On Science Fiction Characters

If you are a serious reader of science fiction, you have probably noticed the smugness of so-called mainline or literary readers. You know the type --- they don’t consider SF real literature. Among many deficiencies, they think SF is peopled with cardboard characters. This attitude irritated me until I realized there are differences.

Literary fiction is character driven. The characters resemble real people in realistic places. Literary fiction reveals character or develops character through a cumulative awareness that builds over the story or through a sudden personal awakening, usually near the conclusion of the novel. Literary fiction explores human complexity and strives to develop a deep understanding of the uniqueness of one or more main characters.

Much of science fiction, on the other hand is idea driven, let’s call it the big idea. For example the big idea in Unholy Domain is to explore what it means to be human. The main characters serve the big idea. They may be well-rounded, but they must fit into the idea of the story. While the literary character may spend pages dwelling on the relationship with his father, the SF character will spend little if any time dissecting that relationship. The focus is on the big idea and the plot must keep moving along.

Science fiction come in many subgenres --- cyberpunk, romance, post-apocalyptic, space opera, near future, soft and hard --- to name a few. All SF is a mix of setting, plot and character, but SF places more emphasis on setting and plot than does traditional literary fiction. The SF writer has more to deal with than the traditional writer, and can’t put all her marbles in the character basket.

That doesn’t mean that SF characters aren’t well-developed. They can be, but within and supporting the framework of the story. David Louis Edelman has an excellent article on Building Character(s) in DeepGenre and provides a useful list of factors to consider. Read the comments, too.

Soulless Machine Review: My writing compared to Crichton , Gibson and Leonard

Posted by Aaaron M. Wilson on the Soulless Machine Review.

Unholy Domain by Dan Ronco was the second novel that I read while I was in Puerto Vallarta, to read the review of the first, click here: DARWIN'S PARADOX by Nina Munteanu.

Imagine a world several years after a computer virus called Peacemaker destroyed nearly all internet connections in the world and infected almost all computers. In this world, Peacemaker is indirectly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people due to loss of remote control of utilities, phones, satellites, hospitals; everything that we take for granted stopped working.

In the aftermath, the government has taken control of all technology related R&D; and in the wake of this take over, two opposing forces have arisen: the Technos, who push the envelope, creating new and illegal technologies, which are sold on the black market by the mob; and the Church of Natural Humans, a terrorist-like sect of Christianity that believes all machines, smart-technologies, are spawns of the devil.

In this world, your name is David Brown. You're smart. You're good looking and women flock to you. You're not wealthy, but you don't want for money. You have everything going for you, except that you are the son of the man who created and unleashed Peacemaker.

Unholy Domain is an action packed coming of age story in which David Brown must uncover hidden secrets about his father, secrets that others have killed to keep, secrets that if uncovered could change everything. In his search, David will go up against the Church of Natural Humans, the Techos, and an intelligent internet program that threatens to suck his consciousness out of his body and into the World Wide Web forever.

Ronco's writing is clear and detailed. I read every word. The plot is fast. A worthy comparison of Ronco's style would be: Michael Crichton's action, William Gibson's attention to technical detail, and Elmore Leonard's tough guy attitude. This combination finds a unique and entertaining mix in Ronco's fiction, creating a book that I couldn't put down long enough to enjoy the beaches of Puerto Vallarta.

I highly recommend Unholy Domain to anyone interested in the future of human consciousness, technology, and the evolution of the human machine.

To learn more about my novels, check out Dan Ronco's Amazon Blog.

NothingBinding.com: Unholy Domain almost screams "Look around you!"

Review for “Unholy Domain” by Dan RoncoThe futuristic world of Cyber Technology is spawning a new genre that falls somewhere between creative imagination and scientific probability. And possibly, imminent projection. It’s the impending element that is the rather scary part. Is Unholy Domain science fiction, a thriller of sorts? Or is it a quite feasible and likely glimpse into a very near future? Unlike the imaginative sci-fi of the Star Wars and Trekkie generation where we were thrust light years ahead of our time, Unholy Domain almost screams “Look around you!"

It’s 2012. A deadly computer virus renders identity theft, electronic spying and cyber fraud mere child’s play. This bug, known as Peace Maker, literally sends the world spiraling into chaos with a shut down of communications, energy, and product distribution. What’s compelling about this calamity is its very possible authenticity. It could happen tomorrow! Look around you!

Fast forward ten years. It’s 2022. Society, itself, is in decay. The Great Depression of the Thirties pales in comparison. Once in control, the Technos and their ensuing alternative intelligence capabilities have roused the ire of religious fundamentalists. The Technos, their controlled robots, and the Natural Humans of the Army of God meet head on in the age-old battle of good versus evil, of God against Lucifer! But there is a yet new dilemma. Has evil become the only power? Is evil only fighting for a more intense degree of itself? Is this the ultimate jihad?

True to books of this genre, Unholy Domain does have an enigmatic ending which leaves the reader free to draw their own conclusions as to the validity of this futuristic world. The goal of a writer is to leave the reader pondering their story, the whys and wherefores of it, and the personal impact it invokes. Unholy Domain succeeds in doing that. By all means . . . look around you!

Susan Haley, Author

**Susan Haley is the published author of two books, several articles on networking, an award-winning poet, and the copy editor and book reviewer for Pepper Tree Press Publishing. She is a columnist for “The Florida Writer” the official magazine of the Florida Writers Association, and serves as Facilitator for the Sarasota County Chapter. The audio version of her novel “RAINY DAY PEOPLE” was recently awarded runner-up Finalist in the 2008 Indie Excellence National Book Awards. She also contributes a variety of editorials and excerpts of her work to various E-zines, newsletters, and local papers. Susan can be contacted at shaley1112@verizon.net.

