Book Summary
Almost a century after Keres Triplets asteroid impact and subsequent nuclear exchange nearly ended all human life on Earth, a strange artifact is discovered on one of the moons of Saturn. Who should be sent to the outer reaches of the solar system to initiate the first contact with an alien culture? Dr. Varsaad Volhard, an evolutionary-socio-historian, is chosen to help the world understand the alien civilization that left an artifact some thirty thousand years ago, before humans even learned to farm, at the time when other human species still walked the earth. While Vars prepares for the mission, her father, Dr. Matteo Volhard, discovers nanobots among the microplastics he studies. The bots are everywhere and seem to have been created to bond with human cyber implants. Why? Matteo is made to keep his discovery a secret…as well as his and his daughter’s true origins. Both were donated to a Human DNA Vault as babies. Matteo was raised as a Seed before leaving with his young daughter to study ecology around the world. Who knows what? Who is in control? How does one communicate with non-human intelligence? People seem to die in gruesome ways as their cyberhumatics go haywire on Earth and on Luna and Mars colonies. Is Earth under attack or is it all just a cosmic misunderstanding? Vars needs to use all she knows to solve the mystery of the ancient civilization on Mimas, as her dad battles the alien nanobots at home.
Read the first few chapters here.
The book is fully illustrated and it deals with the ultimate problems of trying to understand another culture.
Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews
Reviewed By Amanda Rofe for Readers’ Favorite
Harvest by Olga Werby is a science fiction novel. It tells the story of Dr. Varsaad Volhard, an evolutionary socio-historian, who has been persuaded to join a team to investigate a strange alien artifact found on Mimas, one of Saturn’s moons. Varsaad is appointed Senior Scientist in charge of understanding alien motivation by the Earth Planetary Space Agency (EPSA), an organization she has longed to work for. In the meantime, her father, who has been studying plastic pollution, has discovered nanobots in the environment. The nanobot technology appears to be compatible with Earth’s biology. Is there a connection between the artifact and the nanobots? Set against an asteroid impact and nuclear exchange, which nearly wiped out all life on Earth, the human race now faces something equally as challenging.
The first chapter of the book drew me in with an exciting opening sequence of a worker experiencing faulty equipment while working alone on the surface of Mars. This set the scene for an exciting and original sci-fi feast. Olga Werby is well qualified to provide the science behind the story and what an exciting story it is. This novel is a deep and meaningful exploration of the complexities regarding the origins of the human race as well as the intentions of an alien species. I did not guess the outcome and the concluding chapters were thoroughly absorbing. An unusual and welcome choice to illustrate the novel with line drawings enhanced the compelling narrative. Harvest is an engaging and intriguing science fiction novel which I highly recommend.