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Stuart Aken
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The Methuselah Strain Kindle Edition

by Stuart Aken (Author), Heather Murphy (Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 out of 5 stars 11 ratings
As the Prime Renegade plans the disabling of automatic systems that support the dwindling human population, she seeks a man to love and to father her child. The usual route of artificial insemination appeals to her about as much as the materialistic and hedonistic philosophy that now drives most people. And, secretly, forces designed to serve mankind develop a sense of superiority that might threaten human survival.

This science fiction novelette, running to around 26,000 words, is set on Earth some few hundred years in the future. Much has happened to change the planet with which we are familiar, but human beings remain pretty much the mixed-up and flawed creatures we have always been.

Review quotes;

'A Top-Notch Futuristic Novella'

'From the geographical, political, economic and technological changes to the smallest details of everyday life. Aken writes about it all with the confident unhesitating familiarity of one who has lived there.'

'The ending was a complete surprise. Never saw that coming.'

'Aken moves us along the story like a symphony conductor, logically and smoothly. There is an interesting and tantalizing twist at the end of the story. I challenge you to figure it out before you put the book down.'

10% of the proceeds of this book will be donated to 'Action for ME', a charity close to the author's heart.
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  1. Print length
    112 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Accessibility
    Learn more
  4. Publication date
    May 4, 2015
  5. Reading age
    16 - 18 years
  6. File size
    671 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Finding a suitable partner from the remnants of mankind isn't easy for Lucy, especially when she discovers that automation tempts more than flesh.

About the Author

Born, against the odds, to a widowed mother in a neighbour's bed. Raised in a number of homes by an artist mother who knew what love meant and a step-father who lacked imagination but made up for it with affection and education in things natural. Writing all the wrong things for a lifetime, until I learned who I was and came to know that my opinion was as valid as that of anyone else.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00X64HSK2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Fantastic Books Publishing
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 4, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 671 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 112 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1909163737
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 16 - 18 years
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 11 ratings

About the author

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Stuart Aken

Stuart Aken

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Stuart Aken was born, against the odds, in a neighbour's bed and defeated the doom-mongers by coming out alive. Raised by his artist mother, who died in a car crash when he was 16, and a travelling salesman step-father, who taught him about the natural world, he has worked in many different roles, including press photographer, farmhand, shop manager, team leader, legal advisor, and office manager.

He refuses to be stuck in a box, so writes in various genres: "The story chooses the genre." Occasionally, he enters writing contests and sometimes wins. He runs an active website and blog, which can be easily found by a search under his name on any browser.

Married to his dream woman, with whom he walks almost daily in his new home in the Forest of Dean, he has a grown-up daughter currently living and working in Australia.

So far, he's published romance, science fiction, short stories, fantasy, horror, erotica, and a personal memoir. You can sample his books here on this page. As he would say, "Enjoy the read!"

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
11 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this dystopian novella well-written and fast-paced, with one review describing it as a top-notch futuristic story.

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4 customers mention "Plot"4 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the plot of this dystopian novella, with one customer describing it as a top-notch futuristic story.

"Stuart Aken's "The Methuselah Strain" is a dystopian novella that brings a formidable look into the potential and not so shocking future for humanity..." Read more

"Stuart Aken brings us on a gritty and surreal adventure through the human soul in The Methuselah Strain. This novel is futuristic, yet relatable...." Read more

"...There is an interesting and tantalizing twist at the end of the story. I challenge you to figure it out before you put the book down...." Read more

"...I read it quickly, enjoying the clever plot and the disturbing ending." Read more

4 customers mention "Writing quality"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well written, with one review noting its brilliant construction and another mentioning its relatable characters.

"...After a heartbreaking betrayal from Randal and a brilliantly constructed and unexpected ending, the book will leave the reader with their mouth wide..." Read more

"...This novel is futuristic, yet relatable...." Read more

"...Aken moves us along the story like a symphony conductor, logically and smoothly...." Read more

"...The theme is well developed, the characters expertly imagined, the writing smooth and the vocabulary unique...." Read more

3 customers mention "Readability"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book fast-paced and easy to read.

