Wrong World: Ripples

by Neil Barber

World history was changed by a single bullet. But it's not Jamie's world... and he's stuck there.Jamie finds himself in a world that looks familiar but things have his brother Davy who died years ago is still alive and his parents never divorced. His Dad is no longer an IT consultant but a jobbing electrician but that's because telecommunications are like something from the 1970s and personal computers and mobiles are non-existent. Life is tough and the feared State Administrators control people's lives by their cruel use of the power of life or death over the population.Jamie's brother tell him why the world is different and warns him to be careful with what he says and trust no one but the SA are already waiting to pounce. By talking about computers and modern communications the Administrators are worried that Jamie knows too much about how they operate.The Resistance hears about the plans to arrest Jamie and snatch him from the streets but the SA quickly pick-up Davy. By using his knowledge of computers in the Real World Jamie and members of The Resistance have to try and free his brother who will soon die following interrogation at the hands of the hated Administrators.But what of the Jamie from the Wrong World? He was brought up in a militaristic world that's dominated by the State and he's a star Fledgling, the British Provinces' version of the Nazi Jungvolk. How will he manage to live in the Real World and without a brother to explain what has happened to him?They both want to get back home but as both Jamies soon find out, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction and changes begin to happen to friends and people's who have contact with them.As Davy told ‘Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect?’ Jamie shook his head. ‘It’s a theory how a small event can have enormous consequences later. Like, for instance, a butterfly flapping its wings makes a tiny change to the atmosphere in one place that eventually causes a tornado somewhere else.’ Davy laughed at the unconvinced look on Jamie’s face, picked up a stone from the path and said, ‘Doesn’t seem very likely does it? Watch this,’ and he tossed the pebble into the side of the pond. ‘See that Jimbo? The stone has made ripples that move out getting bigger and bigger and when the ripples hit something else it creates more ripples but this time going in different directions and the ripples go on and on and out and out.’Wrong Ripples is the first of a trilogy and set in 2005. The subsequent volumes follow the two Jamies' lives over ten years. The second volume is 'Fightback' and the third, 'Return'.

417 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 10, 2012