The Gem Star

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

It's the year 2115 and the Machine Emperor has taken over most of the planet. With its ability to perfectly imitate anyone it has managed to infiltrate and conquer most of nations of the world, condemning humans to live like pets beneath the rule of the godlike AI. Only the United States aiming a series of orbital rail-guns at the planet and threatening to destroy all life holds it back from conquering the few free nations that remain! Sam Wharton grew up in this grim world as a prodigy - for a regular human. Most of his peers are enhanced with a mixture of cybernetics and genetic engineering that make them seem like a different species. Even his cat has genetic enhancements that make him as smart as a human. He has long dreamed of living in the stellar colonies where humanity can be safe, but he just can't compete with the augmented. Yet a chance meeting with his estranged grandfather gives him the chance to not only grow beyond human limits, but live on the greatest space colony ever made - the Gem Star. He's given a classified augment that allows him to unlock the power of Framejacking - enhancing his mental speed to vastly inhuman levels. Can Sam and his talking blue cat Loki survive and defeat an angry mechanical god?

Cover art by Valerie St Gelais & Donna Skaff.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: Citric Thoughts

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 226
Views: 14,499

Reviews

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Community Reviews(2)

krabatsravenRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A high quality, high paced start to a cyberpunk esque story. Set in a realistic post modern universe the story tells about a flawed main character.
While he is given godlike powers he is still human and makes mistakes. It is to early to tell if he will learn from them but it makes for an interesting start.
The author hit some real life problems, so the future of the story is uncertain, but I certainly hope to see many more chapters as the author has some great ideas and I like to know how it will unfold
R. K. NieenRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
A unique take on a cyberpunk/transhuman story that takes its time but has some compelling ideas on its mind.
Style: One of the two best things about this story so far is the setting, and the author really brings it to life with a well-thought out future history and lots of little environmental flourishes that tell us what kind of world this is. There are some interesting twists early on, and the writing is definitely up to the task of hiding them beforehand, then delivering them with full impact.
Story: The early chapters are a bit of a slow burn, mostly setting up the pieces on the board before the plot really kicks off around Chapter 9. That didn’t bother me because almost all of those pieces are really interesting, but if you’re looking for a story that jumps right into the main plot on the first page, this isn’t it.
Grammar: Good enough. There are some issues with dialogue punctuation early, but those seem to disappear by Chapter 6 or so.
Character: The main character is likable and believable in his situation (and not a closet psychopath like a lot of “must get stronger” types). I particularly like that even characters who are antagonistic to him early on are given plausible motivations for their behavior rather than just being thin stereotypes. And the second of the two best things about this story? The main villain, who is immediately threatening and incredibly creepy.