"...and Randal, put us into the thick of things very quickly in this fast-moving, and at times, downright hilarious read...." Read more

"...puts on his philosopher's hat and explores such an ideal world in a fast moving and entertaining story about a love affair between two humans...." Read more

"...I read it quickly, enjoying the clever plot and the disturbing ending." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Joni Caggiano
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent writing, amazing characters, and a dystopian novella that is too close for comfort!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Stuart Aken's "The Methuselah Strain" is a dystopian novella that brings a formidable look into the potential and not so shocking future for humanity. The writer has done his research, and without making far-reaching changes in how we value our environment and life in 2020, the world that the author creates is easy to imagine.

    All of the individuals are well characterized and are not only thought-provoking and engaging but fit a logical glimpse into the distant future based on the state of advanced genetic engineering and robotic technology today. This society reduces the remaining population to an unproductive, discontented, and unhealthy civilization that idolizes materialism and physical addiction.

    Now fast forward a century or so and get ready for an exhilarating ride. The two main characters, Luce and Randal, put us into the thick of things very quickly in this fast-moving, and at times, downright hilarious read. Luce is my favorite new modernistic hero. She and Randal are exceptionally enhanced humans from the first and second generations of The Methuselah Strain.

    Technological advances create a beautiful human that ages slowly and may live for hundreds of years. Luce's advancements give her a quick wit, a mind-boggling beauty, and an intelligence that makes it impossible for an android to meet her emotional and inquisitive needs. She is a renegade who lives rough, spending years searching for human companionship, which she finds in the most unusual place.

    After a heartbreaking betrayal from Randal and a brilliantly constructed and unexpected ending, the book will leave the reader with their mouth wide open. The Methuselah Strain is a five-star novella that one can truly enjoy and learn that the pursuit of better technology and materialism does not necessarily make for a happier society. It can also cause one to laugh out loud and leave you smiling and wanting to read this writer's next book.
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  • Joshua Grant
    4.0 out of 5 stars An exploration of the human soul
    Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Stuart Aken brings us on a gritty and surreal adventure through the human soul in The Methuselah Strain. This novel is futuristic, yet relatable. We follow Luce, the Prime Renegade, as she searches for something more than the basic fulfillments the dystopian future offers. Aken draws us along a fascinating thread all the way to the ending’s unique twist in a novel any Philip K. Dick fan will enjoy!
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  • Shelby Jacobs
    5.0 out of 5 stars An Ideal World?
    Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    What is your idea of an ideal World? Perhaps, one where robots do all the work, have been programmed to follow your commands, to serve you and see you are satisfied in everything. You are left to do, well nothing, except what gives you the most pleasure; engage in a little hanky-panky and even the human looking robots are programmed to serve you that way as well.
    Author Stuart Aken puts on his philosopher's hat and explores such an ideal world in a fast moving and entertaining story about a love affair between two humans. One of these humans is Luce, an originators of this new World who is having second thoughts about her creations.
    Aken moves us along the story like a symphony conductor, logically and smoothly. There is an interesting and tantalizing twist at the end of the story. I challenge you to figure it out before you put the book down.
    Excellent story, well written, reads fast; all qualities of an excellent story.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Sarah Baethge
    2.0 out of 5 stars I'm glad I read to the end
    Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    The Methuselah Strain by Stewart Aken is a story with a frightening view of the future world. After a devastating asteroid shower the population has grown so small that a normal person can go for years without coming into view of another human face. This is not as lonely as it may sound, because technology has so advanced that through computer programs and with the aid of robots, virtually any act is possible.
    In fact, people no longer bother to even reproduce, because anyone still alive has been genetically altered so that any ageing has been virtually stopped. This is why when a technical wizard decides that she would enjoy a more natural life, she instigates unspeakable actions through through that same technology she once served. How better to get others to agree with her beliefs?
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  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars What If for Adults?
    Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Androids make Earth easy and perfect. Then disaster hits. For those left it's a very different world where life extends forever and androids are slaves.
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  • Ken Brimhall
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Top-Notch Futuristic Novella
    Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Five stars for The Methuselah Strain because, though limited in scope, it accomplished much. The theme is well developed, the characters expertly imagined, the writing smooth and the vocabulary unique. I read it quickly, enjoying the clever plot and the disturbing ending.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Masquerade Crew
    4.0 out of 5 stars 4.0 on the Masq Scale
    Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2014
    Devorah F.'s Review

    I had trouble getting into this at first. Not that it isn't well written--it is. The author tasked himself with writing a “novelette,” a story with the complexity of a novel and the brevity of a short story. As a result the writing is admirably economical; nothing wasted, nothing extraneous. Every word counts.

