DRAGON VIRUS
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LAURA ANNE GILMAN
It began soon after the Mellennium. Reports of newborns with strange malformations, too weak to live . . . caused by a single genetic mutation. Or, as the press quickly dubbed it, the Dragon Virus. Scientists predicted that it was an evolutionary dead end; that the mutation would burn itself out quickly; that it was nothing to be worried about.
They were wrong.
Every racial type. Almost every continent. No known cause. Human-created, maybe. Or just God, throwing the dice. Infecting us, warping us. Tied into our genetic code, from here on in. No known treatment. No idea where even to begin.
Everything was about to change.
- June 2011 978-1-933846-25-5
- Cover design by Patrick Swenson
- This limited edition hardcover is signed and numbered by the author and limited to 200 copies.
It began soon after the Mellennium. Reports of newborns with strange malformations, too weak to live . . . caused by a single genetic mutation. Or, as the press quickly dubbed it, the Dragon Virus. Scientists predicted that it was an evolutionary dead end; that the mutation would burn itself out quickly; that it was nothing to be worried about.
They were wrong.
Every racial type. Almost every continent. No known cause. Human-created, maybe. Or just God, throwing the dice. Infecting us, warping us. Tied into our genetic code, from here on in. No known treatment. No idea where even to begin.
Everything was about to change.
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“Compelling, magnificent, fantastic -- Dragon Virus is an apocalyptic ride through a darkening world of Changelings and Normals and other wonderful visions from Laura Anne Gilman's brilliant imagination.”
—Douglas Clegg, author of Neverland
“An impressive 6-part story cycle. Gilman tackles mutancy, a theme which has become a staple of the superhero comics, transforming that material into a sensitive study of the pressures of childhood and coming of age during a period of cataclysmic cultural and biological change. It’s a bold tale of generations and families in conflict over the very definition of what it means to be human.”
—Steve Rasnic Tem, author of Excavation
“Laura Anne Gilman makes you care. You care about her characters and their choices; you care about what’s happening to their world.”
—Walter Jon Williams, author of This is Not a Game
“A frightening, futuristic ride...It will make you think thrice about the genes under your skin.”
—John Everson, author of Siren
“Stunningly successful...A potent ride through a changing future, exploring themes and ideas that resonate as much in the modern day as in her darkly evolving future.”
--SF Signal
“Dragon Virus is an apocalyptic thriller about the inexplicable mutation of humanity. As more and more children are born with unknown malformations - children of every racial type, wherever humans can be found - the changes wrought in the human gene pool are dubbed the Dragon Virus. But these transformations are more than skin deep, and they are about to divide all of humankind into the savage categories of predator and prey. A gripping adventure from start to finish, Dragon Virus is highly recommended.”
--Midwest Book Review
“What would happen if a new, genetically linked virus should spread through the world? And what if that virus made people experience rapture like visions? Laura Anne Gilman takes us on a tour of the aftermath of a change in the very nature of human society in this novella—it’s less than one hundred pages—with colorful characters and situations and an innovative slang to set the atmosphere.”
--Critical Mass
“This is no X-Men-esque story, where beings of special looks and talents (though there are those) become both humanity’s villains and saviors. As so often happens in real life, the true villain of the story is human nature. It is human nature that causes the rift between homo sapiens and other. And it is “human” nature in both – shall we call them species? – that causes the eventual implosion of society and culture as the rift tears the world as we know it apart . . . this is no happy story. Gilman has left us no shreds of hope here that homo sapiens will triumph – indeed, this is a true apocalypse, as when the story is done humanity no longer even exists at all. This is an unflinching look at the most brutal parts of society and people in general: prejudice, persecution, violence, suicide, violation, murder . . . It's no secret that I think Gilman is one of the oft-overlooked masters of the craft. Dragon Virus, although not for the faint of heart, is not only worth the money–it’s worth the nightmares afterward, too.”
--Waiting for Fairies
“Part bio-horror, part social commentary, part apocalyptic mayhem, all awesome.”
—Lee Thomas, author of The German
—Douglas Clegg, author of Neverland
“An impressive 6-part story cycle. Gilman tackles mutancy, a theme which has become a staple of the superhero comics, transforming that material into a sensitive study of the pressures of childhood and coming of age during a period of cataclysmic cultural and biological change. It’s a bold tale of generations and families in conflict over the very definition of what it means to be human.”
—Steve Rasnic Tem, author of Excavation
“Laura Anne Gilman makes you care. You care about her characters and their choices; you care about what’s happening to their world.”
—Walter Jon Williams, author of This is Not a Game
“A frightening, futuristic ride...It will make you think thrice about the genes under your skin.”
—John Everson, author of Siren
“Stunningly successful...A potent ride through a changing future, exploring themes and ideas that resonate as much in the modern day as in her darkly evolving future.”
--SF Signal
“Dragon Virus is an apocalyptic thriller about the inexplicable mutation of humanity. As more and more children are born with unknown malformations - children of every racial type, wherever humans can be found - the changes wrought in the human gene pool are dubbed the Dragon Virus. But these transformations are more than skin deep, and they are about to divide all of humankind into the savage categories of predator and prey. A gripping adventure from start to finish, Dragon Virus is highly recommended.”
--Midwest Book Review
“What would happen if a new, genetically linked virus should spread through the world? And what if that virus made people experience rapture like visions? Laura Anne Gilman takes us on a tour of the aftermath of a change in the very nature of human society in this novella—it’s less than one hundred pages—with colorful characters and situations and an innovative slang to set the atmosphere.”
--Critical Mass
“This is no X-Men-esque story, where beings of special looks and talents (though there are those) become both humanity’s villains and saviors. As so often happens in real life, the true villain of the story is human nature. It is human nature that causes the rift between homo sapiens and other. And it is “human” nature in both – shall we call them species? – that causes the eventual implosion of society and culture as the rift tears the world as we know it apart . . . this is no happy story. Gilman has left us no shreds of hope here that homo sapiens will triumph – indeed, this is a true apocalypse, as when the story is done humanity no longer even exists at all. This is an unflinching look at the most brutal parts of society and people in general: prejudice, persecution, violence, suicide, violation, murder . . . It's no secret that I think Gilman is one of the oft-overlooked masters of the craft. Dragon Virus, although not for the faint of heart, is not only worth the money–it’s worth the nightmares afterward, too.”
--Waiting for Fairies
“Part bio-horror, part social commentary, part apocalyptic mayhem, all awesome.”
—Lee Thomas, author of The German
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR