“Mr. Ronco's realistic dialog gives flavor and edge to his characters. The climax is taut and powerful. ”
Jeanette Cottrell, Reviewer, eBook Reviews Weekly, Author of Sliding on Rainbows
Everything About Futuristic Thrillers and Hard Science Fiction
Written by administrator
Tuesday, 18 December 2007
Well, I’m two for two now.Two books, two publishers belly up.Yup, Kunati Books, the publisher of Unholy Domain, has gone out of business.It has joined Winterwolf, the publisher of PeaceMaker, in that great publisher’s purgatory in the sky. I swear I’m not to blame.I was nice to both of them.It’s just a really tough business and you have to be well-capitalized.Both publishers are good people, and they returned all the rights to my books before they closed the door.
When your publisher disappears, it really makes you scramble.Obviously, I want to keep my books available for purchase.When Winterwolf disappeared, I decided to self-publish.It was a lot of work.I hired Lightning Source as my printer and contracted with a graphic artist to design a new cover.Never liked the original PeaceMaker cover.It turned out well and you can purchase PeaceMaker as a trade paperback or for the Kimble, but, like I said, it was a lotta work.I’d much rather be writing.
So this time I decided to pick BookSurge to publish Unholy Domain.BookSurge is owned by Amazon, so I’m hopeful they will stay in business for at least a week or two.The people I’ve worked with seem both pleasant and professional.The plan is to print a trade paperback version of Unholy Domain, which should be available around Thanksgiving at Amazon and other online retailers.Libraries and bookstores can order Unholy Domain from Baker and Taylor.
Here’s a little news --- I finished the final edits of my new novel, tentatively titled 2031: The Singularity Pogrom.2031 completes the story that began with PeaceMaker and continued in Unholy Domain.However, I sneaked sufficient background into each book so that they read quite well on a stand-alone basis.What I’m saying is that you can read 2031 without reading PeaceMaker or Unholy Domain.Although I hope you buy all three.
Stay tuned.I have to find a publisher for 2031.This time I think I’ll break the hex.Maybe.
*****
Check out the review of Unholy Domain that just appeared in The Road Not Taken. I was pleased that the reviewer appreciated my effort to describe a realistic world for 2022. I researched current trends and thought about what that year might look like. Unfortunately, our current economic crisis is becoming similar to the depression and increased government conrol described in UD.
ReaderViews selected Unholy Domain as a finalist in the Science Fiction category of the 2008 Literary Awards. The reviewer said " It is evident that Dan Ronco knows of what he writes. With intricate knowledge he weaves this web between futuristic good and evil that had me sitting up all night reading.". Update: Unholy Domain was selected as the runner-up.
*****
Cheryl's Book Nook called Unholy Domain " a great high-tech, sci-fi, techno-thriller" in a recent review. Since Cheryl isn't a fan of any of those genres, it was high praise.
*****
Plants and Books, a book review blog, rates Unholy Domain five stars.The reviewer enjoyed exploring the oncoming collision beteen science and religion.
*****
Bold. Blue. Adventure, a book review blog, sponsors the Sci Fi Experience, an annual event that celebrates science fiction. The idea is to read a variety of outstanding novels during the first two months of the year. Unholy Domain was included in the 2009 list (see below) of classic and new science fiction novels, which is quite an honor.
Sci-Fi Experience Challenge Blog Host: Carl V Rules: And so with great pleasure I announce The Sci Fi Experience 2009, which will run from January 1st through February 28th, 2009. As I said last year, this is an experience and not a challenge. There are no reading lists, book requirements, etc. I do not argue about what is or is not considered ’science fiction’. Nothing about this two month period of science fiction celebration should cause anyone to feel obligated to participate. I host two other very involved challenges throughout the year and the last thing I want to do is start a new year adding stress to your busy lives or my own. This is simply a time to experience how exhilarating science fiction can be.
My Pool: Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card Unholy Domain by Dan Ronco Strangers in Death by J.D. Robb The Road by Cormac McCarthy The Planet That Wasn't by Isaac Asimov Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut Transition by Vonda McIntyre The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury Radio Free Albemuth by Philip K. Dick Quicker Than the Eye by Ray Bradbury Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury The Toynbee Convector by Ray Bradbury
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I was pleased to learn that Unholy Domain was selected as one of the three best novels of 2008 by The Soulless Machine Review, a blog with a focus on science fiction. That makes two honors so far (see below).
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*****
Simon Barrett, a book reviewer for the Blogger News Network, selected Unholy Domain as one of the best books of 2008. Needless to say, I'm thrilled. He identifies several other excellent novels, too. Read it on BNN.
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*****
My two novels are set slightly into the future: PeaceMaker in 2012 and Unholy Domain in 2022. In the initial planning for these novels, I researched trends in technology and Western culture, with the objective to make the settings realistic. I tested this research against a lifetime of observation, and solicited feedback from reviewers and writers. What I discovered led me to conclude that women are becoming more like men. You can decide for yourself whether this is good or bad.
As a result, my novels are dominated by strong women, which allowed me to write a provocative and very different type of thriller. In Unholy Domain, for example, Dianne Morgan is the leader of the Domain, a clandestine group seeking world power. Dianne’s allies include a female assassin and the leader the New Jersey mob, also female. Dianne’s primary adversary is a religious terrorist named Moesha Jefferson. All the women are intelligent, beautiful and very dangerous, easily a match for the novel’s male characters. David Brown, the lead male, is a college student hunted by the women. Quite a bit of role reversal from the typical thriller, wouldn’t you say?
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The idea of alpha women is fascinating, so I decided to start a new blog dedicated to strong female leaders. Check it out when you have a minute.
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*****
Read my interview with Megalith for BlogCritics Magazine. Checkout my predictions for artificial intelligence.
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*****
Blogger James Goodman said "Unholy Domain is hands-down the best techno-thriller I've read in recent years." It's great to hear praise like that. Even better than writing a best seller. Well, almost ...
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*****
Grady Harp, a Top Ten Amazon Reviewer posted a great review of Unholy Domain. He said "there are few books out there that whisk the reader away on as exciting journey as this very well written book. Dan Ronco will be around for a long time with novels of this caliber."
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*****
UD just garnered its 40th Amazon review. The average is 4 1/2 stars, with no review less than 3 stars. Read it, you'll like it.
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*****
*****
Bookworm, an Amazon Vines Voice, had a few interesting thoughts in his review of Unholy Domain.
One can almost see this tale played out as a metaphor for our world situation today. The "Technos"(United States government ) are pitted in a war against the "Army of God" (religious Muslim fundamentalists) in an apocolyptic fight for dominance. Or metaphor number 2, the "Technos" (read Supreme court decisions) versus the "Army of God" (the religious right). Roncos book lends itself to an abundant variety of interpretations not the least of which is, "Will our dependence on computer technology eventually lead to our downfall."
*****
The Book Czar found the issues explored in Unholy Domain very believable. I believe the conflict we see today between radical Islam and modern societies is only the first step in a war that will peak in about two decades.
*****
Here's news! J. Kaye's Book Blog is the first blog to review both PeaceMaker and Unholy Domain. I was thrilled to learn that both books received five checks (stars). BTW, JK will raffle PeaceMaker on October 22.
*****
I was recently interviewed by Norm Goldman, Publisher and Editor of Bookpleasures.com. Interested in learning what makes a thriller really hum? Read the interview.
Unholy Domain is a sequel to Dan Ronco’s previous book Peacekeeper, but you don’t have to have read that to read this. I hadn’t and it all made sense. If I had to sum up Unholy Domain in a soundbite I would probably say Tom Clancy meets William Gibson.
In 2022 and the world is sinking into a massive depression. After the death and chaos caused by the Peacemaker virus in 2012, the US government enacted heavy restrictions on advanced technology. The effect was to stifle growth and the countries infrastructure is slowly collapsing.
The Church of Natural Humans is pursuing a relentless crusade against Technos and using their Army of God are prepared to go to any lengths to defeat Satan. On the other side of things a shadowy technological group called the Domain are using organized crime to distribute illegal advanced technology including robots with sophisticated AI.
And right in the middle is David Brown, the son of the man blamed for creating the Peacemaker virus. David has inherited his fathers talent for coding, but he also has a unique ability to interface his mind directly with computers. All three groups come crashing together as the world reaches a crossroads and the path of the future is decided. more
Posted by Aaaron M. Wilson on the Soulless Machine Review.
