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“Vaz” is the story of Vaz Gettnor, a socially impaired, yet scientifically brilliant man. Despite his inability to relate to others, Lisanne married him in admiration for what she perceived as shy intelligence. However, she’s been disappointed by the way he’s settled for working as no more than a glorified lab tech with a low salary. Adding to their problems, Vaz and Lisanne have two teenagers who are typically surly, embarrassed by their parents, but whom they want to send to college—if only they can find the money. When Vaz is fired from his job as a researcher, but then discovers a means to achieve “cold fusion,” a technology which could solve the energy crisis and their financial difficulties, virtually no one believes him, least of all his family. In fact, the only people who do believe are the ones who are trying to steal the technology from him...
Turns out, if you’re a genius, such problems may not be as bad as they seem.
Turns out, if you’re a genius, such problems may not be as bad as they seem.
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 24, 2013
299 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Laurence E. Dahners
60 books668 followersI was born on the island of Cyprus where my dad was employed as a mining engineer. We moved to the Philippines (more mining) when I was three and then to Arizona when I was 9. I went to med school at the University of Arizona and did a residency in Orthopaedics at the University of Kansas. I taught Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill until I retired in 2017.
I've always loved science fiction and it's been great fun getting to write some. I also like music and have a little home recording studio. You can read more, listen to some music and look at some of my art, at http://laury.dahners.com/ if you like.
If you want to contact me, or be put on my email list to be notified when new books come out, just email me at ldahners@gmail.com
Laury Dahners
I've always loved science fiction and it's been great fun getting to write some. I also like music and have a little home recording studio. You can read more, listen to some music and look at some of my art, at http://laury.dahners.com/ if you like.
If you want to contact me, or be put on my email list to be notified when new books come out, just email me at ldahners@gmail.com
Laury Dahners
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
March 28, 2015
Vas is my Hero!
Geek to the rescue!
A very enjoyable read. Highly entertaining!
I found the characters to be well developed, well at least the "Gettner's".
I easily can recommend this book.
Geek to the rescue!
A very enjoyable read. Highly entertaining!
I found the characters to be well developed, well at least the "Gettner's".
I easily can recommend this book.
April 18, 2017
It reminded me of the El Donsaii series. Hey, it still awesome.
October 10, 2015
Three and a half stars. I was looking for an Ell Donsaii fix and figured I should go to the source. I like Dahners' style and especially his 'what if' approach to the bounds of real science. This hit all those marks. Where it missed for me was in the character development (there just wasn't any). The introduction was great, and it went down hill from there. Where Ell is something special, even maybe super-human; Vaz is just odd. In fact he is probably psychotic and the only depth to his character is that psychosis.
I liked the science and I still greatly enjoy Dahners' writing. I will read the next book and hope the characters gain a little depth.
I liked the science and I still greatly enjoy Dahners' writing. I will read the next book and hope the characters gain a little depth.
August 1, 2022
Oh wow, I did not expect to enjoy this book quite so much :D The humour in it was quite wonderful and I was cheering Vaz throughout. Short and wonderful :)
April 11, 2021
There are some clunkers and ham-handed bits in here, but who cares? Vaz is really hard to put down, the kind of book you read until your head nods, then turn out the light, and then a little bit later switch it on again, go get a snack and keep reading because you so much want to know what crazy thing is going to happen next? And will the bad guys "get what's coming to them" and "will the kids figure things out?" and best of all "This idea, this experiment, is it going to work"?!
Having a protagonist who is not Neurotypical allows the author quite a bit of room to experiment with narrative voice and point of view which I enjoyed. This didn't grate on me like The Rosie Project which takes up similar topics but in a much more cloying manner. It's somehow more fun to spend time with Vaz and his awkward dialogue and fight scenes in spite of the kapow momentum of it all.
Having a protagonist who is not Neurotypical allows the author quite a bit of room to experiment with narrative voice and point of view which I enjoyed. This didn't grate on me like The Rosie Project which takes up similar topics but in a much more cloying manner. It's somehow more fun to spend time with Vaz and his awkward dialogue and fight scenes in spite of the kapow momentum of it all.
March 17, 2024
Quite good!
September 15, 2019
Interesting story with some issues
Generally I enjoy Dahners’ books. Completely aside from his atrocious comma usage and a tendency to make his MCs all-powerful, which his characters and storylines normally manage to overcome, this one has some issues.
While Dahners does reasonably well at portraying spectrum behaviors, at no point does anyone in the book actually consider that he has autism or any spectrum diagnosis. With the extreme symptoms the MC exhibits throughout, someone would have noticed, speculated, etc. Yet his wife, children, and long-time boss have no clue and just flounder uselessly trying to figure it out.