To learn more about Dan Ronco and his novels, check out his Amazon Blog.

J. Kaye's Book Blog: Unholy Domain is "a real page turner."

Unholy Domain, by Dan Ronco, is the second in his sci-fi thriller series. Peacemaker, the first, is about a computer virus that changes the world, for the worst. Unholy Domain picks up about 10 years later. It is a fast, exciting read. I read half the book the first night and finished it the next day. Much to my dismay, I found out this was the second book and regret not reading the first one first! Now I must wait until next year (Spring 2009) to read the third one, Tomorrow’s Children.

Piers Anthony wrote: “Anther fast-action story of vicious extremes, as a powerful religious cult takes on a sophisticated tech outfit. Each means to destroy each other and rule the world, and neither is scrupulous about what it means. The protagonist is caught precariously between the two. Top rate adventure sparkling with ideas.”

Peter Clenott, http://www.peterclenott.com/pc/default.asp, author of Hunting the King, wrote “Unholy Domain is science fiction a la Da Vinci Code but with far better characters than Da Vinci Code and with more detail and complexity.”

I couldn't agree more. This book is a real page-turner.

Midwest Book Review: Unholy Domain "is a gripping thriller all the way through."

Technology has been both the savior and destroyer of millions of lives. "Unholy Domain" is the tale of a computer virus that was the destroyer, and its aftermath. David Brown is the son of the virus' supposed creator; as the world begins to fall apart, he tries to clear his father's name, thinking that the virus was not as responsible as it was pointed out. Faced with threats from religious fanatics as well as those trying to restore the world to its technological state, "Unholy Domain" is a gripping thriller all the way through. Highly recommended for community library thriller collections.

Note from DR: This is the second reviewer from Midwest Book Review to write about Unholy Domain.

Unholy Domain reviewed by TCM Reviews

Reviewed by Dr. Tami Brady

Ray Brown was the world’s most infamous person. To the world, he was the monster that created PeaceMaker, a lethal virus like none before. To those who worked with him, Ray was a genius who shifted between extreme brilliance and intense darkness. To his family, he was simply an absentee father.

But who was the real Ray Brown? Ray’s son David has lived his life paying for his father’s inheritance. David receives a mysterious email about the true creator of PeaceMaker, supposed sent from his father years before. Not really knowing if he believes his father’s innocence, he seeks to find out more about this man. However, while David is opening doors to the past, someone is closely watching his actions, making sure that he doesn’t stumble upon the truth.

It took a few chapters for me to really get into Unholy Domain. First, I had to figure out who was who in a somewhat large and complex cast of characters. It was once I started to zero in on David’s portion of the story that I began to settle into reading. Then, the rest fell into place.

An Interview with Dan Ronco About Unholy Domain

Posted on July 1st, 2008by Simon Barrett in Book Reviews, Interview, Reviews

I really enjoyed Dan Ronco’s latest book, Unholy Domain, it is set in the near future, and paints a bleak picture of what might happen in the aftermath of a computer virus that spreads through the Internet. More and more the net is becoming part of the worlds infrastructure. Email is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity. If you look at 20 bill boards, you will find that 19 of them will have a www address rather than a phone number. Our reliance and acceptance of the Internet is all consuming. But is our reliance on the net too much?

I had the opportunity to ask Dan Ronco.

Being an Internet kind of a guy, I Googled you. You seem to have a pretty interesting history. Maybe you can tell us a little about yourself?

I was born into a tough neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey, where I learned powerful lessons about family, friendship and violence. I survived, so I consider my childhood a success. My escape was fiction, and I spent many hours reading in the local library. Nurturing a passion for technology, I went on to gain a BS in Chemical Engineering from NJIT. Not enough challenge. Always fascinated by new technologies, I was awarded a full fellowship at Columbia University and gained a MS in Nuclear Engineering. Although I designed submarine nuclear reactors for three years, I discovered I enjoyed software development more than reactor design, so I changed career direction and achieved a second MS; this one in Computer Science from RPI.

Fascinated by virtually all areas of software development, my expertise grew to include coding, design, project management, quality improvement and finally, general management. My niche was software consulting and my team assisted many large corporations and governmental organizations. Always looking for a bigger challenge, I built and managed several consulting practices. I’m especially proud of two accomplishments – assisting AT&T greatly improve the quality of the first commercial UNIX release and helping Microsoft to create a world class consulting organization. Positions held during my consulting years included Senior Principal with an international accounting/consulting firm, President, Software Technology Management Inc. and General Manager with Microsoft.

That’s a pretty good bird’s eye view of my career before the writing fever hit.

What was the defining moment that caused you to abandon an obviously lucrative career to become a writer?

If you ask that question to most writers, they will tell you about their first short story written at age eleven. Or nine. How they always knew they would become writers. Not me. Although I loved reading fiction at the local library, the thought of writing novels never crossed my mind. I spent an entire career in the IT business and I loved it, but as the years went by the work turned stale. And when your career becomes boring, it’s time to do something else.

Anyway, I was sitting in my office at Microsoft one night, frustrated by a couple of emerging problems: the increasing number of virus attacks on my client’s systems and the ongoing litigation with the Department of Justice. The more I thought about these problems, the more frustrated I became. Suddenly the obvious solution hit me – get out of this business and write a novel.

What if a great (fictional) software company lost an anti-trust lawsuit and was ripped apart by the DOJ? What if the leaders of this once-great company decided to have their revenge by building an intelligent, deadly software predator into their flagship software product? That’s the premise of PeaceMaker, my first novel.

