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Averted Vision
In near-future America, disability isn't only shunned—it's exterminated. Those who avoid slaughter slip into the shadows. The government incinerates these shadows.
Dr. Joseph Buck leads the Birth Project, an effort to eradicate congenital disability through genetic engineering. His brother, Noah, is disabled and lives in hiding beneath their family home. Their desperate work in the background aims to improve public opinion of disabled people so one day, Noah can come out of hiding and see the sun for the first time in two decades.
Drawn by humankind's genetic engineering, an intergalactic coalition makes contact with Earth. America’s authoritarian government sees this as a threat to their regime and comes into immediate conflict with the disparate alien civilization.
Despite the danger, Noah leaves home to show the aliens a different side of humanity and the Birth Project is used to create more soldiers. With Joseph’s plans thrown into chaos, he must decide whether the future he believes in is worth pursuing even if he will not see it.
In Averted Vision, B.W. Moran spins a harrowing tale of justice, hope, and sacrifice.
Dr. Joseph Buck leads the Birth Project, an effort to eradicate congenital disability through genetic engineering. His brother, Noah, is disabled and lives in hiding beneath their family home. Their desperate work in the background aims to improve public opinion of disabled people so one day, Noah can come out of hiding and see the sun for the first time in two decades.
Drawn by humankind's genetic engineering, an intergalactic coalition makes contact with Earth. America’s authoritarian government sees this as a threat to their regime and comes into immediate conflict with the disparate alien civilization.
Despite the danger, Noah leaves home to show the aliens a different side of humanity and the Birth Project is used to create more soldiers. With Joseph’s plans thrown into chaos, he must decide whether the future he believes in is worth pursuing even if he will not see it.
In Averted Vision, B.W. Moran spins a harrowing tale of justice, hope, and sacrifice.
378 pages, Paperback
Published February 21, 2025
About the author
B.W. Moran
1 book2 followersBrendan's fondest childhood memories are laying in his childhood bedroom in Northridge, CA with his dad reading aloud to him. His love of reading soon eclipsed any amount of reading aloud his parents could do, so they shoveled innumerable books his direction to stop him from asking annoying questions, like 'what's smaller than the smallest thing?', and 'why does blue look blue and not red?'
He picked up writing in elementary school, but fell out of the habit with harsh feedback from his Catholic School teachers that his stories were too outside the norm. He picked up writing again during his undergraduate studies at University of California, Davis, and has continued to write ever since.
Outside of writing, Brendan is a board game designer, woodworker, surfer, and a serial volunteer. He lives with his wife, two dogs, two frogs, and nine lizards.
He picked up writing in elementary school, but fell out of the habit with harsh feedback from his Catholic School teachers that his stories were too outside the norm. He picked up writing again during his undergraduate studies at University of California, Davis, and has continued to write ever since.
Outside of writing, Brendan is a board game designer, woodworker, surfer, and a serial volunteer. He lives with his wife, two dogs, two frogs, and nine lizards.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 26, 2025
A Riveting Read from Start to Finish!
Averted Vision by B.W. Moran is an absolute page-turner that captivated me from the very first chapter! The storyline is both thought-provoking and engaging, weaving together moments of intense suspense and deep emotional exploration. Moran’s writing is sharp, vivid, and immersive, making it incredibly easy to become invested in the characters’ journeys.
The plot itself is masterfully constructed, with unexpected twists that kept me guessing until the very end. The themes explored in the book are both timely and relevant, offering readers the opportunity to reflect on the nature of perception and how we navigate the world around us.
What I especially appreciated was the depth of the characters. Moran does an exceptional job of creating individuals who feel real, each with their own unique struggles and triumphs. By the time I reached the conclusion, I was left with a profound sense of fulfillment.
If you’re looking for a book that blends mystery, depth, and compelling writing, Averted Vision is a must-read. Highly recommended!
Averted Vision by B.W. Moran is an absolute page-turner that captivated me from the very first chapter! The storyline is both thought-provoking and engaging, weaving together moments of intense suspense and deep emotional exploration. Moran’s writing is sharp, vivid, and immersive, making it incredibly easy to become invested in the characters’ journeys.
The plot itself is masterfully constructed, with unexpected twists that kept me guessing until the very end. The themes explored in the book are both timely and relevant, offering readers the opportunity to reflect on the nature of perception and how we navigate the world around us.
What I especially appreciated was the depth of the characters. Moran does an exceptional job of creating individuals who feel real, each with their own unique struggles and triumphs. By the time I reached the conclusion, I was left with a profound sense of fulfillment.
If you’re looking for a book that blends mystery, depth, and compelling writing, Averted Vision is a must-read. Highly recommended!
April 25, 2025
BW Moran's Averted Vision is political science-fiction thriller that slowly draws you bit by bit into the larger world of the novel while flowing from one action set-piece to another. In a near-future America where individuals with disabilities are exterminated, Dr. Joseph Buck hides his paraplegic brother, Noah, beneath their family home. Meanwhile, Earth is the recipient of visitors from an intergalactic coalition interested in humankind's genetic engineering.
The bond between the brothers, Joseph and Noah, is unquestionably the heart of the novel, pulling together the pieces of the narrative in a way that feels grounded at all times, even when you're attending a space funeral a galaxy away.