Granted that it isn’t as widely understood as many other issues, but it stretches belief that a wife of 17/18 years is just as clueless as when they married, in a scientifically advanced future.
Generally I enjoy Dahners’ books. Completely aside from his atrocious comma usage and a tendency to make his MCs all-powerful, which his characters and storylines normally manage to overcome, this one has some issues.
While Dahners does reasonably well at portraying spectrum behaviors, at no point does anyone in the book actually consider that he has autism or any spectrum diagnosis. With the extreme symptoms the MC exhibits throughout, someone would have noticed, speculated, etc. Yet his wife, children, and long-time boss have no clue and just flounder uselessly trying to figure it out.
Granted that it isn’t as widely understood as many other issues, but it stretches belief that a wife of 17/18 years is just as clueless as when they married, in a scientifically advanced future.
April 3, 2016
I loved this book!
I identify with the quirky, peculiar protagonist Vaz a little too much for comfort.
Vaz seems like a harmless inefectual nerd, but he has some surprising talents.
I identify with the quirky, peculiar protagonist Vaz a little too much for comfort.
Vaz seems like a harmless inefectual nerd, but he has some surprising talents.
March 19, 2019
3.5 to 4 Stars, Great Story, love these type of books. Great start to a series, really enjoyed it and look forward to the next book in the series.
February 13, 2025
Vaz Gettner is a brilliant but socially clueless scientific researcher who is married with two surly teens. When he loses his job after not kissing his new boss’ keister, he stumbles upon a major scientific breakthrough that could literally save the world while ruining his life.
First off, Audible has a gem in Stephen R. Thorne: imagine Ron Howard narrating “Arrested Development” and you’re almost there as to why he’s so entertaining. Now when we first meet Vaz, he’s the shy geek in high school, and while clearly on some sort of spectrum, his need to be babied at work is definitely something you can see a promotion-obsessed new boss not jiving with: new bosses need to wave their proverbial genitals in the air to flex their supposed superiority…especially in a job where the subordinates are clearly more intelligent, talented, etc.
Vaz is also annoying as Hell, and his wife often bears the brunt of his awkwardness. But don’t dismiss him as a weak little geek: he handles his stress with strenuous exercise, so he’s a pretty jacked brainiac.
The science in this one is hard (it explains cold fusion in great detail), and Thorne gets us through it…but it’s very heavy on science. There was also an issue with the writer being obsessed with the word “mewlish” that inundates Chapter Four, which was maddening. In the grand scheme of things, this builds to a violent climax and a fun little ending. Worth a listen.
First off, Audible has a gem in Stephen R. Thorne: imagine Ron Howard narrating “Arrested Development” and you’re almost there as to why he’s so entertaining. Now when we first meet Vaz, he’s the shy geek in high school, and while clearly on some sort of spectrum, his need to be babied at work is definitely something you can see a promotion-obsessed new boss not jiving with: new bosses need to wave their proverbial genitals in the air to flex their supposed superiority…especially in a job where the subordinates are clearly more intelligent, talented, etc.
Vaz is also annoying as Hell, and his wife often bears the brunt of his awkwardness. But don’t dismiss him as a weak little geek: he handles his stress with strenuous exercise, so he’s a pretty jacked brainiac.
The science in this one is hard (it explains cold fusion in great detail), and Thorne gets us through it…but it’s very heavy on science. There was also an issue with the writer being obsessed with the word “mewlish” that inundates Chapter Four, which was maddening. In the grand scheme of things, this builds to a violent climax and a fun little ending. Worth a listen.
March 3, 2025
I had forgotten how much I enjoy this gentleman’s writing. It is so clever, set in the near future, with very realistic characters, and storylines that feel possible. The premise is quite similar to that in the space time novels, in that it is to do with scientific developments that are being made by the ‘little guy’. I like that. In this I was invested in the characters, and rooting for them, however I didn’t totally love the portrayal of the main character’s autism. It isn’t sit 100% right for me. What I do really like is the way the author makes the Science feel real. Just enough detail that it feels like it really could happen. Really cleverly done.
I did really enjoy the story and will continue with the series, and return to the previous ones I had almost finished.
I did really enjoy the story and will continue with the series, and return to the previous ones I had almost finished.