I liked the concept behind Unholy Domain, it was very cleverly put together. Also in many ways it is timely. Much has been made of hackers attacking government sites, and there has been much grumbling about ‘what if’ they went after a power generating station, particularly a nuclear one. Are we in danger?

Yes, but not with current technologies. Something like PeaceMaker is inevitable – but not for at least another five to ten years. Remember, PeaceMaker is speculative fiction. No existing artificial intelligence (excluding niche applications such as playing chess) can plan and execute at a level approaching human capabilities. In my novel, PeaceMaker has the ability to shut down the host computer, change or destroy data, send warning messages to its master, destroy hardware and attack anyone interfering with its objectives. A software predator could be developed today to perform many of these acts, but not with such sophisticated, adaptive decision-making abilities; one with PeaceMaker-level intelligence is still quite a few years away.I set the novel in 2012 because that’s probably the earliest point such a predator could emerge (based upon my thinking in 2003). The critical breakthroughs are speech recognition and very complex modeling; once that happens, we’re on the fast track to the software predator described in PeaceMaker.

In Unholy Domain you portray the Government of the day as ineffectual. Brow beaten into regulating technology. It is an interesting idea. We only have to look at the fall out from 9/11 to see steps backward being taken. International relations are at an all time low. Suddenly everyone is suspect, even traditionally friendly border crossings by Canadians or Brits have become a battle of paper, fingerprints, and distrust. A battle that friendly countries feel that they have no option but to play tit for tat. The Brits won’t let Martha Stewart in, so the US responds by not giving a visa to Boy George! I view it as childish. Is making the border harder to cross (as CNN’s resident idiot Lou Dobbs advocates) the answer?

Although we should exercise reasonable control over our borders, that’s not the major risk factor. It’s fracken (love Battlestar Galactica) technology regulation that may do us in. Government, especially Congress, is way out of its league trying to regulate technology. Or just about anything else. That’s not a brilliant conclusion of mine; very few Americans believe Congress — Republican or Democrat — can provide pragmatic, competent regulation.

For example, think about what Congress has done to nuclear power. Thirty years ago nuclear power was an up and coming technology destined to provide the US with the lion’s share of its energy. The Three Mile Island power station near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania changed all that. In 1979 a cooling malfunction caused part of the core to melt in the # 2 reactor at Three Mile Island. Some radioactive gas was released, but not enough to cause any dose above background levels to local residents.

Although there were no injuries or adverse health effects from the accident, poor communications in Congress and the media contributed to a sense of panic among the public, leading to a virtual ban on construction of nuclear plants lasting to this day. This despite an excellent safety record for power plants in the USA for thirty years. I am not minimizing the serious problems at Three Mile Island, but the construction of nuclear power plants should never have been halted. If we generated eighty percent of our energy through nuclear power, as France does, we would not have to depend upon unreliable kingdoms in the Middle East. And we wouldn’t be filling our gas tanks with four-bucks-a-gallon (soon to go higher) gasoline.

I’ll let you in on a few other brilliant moves fostered by our government. We are the only nation with huge reserves of oil that doesn’t allow drilling. And to complete the hat trick, we have not built a new oil refining plant in thirty years. As a result, we have to buy oil from countries that are hostile, such as Venezuela, or with uncertain friendship, such as Saudi Arabia. With a government like this, who needs enemies? The overregulation described in Unholy Domain isn’t really much of a stretch, is it?

As I understand it, Unholy Domain is the second book in a trilogy. I have not yet had a chance to read Peacemaker (hint hint) but do plan on tracking it down. When can we expect to see the final book? And can you tell us a little about it?

It is clear that technological change will turn our society upside down within the next few decades. Humans will have to adapt rapidly to gain the advantages of evolving social and technological innovations. Indeed, we will have to adapt rapidly just to survive.

I scoped out a trilogy of novels to expose three oncoming challenges; computer viruses enhanced with artificial intelligence (set in 2012), the oncoming clash between religion and technology concerning what it means to be human (2022), and the beginnings of the integration of human and artificial intelligence into a network entity (2032). Each novel is written as a thriller – packed with adventure, sex, greed and romance – as well as realistic science, technology, and government intervention. The three leading characters – Dianne Morgan, a female mega-billionaire obsessed with power; Ray Brown, her onetime lover and a brilliant software architect; and David Brown, Ray’s genetically gifted son – are fascinating and all too human.

PeaceMaker, my first novel, was released in August, 2004 and Unholy Domain, was released April 2, 2008 by Kunati Books. The final novel of the trilogy, tentatively entitled Tomorrow’s Children, should be released in 2009. Although the novels are consistent in world building, character and plot development, each is a stand-alone story, so they may be read in any sequence.

Genetic engineering and artificial intelligence continue to rapidly evolve in Tomorrow’s Children, touching off a human uprising based in Africa against the Domain. Ray Brown leads the African tribes in their war against the increasingly human androids of Dianne Morgan’s Domain. When David Brown evolves to the brink of integration with Sentinel, the most advanced AI developed by the Domain, Ray has one last chance to save his son and maintain humanity as a distinct species.

Unholy Domain has ‘best seller’ written all over it. I review a lot of books, and you get a nose for what works in the book world. You are getting a lot of positive press, are you seeing it translate into sales yet?

Unholy Domain is a unique book, part thriller, part science fiction that is rapidly finding its audience. Since both the publisher and the author are relatively new, Unholy Domain has to sell itself based on its entertainment and intellectual values. I have relied upon independent reviewers to introduce the novel to their readers, and the strategy seems to be working. There is no better publicity than a string of favorable reviews, and Unholy Domain is on a tear. Readers check out the reviews, buy the book, and enjoy the story. It’s a good trend.

