The Reality Gradient Universe
The year is 2185. Climate change has reshaped the United States, carving a desert through the Midwest and losing parts of Texas, Florida, and Louisiana to the sea.
A global autocratic order, the Akson Society, has waxed and waned in influence, leaving towering interconnected walkways called canopies in the world’s largest cities and a nearly insurmountable gap between rich and poor.
Artificial Intelligence has expanded to create self-driving flying vehicles (called volantrae), while nascent artificially-intelligent entities lurk in the background.
Corporations have created genetically-altered clones, called models, to do the menial tasks that most of the rest of humanity won’t do, from construction to sex work. The creation of models divides America into models and non-models (called polli). Polli who consider cloning to be demonic influence join forces with those who believe models have stolen their jobs, bringing into existence the Human Pride Movement and its global counterpart, Liberti Custodi.
The Reality Gradient Trilogy
Models and Citizens
In 2185, college graduate Harper Rawls’ life is derailed when her parents die in a tragic murder-suicide. A mysterious stranger reveals a side of her mother Harper never knew. Harper must confront a past that differs from her memories and decide whether to step into the world of cloning.
Bodhi Rising
Bodhi Rawls is dying, and the only possible solution is experimental consciousness transfer. He wakes in a new body beside Christine Hamilton, heiress to a cloning empire, and becomes one of the world’s first two immortals. He seeks an alternative to body theft before an industrial-scale body-farming program emerges.
Libera, Goddess of Worlds
In Lothania, Lincoln Montague’s mother’s death has long been deemed a suicide. A new clue suggests the town matriarch may have been involved. Lincoln must decide whether to pull a thread that could unravel her town—and reveal the truth about her own past.
Related works
Southern Highlands: Obi of Mars expands the universe with interplanetary trade; Ordell is described as a Reality Gradient bridge novella; and the short-story collection Gemini also takes place in this universe.