December 13, 2025
I went hungrily after this book after I had exhausted both the Hyllis family series and the Worlds of Ryn Wilkie series. As with every Dahner book I've read I loved this action packed, revenge of the nerds story. Vaz is clearly neurodivergent and it is a shame that the frustration he feels at trying to fit in, and his perfectly normal methods for dealing with that frustration, i.e., working out and taking martial arts classes, led to him being called psychotic in one review. He is simply frustrated with neurotypical society and is also a man who wants to protect his home and family. He just happens to be a genius who is taken advantage of by the employer he trusts.
I am looking forward to the rest of this series.
I am looking forward to the rest of this series.
October 20, 2020
Ignorance Personified
The story is basically good and well written. However, the author claims the main character is "on the spectrum" but it is like they have never actually met someone with Asperger's (sp?) Syndrome...and all their knowledge comes from their pathetic assumptions and Hollywood's weak portrayal of someone "on the spectrum". I also don't believe on this day and age that nobody in his life recognized that he had Asperger's and was unable to educate his closest friends and family in his condition.
The story is basically good and well written. However, the author claims the main character is "on the spectrum" but it is like they have never actually met someone with Asperger's (sp?) Syndrome...and all their knowledge comes from their pathetic assumptions and Hollywood's weak portrayal of someone "on the spectrum". I also don't believe on this day and age that nobody in his life recognized that he had Asperger's and was unable to educate his closest friends and family in his condition.
May 14, 2020
Book one
Mistakes: I didn’t find any mistakes in this book. However I do think that it could have been longer.
Plot: An eccentric scientists is fired from his job at a company that has been stealing from him for years. When he invents cold fusion they suddenly want him back, and will go to great lengths to make it happen.
Characters: At times I don’t like the Mc, other times I do. He is a very odd duck.
7/10
Mistakes: I didn’t find any mistakes in this book. However I do think that it could have been longer.
Plot: An eccentric scientists is fired from his job at a company that has been stealing from him for years. When he invents cold fusion they suddenly want him back, and will go to great lengths to make it happen.
Characters: At times I don’t like the Mc, other times I do. He is a very odd duck.
7/10
August 15, 2023
The last paragraph made me laugh out loud.
I enjoy speculative science fiction, I am not a physicist, but this may be hard science fiction. The hero is an awkward, maladept brilliant person whose social skills are almost non existent. He ends up reuniting a semi dysfunctional family. The reason he has not communicated his success, is explained in the final paragraph of the book.
I enjoy speculative science fiction, I am not a physicist, but this may be hard science fiction. The hero is an awkward, maladept brilliant person whose social skills are almost non existent. He ends up reuniting a semi dysfunctional family. The reason he has not communicated his success, is explained in the final paragraph of the book.
May 13, 2018
Vaz is a lot slower of a pace than Dahners' Bonesetter and Telekinetic books. While I didn't enjoy Vaz as much as those, it's still worth the read. Even not knowing anything about physics, it was still cool to read about. I can only imagine how much more enjoyable it would be if one did know physics.
February 2, 2020
Funny main character
The protagonist of the story is a hoot, an autistic savant who not only discovers the key scientific breakthrough of fusion, but to manage his frustration and feed his insights, becomes a lean, mean, fighting machine. Add the family dynamics, and this made for quite the romp! Recommended.
The protagonist of the story is a hoot, an autistic savant who not only discovers the key scientific breakthrough of fusion, but to manage his frustration and feed his insights, becomes a lean, mean, fighting machine. Add the family dynamics, and this made for quite the romp! Recommended.
June 13, 2020
This was amazing
I had no idea what to expect when I started this story. The title, after all, doesn't give a clue. But Dahners created a charming new character, Vas, who you cannot help but love and admire. The only trouble with this book is that once you start you can't put it down. I would love to see a movie made from this. Awesome!
I had no idea what to expect when I started this story. The title, after all, doesn't give a clue. But Dahners created a charming new character, Vas, who you cannot help but love and admire. The only trouble with this book is that once you start you can't put it down. I would love to see a movie made from this. Awesome!
January 27, 2021
Excellent!!
I like this kind of story, the way that some bosses are just stupid. The inventions are good, no, they are wonderful. Remember, Jeffrey Epstein didn't kill himself and the democrats stole the 2020 election. Why are we the people putting up with this crap? Government should answer to us, we should not answer to them. RESIST!!
I like this kind of story, the way that some bosses are just stupid. The inventions are good, no, they are wonderful. Remember, Jeffrey Epstein didn't kill himself and the democrats stole the 2020 election. Why are we the people putting up with this crap? Government should answer to us, we should not answer to them. RESIST!!
March 3, 2021
Outstanding read and series
This series is one of my favorites. Besides the science fiction slant which is based on real science, Dr Dahners clearly describes the psychological stresses of growing teenagers and living with an adult suffering from Aspergers Syndrome. All of this put together in a great read. This is great fiction and a really good read.
