is hellbent on revenge for the death of his younger brother, and that thirst for vengeance extends all the way up to the President herself. But some people are silver-tongues, and Cameron is swayed back to trust. Promoted to Lieutenant, Cameron is issued a new mission and is on the hunt for answers. He must figure out who his military allies and enemies are, before he winds up with a knife in his own back.
The alien invasion is still a threat, and Cameron is torn between duty and doubt while just trying to survive. His next military assignment takes him to the post-apocalyptic Blockade at Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. He’s needed to train recruits, strengthen defenses, and plan a strike against the gorgons that have taken over a post apocalyptic Planet Earth.
Love was never part of the plan, but surviving side-by-side with Allison Trudy, Cameron finds himself falling for her. Little do they know they’re walking into a trap: one that might just destroy everything they’ve built. Failure isn’t an option: the survival of mankind hinges on their success.
The final battle looms, and redemption awaits…for better or worse.
Read all six installments in this bestselling series, in this order:
- Dissonance Volume I: Reality (released 1.1.24)
- Dissonance Volume II: Reckoning (released 3.20.24)
- Dissonance Volume III: Renegade (released 5.18.24)
- Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless (coming November 2024!)
- Prequel #1: Dissonance Volume Zero: Revelation (released 6.6.24)
- Prequel #2: Dissonance Volume Up: Rising (released 9.3.24)
Dissonance Volume II: Reckoning is the second installment in Aaron Ryan’s post-apocalyptic alien invasion military science fiction books series. It’s perfect for readers who enjoy thrilling, dystopian, futuristic military warfare and gritty stories of betrayal, love, revenge, and justice. Order your copy now and experience true tension and terror where the stakes are even higher than in Dissonance Volume I: Reality!
Cynicism vs. Trust
In Dissonance Volume I: Reality, two brothers fight to protect an amulet that could be the key to saving what is left of humanity in a dangerous dystopian world. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Honestly, at first, they were just friends. But I needed a stronger bond, and it just made sense that they were the last remnant of their family unit left. That bond was strong before; now that they both are survivors, the bond grows stronger. And in truth, the amulet is not what they’re fighting to protect. That’s just the opening scene. They’re out on daily recon operations to forage for food, ammo, and any survivors. That’s the grind of their daily lives right now: the monotony and drudgery that has become life in 2042. Just staying alive. My wife and I had just watched I Am Legend the night before, and the overrun world is unmaintained and unmanaged. The rabies strain killed off nearly everyone. As a result, we see a world where 6’ tall weeds have grown up through the cracks, and the earth is a ghost town. I wanted that, but the catalyst in my scenario being an alien invasion that wiped out 85% of all mankind, and the survivors are living underground in fortified bunkers called blockades, hiding from a deadly species that possesses a terrifying telepathic paralytic. An enemy you couldn’t even look at, much less shoot at and draw in more of them. The notion truly terrified me.
Did you plan the tone and direction of the novel before writing, or did it come out organically as you were writing?
I’m so much more of a panther than a planner. Yes, I had some mileposts that I knew my characters needed to get to, but overall, I really appreciate the way that organic writing affords me the opportunity to let the characters lead me, as opposed to vice versa. Organic writing really allows me the ability to let them thread their way through wherever I set them down, and then, just as in life, “life happens to them”. From there, you get to see what happens to them as they face adversity. When monkey wrenches get thrown in. When they run out of gas or their computer crashes or the kid has just thrown up. Art imitates life, just as the other way around, and everything isn’t always hunky-dory. There are things that happen to our protagonists, and you get to see how they would handle them. Just as Vladimir Nabokov said, “The writer’s job is to get the main character up a tree, and then once they are up there, throw rocks at them.”
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Faith. Justice vs. revenge. Cynicism vs. trust. Snarkiness vs. maturity. There’s a lot of this that I personally went through as well, and I very much relate to them.
What can fans look forward to seeing in volume 2 of the Dissonance series?
An incredible adventure awaits Cameron Shipley. A very trying one. A journey of trust, adversity, questioning, answers, anger, betrayal, love, gain, loss, hysteria, incredibly colossal battles, victory, defeat, hiding, and re-emergence. I’ve never written anything more powerful than the Dissonance series. It’s truly loaded with thematic depth, and each book pushes you further along those tracks. You’re in for a fantastic ride!
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*** CURRENTLY ADAPTED FOR THE SCREEN AND BEING PITCHED TO MAJOR STREAMING NETWORKS! ***
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Sergeant Cameron “Jet” Shipley was only six years old when the aliens silently drifted down through Earth’s skies in 2026. 16 years later, humanity is painfully familiar with one simple, agonizing, and inescapable truth:
One look, and it’s all over.
Terror lurks around every corner, and the rules of survival are simple: stay quiet, move quickly, and don’t ever look. It’s a post-apocalyptic Earth in 2042, and 85% of humanity has been annihilated by “gorgons”: horrific aliens with the ability to telepathically paralyze and then consume their prey, leaving the victims to feel every agonizing bite. Mostly impervious and nearly impossible to kill, the best defense against them is simply to run. One look, and it’s all over.
Brothers Jet and Rutty are part of an underground military bunker in Clarksville, Tennessee that provides shelter, training, and solace to those willing to fight back. But when a new recruit joins their ranks and reveals a secret that could change everything, Jet is faced with a difficult decision: follow orders, or fight for the truth? As the brothers navigate a dangerous dystopian world filled with gorgons and treachery, they must confront the ultimate question – who can they trust?
Read all six installments in this bestselling series, in this order:
- Dissonance Volume I: Reality (released 1.1.24)
- Dissonance Volume II: Reckoning (released 3.20.24)
- Dissonance Volume III: Renegade (released 5.18.24)
- Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless (coming November 2024!)
- Prequel #1: Dissonance Volume Zero: Revelation (released 6.6.24)
- Prequel #2: Dissonance Volume Up: Rising (released 9.3.24)
