Tynga's Reviews: Sharon Lynn Fisher

Monday, March 24, 2014

The Ophelia Prophecy blog tour: Guest post by Sharon Lynn Fisher + giveaway

Today we have a guest post from Sharon Lynn Fisher, author of a delightful and thought-provoking new science fiction novel called THE OPHELIA PROPHECY. She classifies the book as biopunk -- and she's here to explain exactly what that means! Tor is also providing a couple copies of THE OPHELIA PROPHECY for a giveaway so make sure to stick around until the end of the post to enter.

Welcome, Sharon!

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What is biopunk, and what possessed me to write it?

If you'd asked me a few years ago whether I'd be writing something as sci-fi as biopunk, I would have said (after Wikipedia-ing “biopunk” to confirm it really is a thing): "Too hard-core for me."

While I was writing my debut novel, planetary romance GHOST PLANET, I never really thought of myself as a sci-fi writer. Speculative romance is my passion. Love + strange happenings is a formula that flips my happy switch as both a reader and a writer.

But at that point I hadn't really gotten in touch with [been taken hostage by] my inner geek.

The seeds were planted with that first book, because it required me to research symbiogenesis and Gaia theory (in short, biology stuff). Then I researched quantum physics, parapsychology, parallel universes, and asteroid impact winters for the second novel I wrote, ECHO 8 (due out from Tor in early 2015).

Somehow from there I graduated to the bug people in THE OPHELIA PROPHECY (April 1, 2014, Tor). And that brings us back to biopunk.

The term has different meanings depending on the context, but basically we're talking about a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates experimentation with DNA/genetics in the storytelling. Biopunk novels often include bioengineered characters and/or races. An example of a highly acclaimed biopunk novel is THE WINDUP GIRL, by Paolo Bacigalupi.

But I have to confess I did not set out to write a post-apocalyptic biopunk romance any more than I “set out” to write science fiction in the first place. I'm motivated by storytelling. If it makes a good story to have a hero who is part praying mantis and is in love with a human woman who should be his enemy, then sign me up for biopunk.

And that's the gist of the biopunk component of THE OPHELIA PROPHECY. Creative biohackers (also referred to as biopunks), motivated partly by government contracts and partly by their own artistic impulses, engender a race of insect/human transgenic organisms, the Manti. Biohackers created other varieties of transgenics as well — like OPHELIA's human/wolf priest, Father Carrick — but these were mostly wiped out by the same Manti-engineered virus that all but destroyed the human population.

In OPHELIA, the level of mutation ranges from mild (the hero, Pax) to moderate (Pax’s winged and spiked half-sister, Iris) to extreme (the wasp creatures that attack a human survivor camp in the west of Ireland).

But the heart of the story is not biopunk. Like any good romance, the story’s heart is the attraction and tension between Pax and the mysterious woman (Asha) he picks up on the border of the last human city. The worldbuilding and backstory make for a long, slow burn, but once the two do come together (ahem), the fallout’s enough to change their whole world.

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Thank you, Sharon, for visiting us on this tour!

A Romance Writers of America RITA Award finalist and a three-time RWA Golden Heart Award finalist, SHARON LYNN FISHER lives in the Pacific Northwest. She writes books for the geeky at heart—sci-fi flavored stories full of adventure and romance—and battles writerly angst with baked goods, Irish tea, and champagne. Her works include Ghost Planet (2012), The Ophelia Prophecy (2014), and Echo 8 (2014). You can visit her online at SharonLynnFisher.com.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

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Here's the scoop on THE OPHELIA PROPHECY:

Our world is no longer our own.
We engineered a race of superior fighters--the Manti, mutant humans with insect-like abilities.
In Sanctuary, some of us survive. Eking out our existence. Clinging to the past.
Twenty-five years ago they all but destroyed us.
Some of us intend to do more than survive.

Asha and Pax—strangers and enemies—find themselves stranded together on the border of the last human city, neither with a memory of how they got there. Asha is an archivist working to preserve humanity’s most valuable resource—information—viewed as the only means of resurrecting their society. Pax is Manti, his Scarab ship a menacing presence in the skies over Sanctuary, keeping the last dregs of humanity in check. But neither of them is really what they seem, and what humanity believes about the Manti is a lie. With their hearts and fates on a collision course, they must unlock each other's secrets and forge a bond of trust before a rekindled conflict pushes their two races into repeating the mistakes of the past The Ophelia Prophecy is the thrilling new SF romance from Sharon Lynn Fisher, author of Ghost Planet.
Jenn's thoughts

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Tor is giving away two copies of THE OPHELIA PROPHECY today.

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by Tynga at Monday, March 24, 2014

giveaway, Guest Post, Macmillan, Sharon Lynn Fisher 14 People left their mark

The Ophelia Prophecy by Sharon Lynn Fisher

I was really in the mood for some sci fi the other day so I feel quite lucky to have found THE OPHELIA PROPHECY on Netgalley. This is one special book. It's that rare sci fi novel that's accessible to people who aren't die-hard fans of the genre, with a minimal amount of technobabble and a lot of juicy story.

THE OPHELIA PROPHECY has two main characters: Asha and Pax. Asha is an archivist and Pax is the son of the amir of Granada, the leader of this Manti community. They wake up in a reservoir with no idea of how they came to be there. Pax takes Asha with him, to the dismay of both Asha and Pax's sister Iris. The novel evolves from there, slowly revealing the histories of the two species who now inhabit Earth.

One of the most interesting aspects of THE OPHELIA PROPHECY is that you really don't know whose side to choose. Asha and Pax are both extremely sympathetic characters and Fisher does a wonderful job of showing the reader both sides of their world. It's easy to side with the humans, who've become an endangered species of Earth, but you can also understand why the Manti rebelled against their creators. I loved the push and pull that Asha and Pax feel, particularly Asha, as she learns that there were secrets in her home community of Sanctuary and she is forced to face some uncomfortable truths. Pax is also torn because of his position, his drives, and his beliefs. These come into high relief in the later parts of THE OPHELIA PROPHECY so I won't say much about the specifics but I will say that Pax is compelled to take a stand that causes no small amount of trouble for him.

There's also a romantic connection between Asha and Pax, though it's more of a biological drive for Pax, at least at first. Asha's feelings are much more confused since the Manti are supposed to be her enemy but she receives more kindness and respect from Pax than she does from some of the other humans she encounters along the way. It creates a real sense of conflict as Asha slowly learns why she was in the reservoir and has to reconcile what she's been told about the world with what she sees with her own eyes. Pax is also forced to face some uncomfortable truths about his society and family, making THE OPHELIA PROPHECY a compelling read.

There's also some interesting science in the novel but, as I said at the beginning, it's not the focus of the book. THE OPHELIA PROPHECY is very character driven; it just happens to have a science fiction setting. If you're looking for a book with political and emotional tensions, regardless of genre, THE OPHELIA PROPHECY should be on your list. Fisher has created a complex story and world and you'll really enjoy the ride.