Future-Proof

by Scott Rhine

In this fantasy thriller, Ashley is the son of a Norn, abandoned by his mother at birth. With no guidance, he can only smell how people are likely to die. He works for the UN Carbon Authority, which makes inroads to fix climate change until terrorists bomb his office building. Because of evidence Ashley records during the attack, he’s placed on an elite team to track down the bombers. His future-sensing talents are pushed to the limits as people try to kill his team daily. Worse, everyone has secrets, even the attractive doctor heading the investigation. Eventually, he finds that the bombing was meant to cover up an even bigger conspiracy, one with links to Norse legends.

285 pages, Paperback

Published June 24, 2024

About the author

Scott Rhine wanted to find a job that combined his love of reading with math problem solving, so he studied both short stories and computer languages. As a techno-gypsy, he worked on optimizing some of the fastest and largest supercomputers in the world. A couple of degrees, patents, and children later, at forty-eight, he still didn't know what he wanted to be when he grew up. When his third publication "Doors to Eternity" unexpectedly hit #16 on the Amazon epic fantasy list, he decided to retire from engineering in order to become a full-time author. Humor is a part of every story he writes because people are funny, even when they don't think so. In the real world, something always goes wrong and people have flaws. If you can't laugh at yourself, someone is probably doing it for you. Strong female characters also play a major role in his stories because he's married to a beautiful PhD who can edit, break boards, and use a chainsaw.

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Reviews

[Scott Rhine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I completed this novel at the prestigious 2024 Taos Toolbox Writer's workshop, with Walter Jon Williams, Nancy Kress, and about twenty other beta readers. The humor and action went over well. I broke some rules and surprised people by making this novel both a fantasy and a thriller. Despite the wild ending, I tried to make all the tech in the novel real-world, except for the trash-mining bots that build towers—that was straight out of William Gibson. Even the UN documents on future-proofing were real.
Neil Gaiman and MCU did an admirable job of exploring the modern Odin. I wanted to do the same for his less-famous brother Ve, the god of language, and the opportunist who slept with Odin's wives when he was gone too long. How did they get their many powers, and what really separates the Aesir from the Jotun?

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book's description provides everything that a reader needs to know before going in and it lives up to that description. It's a fast paced and engaging story that starts off focused on Ashley. We get to know him and and then the story builds out it's world well. Ashley learns about his own past, power he didn't know that he had and gets caught up in international intrigues and deceptions with world shattering ramifications. It's a well written thriller.