Three Orders of Magnitude
If you knew your life was going to be shorter than everyone else’s, would you try to extend it, or live what you have to its fullest?
Engineer Anna volunteered to sleep for a thousand years in the name of science. But civilisation collapses, and she is instead woken up a million years later by the survivors of humanity, who have fractured into several new species.
The new Earth carries shadows of Anna’s time, and the similarities run deeper as she discovers she and the new people share a common problem: they are all destined to live only until they are around 40 years old. Anna risked it all so she could come to the future and be cured of a hereditary disease, but irony had other plans.
As the last Human, Anna becomes a symbol for hope and is pulled in different directions as people try to use her knowledge, and her body, to extend their own lives. But as the battle for her escalates and her past catches up with her, Anna must decide whether she should still try to pursue an extended life or make the most of what she has left.
The Spoils
Adie met Conrad when she hosted the local pub quiz. Now she’s hosting a quiz at his funeral – one Conrad wrote himself – where the prize is his inheritance, amounting to millions. The players are his dysfunctional family and his best friend Bill, who must fight it out in a winner-takes-all game.
The questions start simple but get increasingly personal, forcing the players to reveal painful secrets from the past if they want to win the money.
Then comes the final question: Which one of you killed me, and how?
As accusations fly and the family tears itself apart, Adie now faces a dilemma: does she believe Conrad knew his murderer? And if she does, how can she prove it? As the fractious family turn on her, Adie is running out of time and people she can trust. Can she find a way to force the murderer to confess?