The Darwin Protocol

by Daniel M. Quilter

In the wake of war and natural disaster, Lily Dimka boarded the colony ship Pax Britanica bound for a new world. But she never arrived. Lily, a mute man, a mentally deranged elderly woman, a paralyzed girl, and a young man with only one arm make up the entirety of the survivors of a crash landing after they’re unceremoniously launched back to Earth with only six haunting words as an “The Darwin Protocol has been activated.”

72 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 1, 2020

About the author

Daniel M Quilter is the multi-genre author of the sprawling space opera, the Blood-Fire Trilogy, and the imaginative portal fantasy series, the Cross-Road Travelers. He's also the author of several stand-alone novels, such as Rust-Kicker, the story of a fire department in a town where everyone has a pet dragon.

When he's not writing, Daniel enjoys camping, hiking, rock-climbing, and riding his motorcycle.

Reviews

[Kayla Krantz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a thrilling and action-packed read albeit it was very short. I loved the premise of the idea, survivors of a ship being expelled from a ship and coming face to face with a monstrous evolution of mankind. After learning the truth of her and the other survivors’ situations, Lily must figure out how to survive on an Earth no longer habitable for normal humans.

The book was especially interesting to me because all the main characters had some personal issues that they had to overcome like Lily’s sickle-cell anemia and Rose’s multiple personality disorder. The ending was a bit sudden which left me wondering what would happen to the characters who remained. This being said, any fans of dystopia and science fiction would enjoy this book.

[Clifton Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Darwin Protocol by Daniel M. Quilter is a great read! After a long work week, plus riding on a bumpy freeway to LA, This scifi fan still could not put it down! This 40 page short story takes us centuries into the future to a failed attempt at fleeing Earth for greener pastures. The author creates an intriguing setting where our heroes, Lily and Ajmal are cast out with a group of disabled misfits to survive on their own in a dangerous jungle. I enjoyed the diversity of all the characters, the vivid detail of the setting, and the concept that a weakness can be a surprising strength. Futuristic beastly protagonists, The Evolved, added an element of thrilling danger on their quest. I found Ajmal’s faith in his religion to add to his strength and nobility, which is a positive influence on the younger Lily, who struggled with her fate a bit as they faced many life-risking challenges. These story elements hold the reader’s attention and keep those pages turning! The story peaks with a final conflict in which the whole population of England is threatened with imminent death, and our heroes are destined to save themselves and their people. The exciting ending is ratcheted up to a different level in the epilogue, bringing an interesting twist leaving this reader wanting more. Well done!

[John Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not what i was expecting.

By the time I was a quarter of the way in I smuggling declared that I knew exactly what was going to happen. I was so wrong!
The plot moves fast as you might expect of a shorter work, but within the unfolding of the storyline the plot twists more than once. The main character is far from perfect as human being, having a selfish streak and demonstrating unbelievable gullibility. This actually made a refreshing change, and with another character taking on the heroic hero role it seemed to work.

[Denise Weldon-siviy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding

This is a great story. Parts reminded me of the Practical Darwinists in Anne MacGaffrey's brain ship series, but with a bit of apocalyptic zombie-like background thrown in for atmosphere. Well worth the read.

[Adrienne Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read the short story, The Darwin Protocol, by Daniel M. Quilter, and it was a fun read with an interesting idea about the future. Lily wakes up aboard the Pax Britannica with the alarms blaring and a computer voice telling her The Darwin Protocol has been activated.

The story that follows is one of discovery as Lily and the others who survived the landing must find out why they were chosen and if their ship is still intact with the other survivors.
We soon discover Lily has a unique condition, and she must work with the other survivors to save everyone from destruction.

Lily and Amjal work together first to figure out where on Earth they have landed and then how, if possible, to stop The Evolved. This book is short, fun and well-written, with good editing and nice descriptions.

I enjoyed reading it, but my only real criticism is I’m not sure why the epilogue exists. I was satisfied with the ending of the book until I read the epilogue. That just seemed to confuse things and leave them not in a state of a cliff-hanger that I wanted to know more about, but instead, after a satisfying ending, the epilogue seemed to leave me with not just more questions, but a resounding “why?” at the end of it all.

I rate this story a 4 out of 5. I didn’t give it a 5 purely because the epilogue seemed to be a part that was unnecessary. I didn’t give it a 3 because it was fun, easy to read and I believe that anyone who enjoys dystopian reads would enjoy this book. If you want something deep and very multi-faceted, this is not your book, but it’s hard to get super deep in such a short story. I feel the author did a great job with fitting a story that felt complete into a small space.