The Genocides by Thomas M. Disch

The novel “The Genocides” by Thomas M. Disch was published for the first time in 1965.

A few years after the appearance of the Plants, the Tassel community on the shores of Lake Superior struggles to survive. Anderson is formally the village’s mayor, but he’s actually a sort of absolute king, ruling the small group of survivors with an iron fist, using a gun as a symbol of his power.

When another group of survivors, traveling in search of stability, approaches the village, its members are mercilessly killed. Only Jeremiah Orville, a mining engineer, and nurse Alice Nemerov, considered useful to the community, are spared. The Plants are making it increasingly difficult to grow crops and raise animals, and the arrival of spheres that set buildings ablaze triggers an even deeper crisis, especially as Anderson grows weaker.

The Eris Anomaly...beyond Pluto by Angelo Messina

The novel “The Eris Anomaly…beyond Pluto” (“Il Mistero di Eris…oltre Plutone”) by Angelo Messina was published for the first time in 2023 and translated into English by the author in 2025.

Adam is traveling to the dwarf planet Eris to investigate a strange anomaly in its orbit. That journey represents an important milestone in a journey that began thirty years earlier, changing his life and leading him to have a growing influence on humanity.

Thirty years earlier, Adam was taking what he thought was a normal walk in the woods when he found himself in a completely different place. There, he begins a contact with an object that seems to possess a consciousness and progressively increases his mental abilities, allowing him to develop technologies useful to humanity, but only if he manages to avoid certain negative tendencies.

Austral by Paul McAuley

The novel “Austral” by Paul McAuley was published for the first time in 2017.

Austral “Stral” Morales Ferrado is a corrections officer in a labor camp. She’s also in a relationship with Keever Bishop, the most dangerous inmate, who continues to run his criminal enterprise from his cell. She has discovered she’s pregnant but is keeping it a secret for fear that Keever decides to get rid of her. Keever is planning his escape, and the opportunity comes when the inauguration of three new bridges will feature a prominent presence, Honourable Deputy Alberto Toomy, who is also Stral’s uncle.

The escape plan is well-conceived and involves Stral confronting her uncle, taking advantage of the fact that the two of them belong to branches of the family that had virtually opposite destinies. Stral realizes that some of Keever’s accomplices are trying to kidnap Kamilah, Alberto Toomy’s daughter, and decides to intervene without considering the consequences. She quickly realizes she’s in deep trouble and decides to kidnap her cousin herself for a ransom that will allow her to leave Antarctica and seek a better life.

The Star 1 bone fragment

An article published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)” reports the results of the analysis of a bone fragment from which enough DNA was obtained to attribute it to a Neanderthal. A team of researchers led by Emily Pigott of the University of Vienna, Austria, examined this bone fragment discovered at the Starosele archaeological site in Crimea. It’s the one of 150 bone fragments that yielded the best results. Dated between 45,340 and 45,910 years ago, this fragment, cataloged as Star 1, revealed that a Neanderthal who lived in Crimea was related to five other hominins who lived at three sites in the Altai Mountains of Siberia, approximately 3,000 kilometers away.

Enhancement by Anthony J. Melchiorri

The novel “Enhancement” by Anthony J. Melchiorri was published for the first time in 2014. It’s the first book in the Black Market DNA series.

When Chris Morgan is stabbed during a prison riot, he thinks it’s the end for him. Instead, another inmate protects him until the guards intervene and stop the riot. Chris is even more surprised when he’s told he’ll be released early.

As soon as Chris Morgan is released from prison, a stranger offers him a job in genetic engineering, the same field that got him into trouble when he started selling illegal modifications. Suspicious, he tries to stall, but only one biotech company is willing to hire him. Chris tries to approach the new job honestly and even begins a relationship with his colleague Tracy, but when his boss is killed, he realizes that things are still complicated for him.