    I was also impressed with how thoroughly author Stuart Aken knows his imagined future world, from the geographical, political, economic and technological changes to the smallest details of everyday life. Aken writes about it all with the confident unhesitating familiarity of one who has lived there.

    Initially I was put off by all the sex. Not that it’s gratuitous and once I came to understand its role in this future world I understood its place in the story. Still, there’s a lot of it.

    I’m glad I kept reading though and I really enjoyed the latter half which was thought provoking. I found myself asking, “Yeah, what about that?”

    And I had to chuckle that even hundreds of years into the future some old-fashioned values still hold sway. It put me in mind of "Star Trek" and how no matter how many worlds the Enterprise crew visited or how many different types of aliens and civilizations they encountered, being human was always the best way to be.

    The ending was a complete surprise. Never saw that coming.

    Review Disclaimer: Book provided in exchange for an honest review.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Jwebguy
    4.0 out of 5 stars A good and thought provoking read.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    I read this book in one sitting on the first morning of my last writing trip. I didn’t intend to. I had planned to read a couple of sections and then get on with what I was supposed to be doing. However, the little book was hard to put down and, as I got further into it, things moved from ‘oh just one more section’ to ‘I’m going to finish this’.

    Dystopian futures have rarely been as beautiful as the scenes Stuart Aken conjured in my mind. The almost empty outside world the characters move through is contrasted with a far busier but equally lonely futuristic shopping mall. Only two of the main characters are human and the soulless androids that they surround themselves with seem only to enhance the sense of nothingness within them. At once I could visualise phantoms of ‘The Omega Man’, ‘2001’, ‘Moon’ and ‘AI’.

    Here is a world where very few humans have survived. Those that have are mostly enhanced, genetically designed virtual immortals, unfettered by the need to procreate and continue the species. Instead their life is dominated by the pursuit of distraction and entertainment, physical and emotional, but rarely spiritual. As genetically designed humans they have been created along certain standardised types, a majority of which seem to be ‘sexuals’, designed to seek quick gratification.

    The author explores the nature of love and desire mercilessly. There is, as a warning to the faint hearted, a strong, yet never explicit, sexual aspect to the book, which is absolutely essential to the narrative. In revealing the shallow nature of characters the author does what all great sci-fi does; he reflects metaphorically on our own society, in this case the push towards instant gratification. The mirror he hold up to us does not shine a pretty refection.

    Contrasted with the humans are the android characters. They provide both an audience to the humans and a judgement upon them. If anyone comes out of the book with respect, it is these initially inhuman members of the cast.

    If I had any criticism of the book it is a purely personal one, I prefer to get on with at least one character in the story, and here I didn’t find myself warming to any of them. Did that stop me from enjoying the story? Not at all. The characters were crafted specifically to get a reaction and it worked flawlessly. And the story kept me thinking about it for days afterwards.

    In conclusion, this is a well put together story that is very easy to read. It deals with its questions in an adult way, so be warned some scenes and language may shock. If that doesn’t worry you, then read this story – it is thought provoking, beautifully written with an stylish economy of words and clever. I shall certainly look forward to starting Stuart Aken’s fantasy trilogy soon, havign been impressed by this. .
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  • maureen turner-books by maureen
    4.0 out of 5 stars A perfect world...not necessarily.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 26, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    This futuristic sci-fi novel describes how a hedonistic lifestyle is not all it's cracked up to be. The female lead, Luce, an original contributor to this Droid controlled society tires of how her every need is catered for by artificial intelligence. The story is very sexually explicit and at times I found this a little hard to take. I feel the adage 'less is more' could have applied here. However, the story all came together during the final few pages and the author has to be commended for an unusual tale. How a seemingly perfect world where a dwindling Human population's every need is catered for could actually be a 'Hell on Earth.' This is not in the style of Isaac Asimov but if you like your sci-fi sexually charged, then this could be the book for you.
    Well written and thought provoking.
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