This series is one of my favorites. Besides the science fiction slant which is based on real science, Dr Dahners clearly describes the psychological stresses of growing teenagers and living with an adult suffering from Aspergers Syndrome. All of this put together in a great read. This is great fiction and a really good read.
April 6, 2021
I am a big fan of Mr. Dahners, having read much of his Hyllis family stories and the stasis stories. It was obvious from very early on in this book, however, that this is an older story of Mr. Dahners, from when he was first beginning his craft. The language, stories, emotions, thinking, etc. was extremely juvenile and hard to believe. I am glad that his newer stories is much more evolved.
May 31, 2021
Yes, geniuses ARE that odd
Excellent book with characters that might be hard to accept if you haven't met them, Look up 'Doc' Travis Taylor to find a PhD martial artist mountain biker. If most of what you do for a living is think, you might have some odd hobbies.
I loved the family dynamic, and the villains made sense...
Excellent book with characters that might be hard to accept if you haven't met them, Look up 'Doc' Travis Taylor to find a PhD martial artist mountain biker. If most of what you do for a living is think, you might have some odd hobbies.
I loved the family dynamic, and the villains made sense...
January 27, 2022
GOOD ENOUGH TO READ MORE THAN ONCE
I was starting to read this book for the 3 rd time and realized I hadn’t left a review. At first glance I wanted to read this but this author hasn’t written a dud yet so I read then wanted to kick myself it is really good and interesting and so is the rest of the series. ENJOY!
I was starting to read this book for the 3 rd time and realized I hadn’t left a review. At first glance I wanted to read this but this author hasn’t written a dud yet so I read then wanted to kick myself it is really good and interesting and so is the rest of the series. ENJOY!
March 30, 2024
Great start to this series!!!!!
Congratulations to Lawrence Dahners for this amazing series. It’s hard to find such an interesting and exciting author who not only writes intelligently but also provides top rated plots, characters and excitement in the stories. I’m really looking forward to the next book.
Congratulations to Lawrence Dahners for this amazing series. It’s hard to find such an interesting and exciting author who not only writes intelligently but also provides top rated plots, characters and excitement in the stories. I’m really looking forward to the next book.
April 29, 2024
entertaining in parts, but like all his stories a positive mutation only effects one family and everybody else is an idiot who offends the protagonist in the same way, very unrealistic in humans with an iq higher than 86.
is he trying to write like Gene Roddenberry, Dahners is way off.
and someone really wants to build tunnels under his houses, mentally shrugs.
no spoilers
is he trying to write like Gene Roddenberry, Dahners is way off.
and someone really wants to build tunnels under his houses, mentally shrugs.
no spoilers
June 22, 2025
Wonderful
I’m fighting cancer and love reading books that put a positive spin on life. Not everything goes well, but if you stick with it often, it will turn out good in the end. I enjoy Lawrence Danner‘s books because they are so positive. Even in the worst of times skills and observation can often come up with answers you would never think of before. Thank you.
I’m fighting cancer and love reading books that put a positive spin on life. Not everything goes well, but if you stick with it often, it will turn out good in the end. I enjoy Lawrence Danner‘s books because they are so positive. Even in the worst of times skills and observation can often come up with answers you would never think of before. Thank you.
May 18, 2018
Another wonderful book
I love Laurence Dahners writing and this is no exception. I especially like the wife in this book. Her ability to see past the first, obvious emotion is inspiring
I love Laurence Dahners writing and this is no exception. I especially like the wife in this book. Her ability to see past the first, obvious emotion is inspiring
January 20, 2019
Five star Read
I love this story! I have never given a five star rating to any book before. I don’t even bother to review below a three. The twists and turns in this tale are wonderful. I will read the rest of the series.
I love this story! I have never given a five star rating to any book before. I don’t even bother to review below a three. The twists and turns in this tale are wonderful. I will read the rest of the series.
February 23, 2021
I'm behind on my reviews so, since I listened to books 1-3 consecutively, I am giving them all this same, short, review: Read the book description and, if it appeals at all, give these books a try. While not perfect books, they are so far above average they deserve 5 stars.
March 2, 2021
Wow
I never left a review??? On my fourth reading of this book. Anything this author writes is worth reading, even more now that his books are Kindle unlimited. He was one of the few I was happy to buy before he went KU .
This books always been my favorite.
I never left a review??? On my fourth reading of this book. Anything this author writes is worth reading, even more now that his books are Kindle unlimited. He was one of the few I was happy to buy before he went KU .
This books always been my favorite.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews