WILLIAM E. MASON
THE BOOKS
Below are the four books in the Primordium Series plus a stand alone novel with a light touch of science fiction. There's relevant information and a short synopsis. Click on the book cover to read an excerpt.
REFORMATION
ISBN-10: 1-77115-215-X
ISBN-13: 9781771152150
Published: January 12, 2015
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In Primordium Book One: Reformation, John Lohner, a paleoanthropologist on a dig in northern Kenya, is driven to distraction by an inner voice. But can he achieve peace of mind when the voice belongs to a mysterious life form intent on nurturing in him the only remaining pure strain of the alien genome responsible for mankind's humanity?
A small sphere with exotic powers called the guardian contains the alien genome Gilomir. Four million years ago, A4-Ni, the mysterious life form, steals the guardian from the Shepherd, a universal constructor of alien design. She inserts Gilomir DNA into the hostile host of an ancient hominid. By so doing, she unwittingly initiates the evolution of Homo sapiens, creatures having no chance of survival in the closed universe they inhabit but were not meant to see, much less have the intelligence to comprehend.
Four million years later, the Shepherd traces the guardian to John's excavation. Not knowing the strength of the thief A4-Ni, who has remained to nurture the genome, the Shepherd creates Mia, a synthetic female, and charges her with retrieving the guardian, which is encased in a hominid fossil.
After John saves the clueless Mia from marauding bandits, he takes a liking to her. Their growing affection for one another puts them at odds with their respective masters. In the end, their worlds come apart when they realize their masters' interests trump their own and only one master can be triumphant.
RENAISSANCE​
ISBN-10: 1-77115-222-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-77115-222-8
Published: February 6, 2015
In Primordium Book Two: Renaissance, black geneticist, Truman Justis, the son of Kamau, paleoanthropologist John Lohner's Kenyan assistant in Book One, seeks enlightenment in a universe of shifting realities. Siddhartha meets Rashomon.
When A4-Ni, the mysterious life form nurturing mankind's humanity, dies, humans begin to devolve.
Truman is determined to learn why. But after being transported to 7005 AD by the Shepherd, a UFO of alien design, and given a cure, will Truman step forward as mankind's messiah, when a past of discrimination threatens to overwhelm him?
Confounding his decision is a future populated by proto-humans, "players" of alien origin, and a race of pure humans, the Maraia created by the Shepherd, who wants Truman to insure that they survive intelligent enough so their ancestors can build his creator.
All of this is overseen by the guardian, a golf ball-sized sphere with exotic powers capable of seeing the past and the future. It tests Truman's resolve with shifting realities to the point that Truman questions the nature of reality and whether or not his future, defeating the player Cathcar and helping the Maraia, was of his own free will or preordained.
REQUIEM
ISBN-10: 1-77115-227-3
ISBN-13: 978-1-77115-227-3
Published: February 19, 2015
​ In Primordium Book Three: Requiem, the leader of the few remaining humans on Earth dies before building A4-Ni, a universal constructor to spread their genome throughout space. His daughter, Akilah Rasmussen, steps forward to realize his dream. But will she persevere after she discovers that the genome is predestined to be destroyed and the only reason A4-Ni must be constructed is to ensure the creation of an alien craft, the Shepherd?
Following the teachings of Truman Justis of Book Two, future Maraia in the year 10,0005 try to keep their DNA pure while under assault by the evil player Cardassin, a fiendish specimen without compassion or morality.
Fanatically bent on destroying the Maraia and the Shepherd, he waits patiently for the few remaining Maraia to return to their ancestral home of Kanapoi in what was once northern Kenya, where the climate has become inhospitably arctic. They hope to find the exotic guardian of myth that holds the plans to construct A4-Ni, who will create the Shepherd in the distant past.
Aided by the synthetic human, Michael, and the primitive Jamil, Akilah struggles to realize her father's dream, but at a terrible cost.
