The Misshapen

by Nicholas Ponticello

At the beginning of the end of time, she was there...

One of acclaimed author Nicholas Ponticello's earliest works, The Misshapen originally appeared online in 2006, one of two short stories describing the dark relationship between humans and the world they've created. Nearly a decade later—and for the first time in e-book format—this revised edition offers readers a rare glimpse into Ponticello's psyche in the years preceding the publication of his recent hit Do Not Resuscitate.

Available for purchase in Kindle format on Amazon.com.

Kindle Edition

Published January 21, 2016

About the author

Nicholas Ponticello is an educator and writer in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from University of California, Berkeley with degrees in mathematics and astrophysics and later earned his masters in education from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Ponticello is interested in exploring the intersection of science, sustainability, mental health, and education, and hopes to encourage more systems thinking and sustainability-themed curricula at the secondary school level.

Mr. Ponticello is also a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. In 2020, he was awarded the Sue Alexander Grant for his work on a YA novel provisionally titled WHAT IF I DID? What If I Did? is based on his experience coping with debilitating OCD and his struggle to overcome it through years of cognitive behavioral therapy. Mr. Ponticello completed the six-week intensive outpatient clinic at UCLA and went on to become an advocate for the International OCD Foundation. He has written for the IOCDF blog and has spoken on a panel about relationships and OCD at the annual IOCDF Conference.

Mr. Ponticello grew up in Northern California and began his career as the operations manager at KOMENAR Publishing in Oakland, CA. He is a longtime runner, and has coached champion cross-country and track & field teams at the high school level. Mr. Ponticello is also the author of Do Not Resuscitate, a fictional biography that considers transhumanism and the intersection of technology and sustainability. He has studied writing under Kim Krizan (Before Sunrise, Zombie Tales 2061) and Bruce Miller (Handmaid's Tale, ER). Do Not Resuscitate won a Reader Views Reviewers Choice Award, an INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award, and a CIPA EVVY Award. His second novel, The Maiden Voyage of the Destiny Unknown, also won a Reader Views Reviewers Choice Award and was listed as one of 100 Notable Books from the Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Competition.

Reviews

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dark look at the future of genetic engineering. A thrilling, quick read.

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I really love this short story about a world run by computers, turning out people developed in glass cages, and making them just exact copies of one another, living in their souless and grey cities, eating grey food and fearing those who lived in caves who were different, born naturally and known as the misshapen. The glass people felt no emotions, but suddenly they knew fear, as they were told an asteroid would be hitting earth, and they were forced to leave the planet to survive. The problem was that those seen as defective because they were different somehow, were to be left behind and these had to learn how to survive together with the misshapen. They were the true survivors. This post apocalyptic tale speaking of the past seemed to me to be more futuristic and quite scary seeing as how we are only now becoming more AI oriented and our machines are becoming even more intelligent than us. This is a must read book, and I highly recommend it.

[shannon Stubbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

This story was quite interesting. It could be our future or it could be our past. It's something to think about.