What would you give to live forever? 





Seventeen-year-old Elijah Brighton wants to become an ascender—a post-Singularity human/machine hybrid—after all, they’re smarter, more enlightened, more compassionate, and above all, achingly beautiful. But Eli is a legacy human, preserved and cherished for his unaltered genetic code, just like the rainforest he paints. When a fugue state possesses him and creates great art, Eli miraculously lands a sponsor for the creative Olympics. If he could just master the fugue, he could take the gold and win the right to ascend, bringing everything he’s yearned for within reach… including his beautiful ascender patron. But once Eli arrives at the Games, he finds the ascenders are playing games of their own. Everything he knows about the ascenders and the legacies they keep starts to unravel… until he’s running for his life and wondering who he truly is. The Legacy Human is the first in Susan Kaye Quinn’s new young adult science fiction series that explores the intersection of mind, body, and soul in a post-Singularity world… and how technology will challenge us to remember what it means to be human.


Praise for The Legacy Human

•  “This book is Hunger Games (without the violence or controversy) meets Divergent.” 
•  “This story is so intense I felt I couldn’t get a proper breath.”
•  “Science fiction with philosophical depth!” 

The Duality Bridge 

What does it mean to be human? Elijah Brighton is the face of the Human Resistance Movement. He’s the Olympic-level painter who refused an offer of immortality from the ascenders—the human/machine hybrids who run the world—in solidarity with the legacy humans who will never get a chance to live forever. Too bad it’s all a complicated web of lies. Worse, Eli’s not even entirely human. Few know about the ascenders’ genetic experiments that left him… different. Fewer know about the unearthly fugue state that creates his transcendent art—as well as a bridge that lets him speak to the dead. But the Resistance is the one place he can hide from the ascender who knows everything the fugue can do. Because if Marcus finds him, he’ll either use Eli for his own nefarious purposes… or destroy him once and for all. The Duality Bridge is the second book in the Singularity series and the sequel to The Legacy Human. This thrilling new young adult science fiction series explores the intersection of mind, body, and soul in a post-Singularity world.
 

Author Susan Kay Quinn
Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the Singularity Series, the bestselling Mindjack Trilogy, and the Debt Collector serial, as well as other speculative fiction novels and short stories. Her work has appeared in the Synchronic anthology, the Telepath Chronicles, the AI Chronicles, and has been optioned for Virtual Reality by Immersive Entertainment. Former rocket scientist, now she invents mind powers, dabbles in steampunk, and dreams of the Singularity. Mostly she sits around in her PJs in awe that she gets to write full time.


 

Since I read both books, there was a lot to like.  I wish I could tell you everything, but that would take too long....  Elijah is the kind of kid most parents hope their kids become as they start to venture outside of mommy's protective bubble.  While Elijah is facing some seriously hard morality issues, he still strives to be polite and a gentleman, even though he often messes up.

There is a ton of action in these books.  It's hard to stay bored!  The first book, The Legacy Human, had more of the mind/intellectual action, while The Duality Bridge certainly added some actual heart racing action.  I'm pretty sure many teenagers would get into it. 

My biggest issue lied in the first book mostly, as the introduction lasted for most of the book.  I realize that there was a lot of set up that needed to happen, but the olympics seemed to drag on in preparations.  I fear that if I was often bored, and kept putting the book down because of that, teens certainly would.  And if you don't get through that intro, well you miss the real action.

I'm also not a huge fan of robot science fiction, and this series is all about AI.  While cool and interesting, I just couldn't get into some parts of it because of all the robots wandering the scenes.

These books are detailed; the reader will find himself in a whole new world.  As a series there is plenty of space for the why to developed as well as the how.  If you are interested in AI, science fiction, and the questions of how soon science can help people live forever, this is a must read!

I would recommend this book to any one who loves AI stories and the idea of science advancing enough to keep people alive forever.  Any teen really could read this book, it's very clean. Yes there are some romance scenes and discussion of finding love, as well as some violence, I think it's all in the wheelhouse for teen readers.  While I mentioned this is a great series for teen boys, there is no real reason why girls wouldn't be into the story if they are into science fiction.  

With the rise of the strong female heroine, do you feel that the lead male character is no where to be found?  Share some recent, and not so recent, books where the male lead is a great role model for teen boys.  Thanks!

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