I have yet to meet an author that does not have little bits of himself and people he knows embedded in the characters, is their a little bit of David in you? (and who else?)

There’s a little bit of me in all my characters. I’m a nice guy. Really. All that conflict, torture, and mayhem that you read in my novels, well, that’s not really me. It’s my characters.

Well, maybe I have a bit of the devil in me, because my characters often resolve problems with violence. And not just any violence — creative, gut-wrenching violence. Hand to hand conflict, rape, robots, torture, you name it. It’s when my characters face off, when their emotions really go full throttle, that’s when the reader is pulled into the story, when they can’t possibly put the book down.

I don’t know where this stuff comes from. I lead a normal life: married to a wonderful woman, three great kids, long-term friendships, satisfying careers. I try and balance the darkness with a quirky sense of humor. So far, so good.

Have we become a society too reliant on technology? I ponder this question often. I wander around downtown and everywhere I look I see security cams, George Orwell had it right in 1984, he just got the date wrong. What are your thoughts?

Our modern technological society provides us with an incredibly high standard of living, but there is a price to pay. As a society, we have decided the trade-offs —reduced privacy, government intervention, complexity, etc — are acceptable. In general, I’m okay with that. Not thrilled, but realistic.

The breaking point is the combination of technology and single-minded fanaticism. Fanatics have always been dangerous, because they are ready to die to impose their beliefs on society. A century earlier, a small group of fanatics might be able to kill a few dozen people with dynamite or guns. Now, a terrorist with a weapon of mass destruction might kill hundreds of thousands. Technology empowers fanatics. To defend itself, society must employ technology. Maybe those security cams will help track down terrorists.

There’s no going back. People are not willing to give up the benefits of technology, nor should they. Regulation won’t stop the spread of advanced, potentially dangerous sciences such as AI, nanotechnology and genetic engineering. Fanatics have access to technology, and they are planning to use it. First question: will we be able to stop the fanatics from using WMD? Second question: how far are we willing to go to defend ourselves?

Tough issues. Since 911, there has not been another devastating attack, but maybe we’ve been lucky. Or maybe Homeland Security is finally doing something right (choke). The balance between safety and oppression is difficult – go too far in either direction and we’re screwed. Bin Laden or Big Brother?

I have read several articles about you that liken your books to the works of Philip K. Dick, the only book I recall by him was ‘Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep’. Who are the writers that inspire you?

For all-around talent and professionalism, it’s difficult to surpass Larry McMurtry. Lonesome Dove is almost perfect literature; there’s not a word I would change. Captains Gus and Call are individually great characters, but when you link them together, the result is greater than the sum of the individuals. And McMurtry maintained the excellence of the characters across their lifetimes in three related but different books. I attempted to do the same with Dianne Morgan, Ray Brown and his son David, although I fell short of the standard set by McMurtry.

For creativity, story-telling and realistic detail, I admire Frank Herbert. The original Dune novels stand head and shoulders above any other science fiction series. Herbert’s creative genius and attention to detail made the desert planet of Dune come alive. I have read the original Dune series five times already, with each read exposing aspects of the story I hadn’t seen before. In your review of Unholy Domain, you mention that each chapter begins with quotes, some old and real, others from books yet to be written. That idea came from Dune, and it’s an excellent device to expand the story with appealing background details.

It’s interesting that some readers of Unholy Domain liken it to Philip K. Dick’s works. An honor, really. I was surprised to read the comparisons, but who could complain about being mentioned in the same breath as one of the old masters? My stories are set in the near future, just as his are, and we both see the darkness approaching, so that might be it, but it wasn’t my intention to adopt his style. I think we have very different styles, and the similarities are overstated. Just my opinion.

Thanks For chatting with us Dan. Oh and you can bet I will be keeping my eyes peeled for the last book in this trilogy.

Simon Barretthttp://zzsimonb.blogspot.com/

http://www.danronco.com/

BooksAreMyOnly Friends.blogspot.com:Unholy Domain is a "fast paced techno-thriller."

Hey, you got your AI in my dogma . . .

Should you wish to grapple with the interplay between science and religion, in the words of Tony Soprano, "you got options." You could TiVo "Faith and Reason" on PBS, ponder some Betrand Russell and G.K. Chesterton (which – like duct tape and a universal remote – no home should be without), or crack open Dan Ronco's Unholy Domain. I've gone with door number three, and I've gotta say, it ain't half bad.

Unholy Domain opens in a dystopian, not-so-distant future, in which the world's political and economic systems are gimping along in the wake of the PeaceMaker, a mess-you-up-like-bad-chicken computer virus. It appears that this piece of sunshine was unleashed, for reasons unknown, by the ubertalented and correspondingly erratic programmer Ray Brown, essentially taking down Teh Interweb. As a result of the devastation wrought by PeaceMaker, the federal government has banned all but the most miniscule advances in technology and devolved into corruption and incompetence. *cough, cough *

Against this backdrop we find the Church of the Natural Humans, a sect of anti-technology nuts whose vestments include shoulder-holstered gats and whose theology puts the Luddites to shame, locked in a clandestine war with The Domain, a cabal of black market tech peddlers (imagine the Illuminati recruiting at MIT and bringing on some temps from Blackwater) to be Lords of All We Survey.

Cut to college student David Brown, whom we accompany on his quest to discover the truth about his father Ray and the PeaceMaker virus. What follows is a fast paced techno-thriller that would fit well between a beach chair and cooler of Red Stripe. Some of the prose is somewhat clunky, but Ronco does a great job of drawing out relationships between his characters that seem more fully developed than most genre authors tend to produce. Moreover, the fundamental questions raised by Ronco about the roles of science and religion in the arc of human development are ones worth considering, even if it's while sitting on the beach with a bronson. Perhaps especially then.