Moran's prose has a grittiness to it that lends itself well to the dour tone of the novel. He also demonstrates a knack for dipping in and out of memories in a near stream-of-consciousness, that effectively embeds the reader further into the head of the narrator.
While Averted Vision is not a lighthearted novel in any sense, I had a great time reading it and look forward to what BW Moran has in-store for the future.
The bond between the brothers, Joseph and Noah, is unquestionably the heart of the novel, pulling together the pieces of the narrative in a way that feels grounded at all times, even when you're attending a space funeral a galaxy away.
Moran's prose has a grittiness to it that lends itself well to the dour tone of the novel. He also demonstrates a knack for dipping in and out of memories in a near stream-of-consciousness, that effectively embeds the reader further into the head of the narrator.
While Averted Vision is not a lighthearted novel in any sense, I had a great time reading it and look forward to what BW Moran has in-store for the future.
January 11, 2025
To me, science fiction is best when it has something to say. Don’t get me wrong, I love fun space things and aliens and pew-pews and interesting technology, but the best sci-fi shines a light on something important. This can be true of many genres, but it always feels so good in science fiction.
Averted Vision delivers what it says on the tin in so many ways, but it also hits a lot of issues that, even dressed up in alien warfare, are relevant. This is not a fun story. It’s intense, sad, dramatic, and the characters face just impossible difficulties. It’s also an important story, and beautifully written at that.
In a world not too unlike our own, people with disabilities have had to go into hiding or face extermination. The American government is wholly and disgustingly against human disability and the military executes innocent people with extreme prejudice. Dr. Joseph buck is our protagonist, and he works with the government as a scientist, trying to protect disabled people (including his own brother who is in hiding) and fight from the inside.
If that wasn’t intense enough, an alien coalition decides to open communication with Earth to begin friendly integration. Surely humans, being so empathetic and friendly, will work with the aliens to seamlessly integrate with the coalition. Surely they will be respectful and kind and excited about having new interstellar friends.
Surely.
Everything goes about as well as you would hope, while in between Joseph struggles to keep fighting the good fight when everything is falling to pieces around him. It’s so difficult to keep on when it feels like it does nothing and is never going to do anything, and I found this so painfully relatable. Joseph is such an interesting character to me, because he’s the protagonist, he’s ‘the good guy’ but humans are only so good. His most important priority is his brother, and sometimes one has to make difficult choices and they aren’t always selfless. I didn’t always like Joseph, but I love when I can still root for a character even when I don’t like them.
I don’t want to spoil anything because there’s so much going on in this story. The characters are interesting—even if most are terrible people. The plot never seems to go how I thought it would go, keeping me on my toes. The worldbuilding is excellent. The writing is gorgeous.
And I was very invested emotionally. As I said in the beginning, I connect best with science fiction when the stakes feel like real life. Despite the aliens and fantastical worlds, these are all beings with realistic emotional investment and difficult lives and their struggles are real. I felt so close to many of them.
I received an advanced review copy of this book and am leaving this review voluntarily.
Averted Vision delivers what it says on the tin in so many ways, but it also hits a lot of issues that, even dressed up in alien warfare, are relevant. This is not a fun story. It’s intense, sad, dramatic, and the characters face just impossible difficulties. It’s also an important story, and beautifully written at that.
In a world not too unlike our own, people with disabilities have had to go into hiding or face extermination. The American government is wholly and disgustingly against human disability and the military executes innocent people with extreme prejudice. Dr. Joseph buck is our protagonist, and he works with the government as a scientist, trying to protect disabled people (including his own brother who is in hiding) and fight from the inside.
If that wasn’t intense enough, an alien coalition decides to open communication with Earth to begin friendly integration. Surely humans, being so empathetic and friendly, will work with the aliens to seamlessly integrate with the coalition. Surely they will be respectful and kind and excited about having new interstellar friends.
Surely.
Everything goes about as well as you would hope, while in between Joseph struggles to keep fighting the good fight when everything is falling to pieces around him. It’s so difficult to keep on when it feels like it does nothing and is never going to do anything, and I found this so painfully relatable. Joseph is such an interesting character to me, because he’s the protagonist, he’s ‘the good guy’ but humans are only so good. His most important priority is his brother, and sometimes one has to make difficult choices and they aren’t always selfless. I didn’t always like Joseph, but I love when I can still root for a character even when I don’t like them.
I don’t want to spoil anything because there’s so much going on in this story. The characters are interesting—even if most are terrible people. The plot never seems to go how I thought it would go, keeping me on my toes. The worldbuilding is excellent. The writing is gorgeous.
And I was very invested emotionally. As I said in the beginning, I connect best with science fiction when the stakes feel like real life. Despite the aliens and fantastical worlds, these are all beings with realistic emotional investment and difficult lives and their struggles are real. I felt so close to many of them.
I received an advanced review copy of this book and am leaving this review voluntarily.
February 16, 2025
By looking at the cover, you know what this is. Dark scifi. What the cover doesn't tell you is how incredibly, impressively well written the characters are. BW Moran puts them through so much and you watch them break and change and adapt. Wonderful stuff.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews