Robert Howling

How do you envision the near future and the deep future?

I’m a little worried. In my science fiction tales, I explore different futures which could emerge from our present trajectory. It seems that everyday technologies like AI and bio/DNA manipulations are advancing faster than we as individuals and as a society can adjust to those advances. What was sci-fi a decade ago - - even just five years ago! - - is now reality. Then there’s climate change to worry about. Our changing climate may be pointing to some sort of climate catastrophe for future generations. How will that reshape society, indeed, geopolitics as a whole?

I may be too dystopian or too post-apocalyptic for you so if you’re not as concerned about the future as I am, please skip my books. Looking ahead a couple of generations may not be for the faint of heart. But don’t worry if you want to give my stories a read because in the future there are always accidental heroes and rebels fighting to keep humans in charge of humanity and to return justice to places where justice has been perverted by tech and climate change.

Here are some of the glimpses of our futures as I see them creeping up on us while we’re not paying attention.

DYTOPIAS (ALMOST) EVERYWHERE and ALTERNATIVE FUTURES are each a collection of short stories. The stories explore the dilemmas we face when interacting with technologies and climate change. What happens if tech ends up controlling us? Can society survive as old rules are being overwritten because of tech and climate change? Will we fit in, fight back or see some humor in it?

When earth’s climate catastrophe hits home, some people escape to Mars. Some raise an empire in the new temperate zone in what had been the Sahara. Some live underground in the frozen tundra which had been New York City. None are kind to Molly. Molly belonged to none but is branded by all of them. She didn’t think she could escape who she is. But sometimes it takes an outsider to bring justice where justice has been ignored by all. That's the REVENGE OF A DUSTER!

In AMONG US two kids, Ava and Wyatt discover that the world is a simulation. With the help of so-called Crazy Man, they join the Free Humans who have escaped the simulation and help free the rest of us from the simulation by taking responsibility for themselves and living mindfully.

We can be lured into a tech world, and it can be empowering. At first. But at some point, it gets away from us and turns on us. In GAMERS, Dan and Kate take back control of their high school which had turned into a battlefield when two video game characters manifest into reality and clash over which one’s clan would control earth.

PUSH BACK gets into the predicament that technology has advanced so far causing humans to de-evolve so much and consequently give so much power to tech that humans who are aware of the situation must fight to take back control. Young teen Winston teams up with Sara who is from a band of rebels who have escaped the reach of that technology. Together they fight to get their whole town out from under the grip of androids so advanced that they are almost indistinguishable from humans, causing the townspeople to accept the androids as if they are real human leaders.

There you have it - - I’m worried about the future and want to share how I envision it if we don’t grab hold of it in the present before it gets away from us. What keeps me going through any bleak spots are the accidental heroes in my stories who see what’s happening in their world and do something about it. Hopefully one of you, dear readers, is also contemplating scenarios in our future and will be one of those accidental heroes - - or purposeful ones!

I hope you find that the stories are provocative and give you a framework with which to ponder how future generations may be living. They are fun thought experiments.