If Dan Simmons' Endymion got you all freaky and hot in the ass, what with its time travellin' spikey robot, the AI TechnoCore and the Galactic Catholics, then Unholy Domain will be right up your alley. On the other hand, if you like your discourse to be more elevated, then go get a Mother Jones. And put the beer away.

Blogger News Network: Unholy Domain "is a fast-paced techno thriller ... you will not want to put down"

Book review: Unholy Domain by Dan Ronco
Posted on June 24th, 2008
by Simon Barrett in Book Reviews, Reviews

There are a plethora of sci-fi books that have explored what the Earth would be like after the apocalypse, and generally the apocalypse in question is a nuclear war, or some sort of plague.

Unholy Domain takes this genre in a new and very thought provoking direction. One only has to spend a couple of minutes researching the history and growth of the Internet to realize how in the space of just a few years it was woven itself into the very fabric of our world. We have near instantaneous communication via email, we have access to enormous repositories of information, it has become a part of our day to day life. I could not live without it!

Unfortunately there is a potential dark side to the technology. Increasingly it is also the backbone used by basic infrastructures, power generation, transportation, law enforcement, and a lot more. There have already been rumblings in the press about what might happen if hackers gained control of a power generating plant, or other basic service.

In Unholy Domain Dan Ronco takes us to a world where a decade previously (2010) a virus had decimated the Internet. Because of the disruption to basic services over a million people died. What would the world look like under these circumstances?

Dan Ronco takes us to a world that has become a fractured society, the technos and the religious zealots. In the aftermath of the disaster the government has regulated technology, stifling innovation, this has resulted in an economic situation rivaling the great depression. Without advancing technology the world has not just stagnated it has regressed to an earlier time.

Technology has become an underground industry, a black market more lucrative than drugs. The technos are run by a shady organization known simply as The Domain.

The opposing force are the fanatical Army of God, the paramilitary wing of The Church of Natural Humans. Their leader Adam Jordan is on the outside a charismatic speaker, but is also a man with a single minded hatred for technology and those who would use it.

Our hero in Unholy Domain is David Brown, a young student who has the dubious honor of being the son of the man accused of unleashing the deadly virus.

When David receives a message sent 10 years previously from his father he begins to have doubts about his fathers guilt and decides to investigate for himself. David is walking a tightrope, he has enemies in high places, neither The Domain, nor the Army of God are enamored by his presence, for different reasons, though one does become his unseen temporary protector with an ulterior motive in mind.

This is a fast paced techno thriller which I can pretty much guarantee you will not want to put down, I know I didn’t! Set close enough in the future (2020) that most of the ‘props’ are believable, it paints a dark picture of one potential future scenario for mankind.

This is a book that is worth searching out, I liked the style of writing a great deal. Each chapter begins with some quotes, some old and real, other from books yet to be written. A very cute touch. You don’t have to be a hard core Sci-Fi fan for this one, just a lover of a great story.

You can pick up your own copy of Unholy Domain from Amazon, he also has a web site with additional information.

Simon Barrett
http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com/

ReviewYourBook.com: "Unholy Domain is a Must Read for fans of Science Fiction."

Unholy Domain

A world where religious terrorists and visionaries of technology fight for supreme power.

5 stars

Can technology go too far…Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for ReviewYourBook.com

Unholy Domain is written with much intelligence and finesse. Dan Ronco presents a world where technology is out of control. In 2012, a computer virus called the Peacemaker was released, and over a million humans died. The economy spiraled down into a depression. People question whether technology is good or evil. There are two factions, Technos (scientists) verses Church of Natural Humans (theologians), fighting to control the world. Both sides have their own agenda. One man stands alone in the quest for truth and to clear his father’s name.

Dan Ronco’s Unholy Domain is a realistic thriller. Ronco does go overboard in describing the females, and he comes across as a bit sexist. The plot is imaginative and pulls the reader into the story. I could not put this one down. The characters are brilliant, the pace is non-stop action, and the premise is chilling. This is a must read for fans of science fiction.http://www.danronco.com/

Unholy Domain placed in Suburban Fiction Top Four Books

I was thrilled to learn that Unholy Domain was placed in the top four books reviewed by Alex Hutchinson for Suburban Fiction. Here is the complete review:

Daring, innovative, and predictive of ethical quandaries yet to arrive, Unholy Domain is a novel to be reckoned with. Author Dan Ronco utilizes his vast understanding of engineering and technology to give us a vision of the future well within the realm of possibility. This could be one of those rare occasions when we as a people could learn the lessons for mistakes we have yet to make. The drama that defines these lessons is not bad either.

Unholy Domain sets the stage for a future where the internet has been integrated into nearly every business, streetlight and punch clock. A collection of scientists have gathered to create an organization known as the Domain. Their purpose is to allow Artificial intelligence to reach the point where it can assume human traits and be used to enhance physical beings. This bold approach produces a counterculture movement driven by a militant religious sect known as the Army of God. A subversive war rages between these factions worsening the already diminished strength of the world economy. Inevitably, David Brown finds himself in the center of it all.

It is one thing to be the man who almost destroyed society but it is quite another to be his son. David grew up under the dark shadow of his father's horrific misdeeds. His father, Raymond, had a brilliant mind for computers that somehow got out of control when he launched a virus that delivered chaos amongst the masses. Young David has the same gifts as his father and was always a little skeptical of the official story of his Dad's guilt and subsequent death. After receiving a time lapse e-mail insistent upon his innocence David sets off on a journey back into the blackened hallways of his father's past.