RESURRECTION
ISBN-10: 1-77115-228-1
ISBN-13: 9781771152280
Published: March 6, 2015
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Primordium Book Four: Resurrection picks up where Primordium Book One: Reformation leaves off. The alien DNA of Gilomir has been made manifest in the hominid Humanus and deposited in a pre-historic world 6 million years in the past where he is presented with the challenge of restoring the balance between good and evil. But will Gilomir/Humanus prevail despite the enhancement of his genome, when he must confront the embodiment of evil in Zug on unequal terms?
Gilomir/Humanus' tranquil upbringing by ancient australopithecines is shattered when he must confront a rapidly changing environment and sort out friend from foe in the context of a perverse warping of space and time.
Although he is still on Earth, the universe in which it exists and into which he has been thrust is anomalous, consisting of closed timelike curves (CTC) wherein the beginnings of all world lines meet their ends inexorably forever. It is a universe Homo sapiens were never meant to experience much less understand.
In the end, it remains to be seen if Gilomir, through Humanus, can restore the balance between good and evil and regain his rightful place on the outside.
Although the light of mankind's consciousness goes out in Requiem, hominid DNA is still inextricably entwined with Gilomir DNA. If Gilomir exits the CTC universe, having secured a rebalanced relationship with Zug, hominid DNA goes with him. Mankind will achieve its destiny on the shoulders of an alien.
The end is the beginning.
CHLOE THE CLONE
ISBN-10: 1-77115-229-X
ISBN-13: 9781771152297
Published: March 6, 2015
Chloe is best described as a suspense with a light dusting of science fiction set in the year 2020.
Part Romancing the Stone (romantic, comedic, with inept bad guys), part Paper Moon (feel good, sentimental, and quirky), Chloe nevertheless poses a serious story question: what does a man do when he comes to love the child who was cloned to give him a new heart?
In the year 2020, Clonal Transplants, Inc. of Denver, CO screws up when it grows a ten year old, sentient, female clone named Chloe to provide 56 year old Sam Turner with a new heart.
When the FBI seizes all of Clonal's otherwise brain‑dead clones to enforce a new law that has the intent of shutting down small clone farms, CEO Andropov hides Chloe. It's one thing to have his business ruined, quite another to spend time in jail for growing a sentient.
Since Chloe is near term, Andropov sedates her and foist her off onto an unsuspecting Turner. He is told the only way he will be able to save his life is to take the clone to Mexico, hook up with an Andropov associate and have the heart transplant done there.
Subsequently, Andropov learns the FBI is pursuing Chloe on a tip that she is sentient. He realizes that if the FBI gets to Chloe before she is used for a transplant, he's toast. The only solution is to arrive first and render her brain‑dead, a high risk alternative he was reluctant to take in the first place.
Turner consults with JoAnne Calder, a young lady friend, who sets him up with a place to stay in Cerro Bonito on the Pacific coast until he can arrange to have his transplant operation.
Turner starts out for Cerro Bonito, one step ahead of the FBI. Halfway there, the sedative wears off, and he discovers that Chloe is a fully functional charming ten year old girl who awakes and calls him Grandpa. Her worldliness comes from having been wired to cable TV at Clonal and stimulated by a rogue lab tech who had it in for Andropov.
It is now out of the question that Sam would use Chloe as a donor. Their relationship builds as he continues on to Cerro Bonito. He fears that if he surrenders Chloe to the feds he will never see her again. He also suspects that Andropov is now after her.
Turner makes it to Cerro Bonito, only to find that he must fight for his life and Chloe's when he is besieged by corrupt police, a local drug lord, his host's drunken son, Andropov who has tracked him down, Andropov's disgruntled associate and finally the FBI. To complicate things, Calder shows up.
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PRIMORDIAL Short Stories
ASIN: B014GPTKFU
Published: August 27, 2015
Kernels of imagination that led to bigger things.
CONTENTS
THE FUGITIVE
THE MONITOR
A TRIP TO PHOENIX
TRIGGER
THE EXPERIMENT
THE OTHER SIDE OF NIGHT
TO THE POINT WE SETTLE
SHADOWS OF DISPAIR
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