Hough, Jason M.
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Hough
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Jason M.
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Publication Open Access The Darwin Elevator2013 - Hough, Jason M.Set in the future (23rd century), The Darwin Elevator introduces Darwin, the only surviving city (located in Australia) in a world ravaged by an alien plague that turns humans into mindless creatures (“subhumans”) driven by anger and a murderous rage. Darwin is protected due to an elevator that goes into space and is built by the aliens, nicknamed “the Builders”. The elevator itself emits an aura around the city that protects it from the plague; however, it starts malfunctioning, and cases of infection are detected within Darwin. Skyler, the protagonist, one of the few people immune to the plague, is then sent outside the city with a scientist, Dr. Tania, to recover information on the aliens. The novel explores the gathering of scientific knowledge in order to understand and research a foreign threat, as well as the class division that may arise due to a scientific and technological novelty, with the new upper classes living in orbit, away from the plague, the middle and lower classes occupying Darwin and trading old world materials, and the outsiders trying to get into the city and escape the affliction.Publication Open Access The Exodus Towers2013 - Hough, Jason M.The novel follows the story put forth in the first book of the Dire Earth Cycle, which is set in the 23rd century and introduces Skylar, who is immune to an alien plague that makes humans go feral. Along with Dr. Tania, a scientist, he is sent outside the only remaining city on the planet – Darwin, in Australia, that is mysteriously sheltered from the disease after the aliens built a space elevator that creates a protective aura around it –, to gather scientific knowledge on the aliens and the elevator. Now, in The Exodus Towers, Skyler and Tania discover a new elevator (in Brazil) and rapidly establish a colony there, but are threatened by immune soldiers and subhumans alike (those afflicted by the plague), with the first turning out to be part of a religious cult. Meanwhile, Dr. Tania tries to maintain the colony functional and keep up with the gathering of scientific knowledge regarding the aliens and the elevators, while Skyler tries to keep the enemies at bay. Like the first novel of the series, The Exodus Towers emphasises the role of science as a way to understand a foreign threat and to assess and comprehend a changed environment. It also opposes religious zealotry and a newly funded society that holds on to science and discovery as a way of surviving (namely in the figure of Dr. Tania).Publication Open Access The Plague Forge2013 - Hough, Jason M.The novel follows the last two books of the Dire Earth Cycle. The narrative is set in the 23rd century and introduces the protagonist, Skyler, who is immune to an alien plague that affects humans and makes them extremely aggressive. Along with the scientist Dr. Tania, Skyler is sent outside the only remaining city on the planet, Darwin (in Australia), that is sheltered from the plague due to a massive elevator that was built by the aliens and that creates a protective aura around it. Eventually, Skyler and Tania are sent outside to gather scientific knowledge about the aliens, the elevator, and the plague. After discovering a new elevator in Brazil and establishing a colony there, the duo see the emergence of a new threat: immune soldiers who are part of a religious cult and seek to attack them. Now, in this third novel, The Plague Forge, the truth behind the aliens is revealed: they installed the elevators in several planets so as to monitor the development of intelligent life on them, and they intended to promote the spreading of a substance so as to reshape life on planets according to their will. So, specifically on planet Earth, humans served as test subjects and, as the aliens researched them, so did the humans (especially Dr. Tania) tried to understand the aliens’ designs and gather scientific knowledge about them.