Here we are given a world where techology rules not only the economic stability but also the sustainability of humanity. It is in this vortex where ethical walls are breached. Should so much power ever be controlled by the specific knowledge of so few? How can a society be maintained if it is constantly split between those who can afford the ultimate software and those who cannot?

I found myself captivated by the fast-paced action and multiple storylines. As the dueling ideologies espouse their vision, I was struck by the persuasivness of their arguments. Often I wasn't sure who to root for. Each side contains well rounded characters driven by both personal ambition and organizational responsibility. A tug of will between any two produces an explosion of emotional conflict and each of these battles edges their convictions closer to the apex of the government's power center. The author presses forth with curvy heroines and breakneck urgency until a rather abrupt ending stops the reader and forces them into waiting for the next book. While the ending could be considered a cruel teaser, it's still very easy to fall into fandom over this type of writing.


www.danronco.com

Book Review: Unholy Domain is "very much a mix between George Orwell’s 1984 and Philip Dick’s Minority Report."

All Fiction Books: Where Science and Religion Go to War
Reviewd by Stuart Nachbar

Dan Ronco’s Unholy Domain is a science fiction story that is very much a mix between George Orwell’s 1984 and Philip Dick’s Minority Report.This is a story where an innovative technology has supposedly gone haywire, killing a million people and plunging the world or at least American into economic collapse. Domain’s main character, David Brown, is the son of the developer of PeaceMaker, the technology that started the downward spiral and created a nation (or world—I was not sure from the story) divided between factions for religious leadership—the Natural Humans--and technology. Both have their political capital, and both have their terrorists--or freedom fighters—depending on which side you are on. Members of both factions are about to form an even more powerful order known only as the Domain.

I loved the movie Minority Report, so I was anxious to read Domain, and it did not disappoint. While the author is a technologist himself, he doesn’t get the reader lost in technical and computer jargon; that is often a distraction with similar “intelligent” science fiction novels that assume the reader already knows most of the science before he opens the book. His descriptions of robots and PeaceMaker, the killer app were quick and to the point and made me want to continue reading the story. Domain is quite similar to Minority Report in that Brown has become a fugitive, in this case, a brilliant software developer, whose life has become a mission to avenge the loss of his father, a man he hardly knew in his youth. And, as in Minority Report, the main character unveils a major cover-up; unmasked, it means death to Brown and all who help him. Ronco has also done an excellent job of presenting the all-powerful evil cast of characters who lead the Domain. In the end, we learn that distinctions between good and evil technology rest in the hands of a very small number of deceptive, greedy and powerful individuals.

Novels such as Domain, which are set in a not-too-distant future, are often meant to present warnings about our present. In this story there is more about the deceptions of religious leaders, how they manipulate society at large and, what can potentially happen if such manipulation is unchecked and taken to extremes. We have powerful spiritual leaders in America today, though none ask ordinary citizens to take up arms and become holy warriors; however, religious uprisings have been an important part of world history. Ronco’s fictional Army of God is no less formidable than the military leaders in the Crusades, for example, or the Nazis. There are the same blind loyalties to a charismatic leader that drive the movement to the point where it oversteps its bounds and becomes more like the entities it had set out to destroy.

Domain is more of a political science fiction thriller than a techno-thriller. If you are a sci-fi buff anxious to know the potential and power of computing, you may prefer a more scientific story. But if you want a fresh new story that shows how fear can dominate the direction of a society, and how fear can bend technology to its means, then Domain is a worthy read.

Contact Stuart Nachbar at http://www.EducatedQuest.com , a blog on education politics, policy and technology or read about his first book, The Sex Ed Chronicle, a novel on education and politics in 1980 New Jersey, at http://www.sexedchronicles.com/ .



http://www.danronco.com/

The Darkness Within

I’m a nice guy. Really. All that conflict, torture, and mayhem that you read in my novels, well, that’s not really me. At least I don’t think so.

Let me explain, since you may not have heard of me. I write novels about the near-future, the next two or three decades. My first novel, PeaceMaker, published in 2004, looked at the destruction caused by a lethal computer virus augmented with artificial intelligence. Definitely not a namby-pamby virus that you catch with a standard anti-virus program. Nope, the PeaceMaker virus shut down computers across the globe, millions died from lack of power, water, health care, but I’m not writing a synopsis. You get the picture.

Unholy Domain, published April, 2008, examines the growing conflict between religion and science. You think things are hot between the pro-choice and pro-life activists, well that’s a weekend picnic compared to issues we will face when artificial intelligence and genetic engineering hit full stride.

My latest novel under development, Tomorrow’s Children, continues where Unholy Domain left off and then evaluates the integration of human and machine intelligence. My view of the future isn’t StarTrek. (I blogged about StarTrek a few months earlier.) It’s dark and complex, but not without hope.

Each of my novels starts with an assumption regarding the direction and pace of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, robotics and the like. Then I look at the major social issues and evaluate their direction and intensity. Overlay the technical and the cultural and you can pick out the hot spots. My novels grow in those spots.

Okay, so I start with an issue, one with at least two strong, conflicting beliefs. Actually, at this point the novel could be considered hard science fiction. Hard means based in reality, no magic, no pipe dreams. If I starting writing with this outline, I would create a novel that will make you think, but not cringe.

But the devil is in the details. Or maybe I have a bit of the devil in me, because as I lay out an outline, the conflict of ideas turns to violence. And not just any violence --- creative, gut-wrenching violence. Hand to hand conflict, rape, robots, torture, you name it. More thriller than scifi now.

I don’t know where this stuff comes from. I lead a normal life: married to a wonderful woman, three great kids, long-term friendships, satisfying career. I try and balance the darkness with a quirky sense of humor.

