Nathanael Rafferty
The “Zukunftsangst Series” is a set of Science-Fiction novels in the tradition of “Island of Dr. Moreau”, “Andromeda Strain” “Jurassic Park” or films such as “Blade Runner” and “Gattaca”, i.e. they are more Science-Fact than Science-Fiction. Zukunftsangst is a German Cold-War term meaning “Fear-of-the-Future”, which may best embody current paranoia of what the future may hold in store for humanity.
The Zukunstangst Series is set in the near future, in a world devastated by man’s activities, wherein global warming and biological pollutants, have lead to a calamity termed GC, the great calamity in which about 80% of all life perished. Those that remained were not very fortunate, as life was rendered sterile.
In the opening novel, Xenophobia, the lead character Gerald Norton at an Oxbridge Institute fights a race against time to restore life to its former fertility. As extreme times call for desperate measures, he transplants human gonadal tissues into porcine hosts in an attempt to restore human life. In the opening chapters his effort is rewarded with the birth of 7 human babies.
The other protagonist is Daniel, an environmental biologist, who following the destruction of all he loved and cherished, has retreated into a monastery, shunning all contact with human life, and in a very disillusioned state is trying to follow in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi.
Due to a series of incidents and accidents, largely triggered by the investigation of a pair of overtly inquisitive reporters, the idyll of life restored to its former glory is dashed. Gerald is branded as a modern Frankenstein and a hapless Daniel inherits the fruits of his labours.
Nathanael Rafferty is a pseudonym. Nathanael is a biomedical research scientist of international renown in his field, having published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and edited a number of books. Nathanael is currently living in central Europe. Nathanael has written a number of short stories, some of which have been published abroad. This is his first full-length novel.
For more info and the authors blog refer to: www.nathanaelrafferty.com
A wild grunt and a diabolical squeal jolted Matron back from the celluloid world of Chester Street to reality.
Thelma was awake!
She dropped her knitting, her tea cup crashed to the floor, as she dashed to Thelma’s cubicle. There was no time to change back into her sterile gear. She found Thelma, livid, staggering in a pool of blood hacking away at what had once been a small human form.
- My God, they’re all dead. She’s massacred them all.
Her head throbbed, her ears rang, as she shook uncontrollably from head to toe. She felt herself about to swoon and grasped the door frame. It was only then that she heard the forlorn desperate wailing of a small voice over the din of Thelma’s squeals. Frantically she searched the blood strewn carnage for any sign of life, locating the source on the far side of the room.