Unholy Domain by Dan Ronco was the second novel that I read while I was in Puerto Vallarta, to read the review of the first, click here: DARWIN’S PARADOX by Nina Munteanu.
Imagine a world several years after a computer virus called Peacemaker destroyed nearly all internet connections in the world and infected almost all computers. In this world, Peacemaker is indirectly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people due to loss of remote control of utilities, phones, satellites, hospitals; everything that we take for granted stopped working.
In the aftermath, the government has taken control of all technology related R&D; and in the wake of this take over, two opposing forces have arisen: the Technos, who push the envelope, creating new and illegal technologies, which are sold on the black market by the mob; and the Church of Natural Humans, a terrorist-like sect of Christianity that believes all machines, smart-technologies, are spawns of the devil ... more
Blogger News Network Interviews Dan Ronco About Unholy Domain
I really enjoyed Dan Ronco’s latest book, Unholy Domain, it is set in the near future, and paints a bleak picture of what might happen in the aftermath of a computer virus that spreads through the Internet. More and more the net is becoming part of the worlds infrastructure. Email is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity. If you look at 20 bill boards, you will find that 19 of them will have a www address rather than a phone number. Our reliance and acceptance of the Internet is all consuming. But is our reliance on the net too much?
Daring, innovative, and predictive of ethical quandaries yet to arrive, Unholy Domain is a novel to be reckoned with. Author Dan Ronco utilizes his vast understanding of engineering and technology to give us a vision of the future well within the realm of possibility. This could be one of those rare occasions when we as a people could learn the lessons for mistakes we have yet to make. The drama that defines these lessons is not bad either. more
Unholy Domain takes place in the near future. It’s an exciting and sometimes alarming story where technology and religion clash and fight it out to the death.
The religion is fundamentalist in nature with the freedom of owning a gun one of its precepts. They view all technology as works of the devil and work hard to destroy their enemies. The Church of Natural Humans is a frightening vision of religious fanaticism. more
There are a plethora of sci-fi books that have explored what the Earth would be like after the apocalypse, and generally the apocalypse in question is a nuclear war, or some sort of plague.
Unholy Domain takes this genre in a new and very thought provoking direction. One only has to spend a couple of minutes researching the history and growth of the Internet to realize how in the space of just a few years it was woven itself into the very fabric of our world. We have near instantaneous communication via email, we have access to enormous repositories of information, it has become a part of our day to day life. I could not live without it! more
MY Favorite TV Science Fiction Characters
Over the years, a surprising number of excellent science fiction characters have appeared on television. A memorable character requires good writing, superb acting and a little charisma. Usually, several memorable characters may be found on a good television series, one that meets the test of time. Often it takes several years to really buy into a character, because great characters are complex, developing or revealing themselves over several seasons. A critical mass of good writers is also essential; one good writer can’t carry a show year after year.
In any case, I’d like to describe a few characters that stand out in my mind. I enjoyed them when I first saw them, and I still enjoy them in reruns. Let me add that many fine characters, such as Captains Kirk and Picard, G’Kar, Boomer, Mal, Tasha, Crichton, Scotty and others didn’t make the list. They’re good, but I had to cut somewhere. My favorites are listed below as I thought about them; it’s not a ranking. more
On Science Fiction Characters
If you are a serious reader of science fiction, you have probably noticed the smugness of so-called mainline or literary readers. You know the type --- they don’t consider SF real literature. Among many deficiencies, they think SF is peopled with cardboard characters. This attitude irritated me until I realized there are differences. more
The Singularity is Coming!
Some futurists believe there will be a point in the not too distant future where the rate of technological development becomes so fast that it will advance beyond the control of humanity. This event is called the Singularity. The most likely cause would be rapidly advancing artificial intelligence. more
Immortality: Is it Possible?
I’m not sure I would want to live forever, even if I could. Immortality, it just doesn’t seem right, somehow. Would I want additional years? Absolutely, as long as the quality of life was there.
Start thinking about these issues, especially you folks under thirty. You will have decisions to face for yourself and your children.
Scientists are working hard to increase the human life span. And they are making progress in a number of fields. I’m not writing a research paper, but here are a few snippets of exciting advances....more
Where does the Darkness in my Writing come from?
I’m a nice guy. Really. All that conflict, torture, and mayhem that you read in my novels, well, that’s not really me. At least I don’t think so.
Let me explain, since you may not have heard of me. I write novels about the near-future, the next two or three decades. My first novel, PeaceMaker, published in 2004, looked at the destruction caused by a lethal computer virus augmented with artificial intelligence. Definitely not a namby-pamby virus that you catch with a standard anti-virus program. Nope, the PeaceMaker virus shut down computers across the globe, millions died from lack of power, water, health care, but I’m not writing a synopsis. You get the picture. more
UNHOLY DOMAIN
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David Brown, a brilliant but troubled young man raised in the dark shadow of his long-dead father, a software genius who unleashed a computer virus that murdered millions.
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The Domain, a secret society of technologists developing Sentinel, an artificial intelligence with the ability to take humanity to the next stage of evolution.
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The Army of God, a cult of fanatics within a renegade church, murdering anyone they consider a technologist.
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When David receives a decade-old email that indicates his father may have been framed, he plunges into a gut-wrenching race with the real killers to discover the truth about his father … and himself.
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A deliberately staged IT catastrophe leaves the world sunk into depression and the US government ineffectual. The secretive and powerful Domain, using organized crime to spread its technology, seeks to take humankind to the next level of evolution through artificial intelligence. The fanatical Army of God battles to stop them. Dan Ronco’s fast-paced techno-thriller depicts a world of violent extremes, where religious terrorists and visionaries of technology fight for supreme power.
Order Unholy Domain now on Amazon and earn a 27% discount.
"UNHOLY DOMAIN is an entertaining futuristic cautionary thriller."
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Bestselling author Piers Anthony
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endorses Unholy Domain
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"Another fast-action story of vicious extremes, as a powerful religious cult takes on a sophisticated tech outfit. Each means to destroy the other and rule the world, and neither is scrupulous about the means. The protagonist is caught precariously between the two. Top rate adventure sparkling with ideas."
Bestselling author Scott Nicholson
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puts Dan Ronco on a par with
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William Gibson and Robert Sawyer
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"A chilling technothriller. Dan Ronco not only
understands evolving technology, but the social forces
that see it as either good or evil. What's scary is
not that this might happen in the future...but that it
is already happening. Dan Ronco is a social visionary on a
par with William Gibson and Robert Sawyer."
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More praise from R. Douglas Weber
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author of Solomon's Key: The CODIS Project
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"Unholy Domain tackles the age-old battle of scientific enlightenment and reason vs. religious fanaticism. In a future world ravaged by technology two factions fight for supremacy. Dan Ronco tells a tale that is unique, provocative, and engrossing while maintaining enough slam-bang action to keep you turning the pages. It reads like a cross between Blade Runner and Angels and Demons."
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Simon Wood, the Anthony Award winning author
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of Paying the Piper compares Dan Ronco
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to Philip K. Dick
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"Dan Ronco fills the gap left by Philip K. Dick with Unholy Domain."
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Reviewed by Booklist Magazine
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"Thought-provoking --- a solid futuristic thriller."
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Reviewed by Publishers Weekly
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"Interesting --- second volume in a proposed trilogy"
"PeaceMaker is exciting, violent, thoughtful
and unfortunately, true to life
… a powerhouse of computer adventure "
--- Piers Anthony
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PeaceMaker, a devastating computer virus designed to crash global systems.
Dianne Morgan, a woman out to gain her revenge, no matter what the cost.
Ray Brown, a man willing to go the ultimate distance to stop her.
The Internet, the world and a man's soul all hang in the balance.
Hello, and welcome to my passion --- near-future thrillers. PeaceMaker, my first novel, was released by Winterwolf Publishing in August, 2004 and Unholy Domain will be released by Kunati Publishing in Spring 2008. Although still available at Amazon and many bookstores, PeaceMaker will appear on this website as a serial novel. You can now read the complete story. If you’d like to begin reading, just pull up PeaceMaker/Prologue and jump in. free of charge.
Also wanted to let you know that I recently began a new book giveaway. Reader recommendations are very important to a new author like me, so I will send a free copy of Unholy Domain to readers who agree to post a review of Unholy Domain to Amazon or another online bookseller.