The reviews for Unholy Domain have been great (check Amazon), but they see the darkness of the story. Phrases like nightmare, damn scary book, alarming, frightening vision, dark and dangerous, bloody, threatening, and horrific pepper the reviews.

Who knows the source of all this darkness? Yeah, it’s from me, but it comes from some walled-off section of my mind that doesn’t connect to my real life. And never will.

Well, that’s about it. My wife Linda and I are going out to dinner tonight, a nice Italian place where the people know us by name. Should be a good time.

www.danronco.com

Top Fifty Amazon Reviewer: Unholy Domain is "an action-packed, page-turning read"

Amanda Richards "Modest to the extreme"

This futuristic story pits technology against religion in an all-out bloody war, ostensibly to save the human race. The thing is, both sides have dark secrets that they'd rather stay hidden from the world, and now one uniquely talented young man is threatening to expose them all to clear his father's name.

It's 2012 - A year of great scientific progress Except of course for the virus Which cripples computers ALL the computers ALL OF THEM! Killing more than a million people Who couldn't get food, Water, Gas, Heat Or e-mailIt's

It's 2022 - A year of economic depression Some believe that the answer Lies in Artificial Intelligence Human-like robots THAT CAN THINK And spectacles that are voice-activated to give you the news on the go

It's 2022 A year of the Church of Natural Humans Who believe that technology Is the tool of Lucifer And are prepared TO KILL EVERYONE Who dares to support Artificial Intelligence As they have no right To play GOD

In between, there's David Brown, son of the man who has been vilified for creating the virus, but after receiving a delayed transmission e-mail from his late father, David now thinks otherwise.

David has a unique talent when it comes to AI, and once he sets his mind to proving his father's innocence, he stirs up the vipers on both sides, and the result is an action-packed, page-turning read.

The dialogue doesn't always flow smoothly and the female characters are sometimes (ahem) overly developed, but these are minor hiccups in an otherwise well crafted story that may yet prove to be prophetic.

Amanda Richards, June 7, 2008

Bookshelf Reviews "Unholy Domain is a Riveting Futuristic Novel"

Unholy Domain - Dan Ronco

If this is our future, I really can't say I'm looking forward to it all that much.

Dan Ronco spins a riveting futuristic novel packed with action, suspense and a whole lotta robots. And religious nuts - those guys are the fun ones. In 2022, the world lies in the aftermath of the virus that hit the world and its computers a decade before. The accused creator, Ray Brown, is dead, but his son David, possessing a weird ability to communicate with artificial intelligence, lives on, often suffering from his father's indiscretions. But when David receives a preset email from his father claiming his own innocence, David suspects that perhaps his father wasn't behind the world-shattering virus, but a business associate who now prepares and distributes A.I. inventions underground. And with the religious sect called the Church of Natural Humans causing havoc as well, picking off anyone who sneezes in the direction of an A.I., answers don't come as easily for David as he might've originally thought.

Though some character dialogue comes off as a bit too scripted, Ronco's story and writing is solid, providing enough twists and turns for the mystery-favoring reader and enough fist-to-fist action for the James Bond followers. An excellent read.

Posted by T.C. Robson at Monday, June 02, 2008

http://www.danronco.com/

BlogCritics Magazine Reviews Unholy Domain

Written by Alex Hutchinson

Daring, innovative, and predictive of ethical quandaries yet to arrive, Unholy Domain is a novel to be reckoned with. Author Dan Ronco utilizes his vast understanding of engineering and technology to give us a vision of the future well within the realm of possibility. This could be one of those rare occasions when we as a people could learn the lessons for mistakes we have yet to make. The drama that defines these lessons is not bad either.

Unholy Domain sets the stage for a future where the internet has been integrated into nearly every business, streetlight and punch clock. A collection of scientists have gathered to create an organization known as the Domain. Their purpose is to allow Artificial intelligence to reach the point where it can assume human traits and be used to enhance physical beings. This bold approach produces a counterculture movement driven by a militant religious sect known as the Army of God. A subversive war rages between these factions worsening the already diminished strength of the world economy. Inevitably, David Brown finds himself in the center of it all.

It is one thing to be the man who almost destroyed society but it is quite another to be his son. David grew up under the dark shadow of his father’s horrific misdeeds. His father, Raymond, had a brilliant mind for computers that somehow got out of control when he launched a virus that delivered chaos amongst the masses. Young David has the same gifts as his father and was always a little skeptical of the official story of his Dad’s guilt and subsequent death. After receiving a time lapse e-mail insistent upon his innocence David sets off on a journey back into the blackened hallways of his father’s past.

Here we are given a world where techology rules not only the economic stability but also the sustainability of humanity. It is in this vortex where ethical walls are breached. Should so much power ever be controlled by the specific knowledge of so few? How can a society be maintained if it is constantly split between those who can afford the ultimate software and those who cannot?

I found myself captivated by the fast-paced action and multiple storylines. As the dueling ideologies espouse their vision, I was struck by the persuasivness of their arguments. Often I wasn't sure who to root for. Each side contains well rounded characters driven by both personal ambition and organizational responsibility. A tug of will between any two produces an explosion of emotional conflict and each of these battles edges their convictions closer to the apex of the government's power center. The author presses forth with curvy heroines and breakneck urgency until a rather abrupt ending stops the reader and forces them into waiting for the next book. While the ending could be considered a cruel teaser, it’s still very easy to fall into fandom over this type of writing.

www.danronco.com

Will We Survive the Singularity?

By Dan Ronco, author of the visionary novel Unholy Domain

Some futurists believe there will be a point in the not too distant future where the rate of technological development becomes so fast that it will advance beyond the control of humanity. This event is called the Singularity. The most likely cause would be rapidly advancing artificial intelligence.

