Androne - by Dwain Worrell (Paperback)

About the Book

Humanity's new war is an enigma, with an enemy threat beyond all imagination, in this near-future novel of mind-blowing adventure where the fate of the world rests in the choices of one ordinary soldier. In one terrifying event called the Ninety-Nine, all major military installations on earth were eviscerated. But by whom? Foreign powers, AIs, ETs? Every conceivable adversary was ruled out. Reeling from massive casualties and amid hundreds of conspiracy theories, humanity creates Andrones: bipedal android drones piloted remotely by soldiers who will never again need to be on the field of battle. Newly minted Androne pilot Sergeant Paxton Arâes has now been deployed into a fight against an enemy no one understands or has ever seen. Passing mostly uneventful days patrolling an unidentified desert, Paxton spends time communicating with his pregnant girlfriend back home and reflecting on his impending fatherhood. But as he is drawn deeper into military camaraderie and begins quickly rising up the ranks on the strength of his father's military legacy, Paxton starts to question the swirling rumors about the nature of the conflict. What he's encountered in the shifting dunes--something inexplicable, indomitable--fills him with the fear that whatever is out there is destined to win. Whether it's curiosity, ambition, or a newfound paternal instinct, Paxton has a driving need to understand the dangerous truths of this strange, invisible war. And the choices he must make have the power to change everything.

Book Synopsis

Humanity's new war is an enigma, with an enemy threat beyond all imagination, in this near-future novel of mind-blowing adventure where the fate of the world rests in the choices of one ordinary soldier.

In one terrifying event called the Ninety-Nine, all major military installations on earth were eviscerated. But by whom? Foreign powers, AIs, ETs? Every conceivable adversary was ruled out. Reeling from massive casualties and amid hundreds of conspiracy theories, humanity creates Andrones: bipedal android drones piloted remotely by soldiers who will never again need to be on the field of battle. Newly minted Androne pilot Sergeant Paxton Arés has now been deployed into a fight against an enemy no one understands or has ever seen.

Passing mostly uneventful days patrolling an unidentified desert, Paxton spends time communicating with his pregnant girlfriend back home and reflecting on his impending fatherhood. But as he is drawn deeper into military camaraderie and begins quickly rising up the ranks on the strength of his father's military legacy, Paxton starts to question the swirling rumors about the nature of the conflict. What he's encountered in the shifting dunes--something inexplicable, indomitable--fills him with the fear that whatever is out there is destined to win.

Whether it's curiosity, ambition, or a newfound paternal instinct, Paxton has a driving need to understand the dangerous truths of this strange, invisible war. And the choices he must make have the power to change everything.

Review Quotes

"Taut intrigue reels readers into a thrilling yet thoughtful narrative about the futility of war and the cost of doing the right thing, and a clever, quantum twist will please sci-fi fans. Worrell should make a splash with this." --Publishers Weekly

"Dwain Worrell's Androne straps you into the cockpit at page one and doesn't let go; it's a truly cinematic, character-centered Moebius strip of war, loyalty, and love, with action so good you might forget how to breathe." --Karen Osborne, author of Architects of Memory

"A crazy-cool ride into the unknown. Paxton is a multi-layered, futuristic hero, and [Androne] reads like a high-end videogame on steroids with a destiny of Shakespearean magnitude." --Niels Arden Oplev, Director of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo