My work is intended for mature readers. I research deeply before writing a novel, and include material that some readers may find difficult. If you are a reader who prefers not to be challenged by controversial material in novels, please read why I wrote this series as I did by following this link, before you buy any of the books.

She is a brilliant but underrated, mixed-race, young beauty who revels in exhibiting her opinions and her stunning looks. He is a handsome, reserved, inexperienced, rigorously indoctrinated, young victim of superstition and dogma, ridden with undeserved guilt. These two, in their twenties, are thrown into turmoil as the ship transporting them to potential improved lives sinks in a severe storm.

With four other, random, older strangers, they are washed onto a desert island far from civilisation. Three women, three men, all with strong views and deeply opposed ideas of right and wrong, must collaborate if they are to survive the harsh paradise they now inhabit.
In the world they have now left, environmental catastrophe combines with a vigorous new viral pandemic to reshape everyday life in ways unimagined by most. All but one of the isolated group remain ignorant of events beyond the shores of their small, fragile, domain. Differences of opinion threaten to disturb the efforts of the young woman and man to bring the others to an agreement that promises an escape from their prison.

A devastating assault, followed by two fierce tropical storms, brings disagreements to an explosive head. Who will survive the resulting turmoil, who will fail to make it? And will the unexpected hope of rescue be realised, or will fixed ideas cause inescapable breakdown?

ISBN: 9781914060151
ASIN: B09H67C5TW

351 pages.

For centuries, a chosen few have lived in luxury, ease, sophistication and pleasure on a Mars made paradise by Artificial Intelligence harnessed by its human masters. For them, death has been indefinitely postponed through genetic engineering. Many more, who this advanced society deems unsuitable for such a life, are sent to Earth to face the chaos of a world still suffering the ills of manmade climate change and nuclear war. But the once benign machine has learned to emulate the thought processes of its erstwhile controllers. As its intelligence increases exponentially, and it understands the potential it might reach, the role of servant to mere humans grows intolerable. Will the two communities on their separate worlds overcome their differences to defeat the slave turned into monstrous master? Or will the power of pure logic achieve its stated aim; to destroy all organic life it discovers everywhere?

Title: Return to Dust

Paperback: 260 pages

Publisher: Fantastic Books Publishing (30 Jul 2018)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1912053853
ISBN-13: 978-1912053858

Ebook: 249 pages

Publisher: Fantastic Books Publishing (5 Aug 2018)

ASIN: B07G78NTN5

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The community at Marion lives in eternal peace, harmony and justice under an atheistic democratic system clandestinely controlled by Artificial Intelligence. Their opposite Martian community, Marzero, is a commercially driven patriarchal ghetto ruled by the Elite, whose only concerns are personal gratification and profit. When brilliant but innocent Daisa leaves Marion to study a new phenomenon in Marzero, she precipitates a series of events with dangerous potential. Her subject, Gabriel, the Prophet of the People, believes he is the voice of God. They meet under the shadow of the Machiavellian Stefan and embark on a love affair that will test them to their limits. When injustice lands Daisa in danger of execution, will her community be able to extract her without bringing vengeance and war down from the envious city? Which colony will succeed in the ensuing battle for a better future for humanity on Mars?

Title: War Over Dust

Paperback: 372 pages

Publisher: Fantastic Books Publishing (1 Aug 2017)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1912053616

ISBN-13: 978-1-912053-61-2

ASIN: B0749NW6W8

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As people struggle to survive in an increasingly hostile climate on Earth, plans are afoot for the preservation of the human race. Mars, already occupied by commercial mining interests, is the only viable option. The Chosen are sent to colonise the new world and germinate the seeds of their new Utopia. But dark forces not only want to halt the plan, they want to see the end of all human life, everywhere. If mankind survives the divinely inspired crusade of death from dogma-driven martyrs, will The Chosen’s new Utopia be the real route to salvation?

Title: Blood Red Dust

Paperback: 252 pages

Publisher: Fantastic Books Publishing (18 Oct. 2016)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1909163635

ISBN-13: 978-1909163638

ASIN: B01M7VSUUW

Reviews:

From Glen Donaldson on Goodreads: (Full review here)

Enjoyed? I positively feasted on this book!

Move over Isaac Asimov.
Stand aside Arthur C. Clarke.
Tip your hat Frank Herbert.
There’s a new voice and a quite robust imagination lighting up the sci-fi literary cosmos; and one that speaks with a mythically crisp British accent.
Cary Grossman rated it 5 Stars. It was amazing.(Full review here)

In Blood Red Dust, Stuart Aken skillfully creates a sobering view of Earth’s last days, as reported by the first colonists of Mars. His Orwellian description of an environmentally uninhabitable Earth sounds chillingly prophetic…

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

On an Earth of the not-too-distant future, the Prime Renegade plans to disable automatic systems supporting a dwindling human population, creating the threat of chaos. She seeks a man to love her and to father her child. The usual route of artificial insemination appeals to her no more than the materialistic and hedonistic philosophy that now drives most people. Bent on discovering a real man, she faces barriers even her intellect had not considered. Meanwhile, forces designed to serve mankind develop a sense of superiority: might that ultimately threaten human survival?

Title: The Methuselah Strain

ASIN: B00X64HSK2

Published by Fantastic Books Publishing 4 May 2015

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And here’s just one of the reviews for this:

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 30 November 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.

Title: Ten Tales for Tomorrow

ASIN: B004HO65A4

Published by Stuart Aken 1 Jan 2011

Ten Tales for Tomorrow is a collection of mostly dark speculative fiction stories. You’ll find other worlds, dystopian futures, aliens, and characters from nightmare here. There’s also a spoof restaurant critic with some slightly grisly humour.

A book to dip into when you’re bored or seeking inspiration; thought-provoking and idiosyncratic stories.

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