A future that is dominated by an artificial intelligence superseding human intelligence is entirely possible this century. Software has already been designed that surpasses human intelligence in selected narrow areas such as chess playing. Although software exhibiting general intelligence is still a long way off, there are no theoretical limitations to its creation. Once we reach the point that artificial intelligence can improve its own source code, the stage is set for rapid improvement in AI.

Let’s assume that an enhanced AI takes humanity to the Singularity in several decades. Then we ask, what lies beyond? How can we predict a future dominated by a superior intelligence? An intelligence smarter than us as we are than chimps.

The times after the Singularity remain murky because we aren’t that smart. Could a chimp ever conceive the development of human technology, even if we tried to explain every step? No, it couldn’t, so how do we look past the Singularity?

We can’t.

In fact, we may not be able to understand the steps leading up to the Singularity. We will have to fashion tools to keep pace with rapidly advancing technology. Perhaps an AI that self designs, but remains within limits we can comprehend, would keep us informed as the Singularity approaches. Perhaps genetic engineering of our brains will keep pace with technology for several years.

Another possibility is a merging of human and artificial intelligence. This seems the most promising approach, that is, if you want to see something of today’s humanity survive past the Singularity. My forthcoming novel, tentatively titled Tomorrow’s Children, explores this possibility.

Let’s get back to the original question: will humanity survive the Singularity? Nobody knows or can know, but let’s pretend we can. One potential solution is to build controls into the AI, something like Asimov’s Laws, but more sophisticated. If we can, let’s infuse the AI with code that requires respect for human laws and love for human beings. This code has to foster such a strong love for humanity that the AI will never delete or emasculate the code. In other words, the AI must be indoctrinated with code that creates a child’s love for his parents. This code must survive the Singularity to assure the continued existence of humanity.

Can we write such code? Time will tell.

BattleStar Galactica: Unique Science Fiction

In my opinion, three science fiction television series stand head and shoulders above all the rest: StarTrek (the original and all its derivatives), Babylon 5, and Battlestar Galactica. Firefly had potential to join this elite group, but was much too short-lived. Since the final season of Battlestar has just begun, I decided to focus there.

The current Battlestar Galactica is a superb science fiction series. No, that’s too weak a statement, let me amend it. Battlestar Galactica may be the best dramatic show on the tube, regardless of genre. In 2006, BG won the Peabody Award, a first for the SciFi Channel. Time Magazine called it one of the top shows on television and described it as “a ripping sci-fi allegory of the war on terror, complete with religious fundamentalists, sleeper cells, civil liberties crackdowns and even a prisoner torture scandal.”

The current BG premiered in 2003 as a miniseries, loosely based on a show of the same name that ran on television in the late seventies. While the original was a popcorn series, the current BG deals with real issues in times of war. This article introduces the show to those who are not regular viewers, and then describes the difficult issues the series addresses.

The story begins with a devastating attack by intelligent androids (Cylons) that wipes out almost the entire human race except for a few hundred soldiers who escape on Battlestar Galactica, an aging but still powerful military spaceship, and somewhat fewer than fifty thousand civilians in a rag tag collection of ships. BG protects the civilians from the Cylons, who are determined to complete the elimination of humanity. The objective of the humans is to evade the Ceylons and find the mythical planet Earth, which has great religious significance to them. To review the series year by year, check out this article.

The primary characters are Commander William Adama (Edward James Almos), the disciplined, unrelenting military leader; President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), the pragmatic, newly elected civilian who becomes increasingly devout and charismatic during the journey; and Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Katee Sackhoff), a loud, immature but expert Viper pilot who may have a “special destiny” in the search for Earth. The most interesting character is Gaius Baltar, brilliantly portrayed by James Callis, a scientist with a genius level intellect, but also arrogant, untrustworthy and sexually promiscuous.

I’d like to explore the way torture of the enemy was depicted on the show, and how that relates to our war with the forces of terror. Is it permissible to torture under certain circumstances, but not others? And what is torture, anyway?

The episode which really sticks in my mind is “Flesh and Bone,” where the humans have captured Leoben, a Cylon who has planted a nuclear bomb somewhere in the fleet, which he claims will explode in nine hours. Starbuck has responsibility for the interrogation, and she is told to do whatever she needs to do to locate the bomb. After all, the Cylons aren’t human.

Starbuck is brutal; the guards beat and waterboard Leoben, but he doesn’t crack. Roselin joins the interrogation and stops the harsh treatment. Apparently trusting Roselin, Leoben admits that the bomb was a hoax, a bad move. With nothing to fear, Roselin has him flushed out an airlock into space. He was too dangerous, in her opinion, to keep alive. Starbuck has misgivings about their actions, and she prays for the Cylon.

This episode reminds me of the war between the western nations and the Islamic fundamentalists. Consider this situation: we have captured an Al Qaeda leader and searched his computer, where we found a plan to explode a bomb (not nuclear) in an American city, but the plan does not name the specific city or the time the bomb is set to go off. You are asked to interrogate him, but you fail to obtain the necessary information. Then you’re told that the President has authorized waterboarding, even though legally it is a form of torture. Would you do it?

The prisoner says he knows nothing about a bomb, except for what is described in the plan. He claims the computer was just delivered to him yesterday. Is it permissible to torture a prisoner when you don’t know for sure if he has the information? On the other hand, when will you ever know for sure? If you torture him, are you any better than your enemies? But do you allow a bomb to kill hundreds of people rather than torture the truth from your prisoner? And anyway, is waterboarding really torture? It doesn’t cause any permanent damage, right?

I know where I stand on this; the bastard is going to get wet! Where do you stand?

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