A crew of ten children are aboard an interstellar vessel named Concordis, on the eve of their tenth birthday. Their sole parental figure is an advanced technological intelligence, the Automated Biological Replication Assistance Machine (ABRAM), integrated with every system of the ship. And on this momentous birthday, ABRAM has something big in store: a Rite of Passage that will come to change the crew's view of their entire existence.
They are no mere children, they are told, but the first generation of cadets in the Human Dispersal Project, sent forth from Earth as frozen zygotes two thousand years before, to colonize a potentially habitable exoplanet named ESUP-9. As the crew learns more about their origin, as well as their uncertain fate, it sends them spiraling out of control. Soon, the integrity of their social system and the vessel itself are confronted with a set of existential threats.
Only by banding together do they stand a chance of defying the impossible odds stacked against them. But banding together is often the hardest thing to do.
------- FROM THE PUBLISHER -------
An integrative exploration of the human condition in which evolution, technology, folklore, and philosophy come crashing at full speed into a modern myth that ponders how we could ever survive as humans in the past, present, and future alike. Follow Pee-pop, Potch, and the rest of the crew as they learn who they are, where they came from, and where they are going in this ocean of chaos.
Industry Reviews
"Chouinard writes kids well; one of the joys of the novel is seeing the microculture the cadets have built for themselves. The hard SF elements are crafted with exceptional detail and verisimilitude. The story is a slow burn, but the author's prose adeptly massages the tension just enough to keep readers engaged...fans of thoughtful SF will find much here to ponder. An inventive, thoughtful space adventure about the nature of purpose and community."
- Kirkus Reviews
"Chouinard crafts characters that by and large become multidimensional and plausible people with believably complex motivations. So, too, are the mysteries they unravel over the course of the story, which avoid supposedly mind-blowing twists in favor of good old-fashioned storytelling. The final result is delightfully readable and thought-provoking. Pleasantly complex and filled with heart, Adam James Chouinard's THE HUMAN DISPERSAL PROJECT melds exuberant sci-fi storytelling with a compelling existential mystery."
- IndieReader ("IndieReader Approved" Rating 4/5)
