The Hunchback's Gift

From their inception, humans followed a path that would ultimately lead to their destruction and

that of the planet they inhabited. To prevent such a catastrophe, a mysterious Force decided humans

needed to be replaced with a species more empathetic, an abstract-thinking species that valued all life.

But how to do that peacefully and without causing undue suffering? Could that guiding Force - natural

selection, superior alien, gods or goddesses - introduce a species that bred with humans and brought with

it a new form of consciousness, heightened empathy, and unique powers? Could the destructive human

genes be diluted to insignificance? What would it be like for the first few generations of advanced

individuals to be surrounded by a sea of slow-witted but resourceful humans? How would they survive

the human penchant for fearing otherness and the relentless instinct to exterminate it?

It began with the Voices, strange expressive Voices that humans mistakenly diagnosed as

schizophrenia. Such eerie stirrings were actually the emerging consciousness of a superior species,

confusing and disorienting to those in whose minds they arose, and misunderstood by the Homo sapiens

surrounding them. In time, the Voices were joined by astounding predictive abilities and even more

shocking powers. The end of humanity had begun.

The replacement of one species by another is nothing new. Homo sapiens interbred with and

replaced Homo neanderthals. Human biologists eradicate dangerous pests by introducing

mutations with desirable genetic traits and allowing the two to interbreed. The Stillness Series

chronicles how the same thing could happen with humans and lead to their replacement by an

advanced, empathetic species.

The Hunchback's Gift, Book IV in the series, follows descendants of the original

disoriented individuals as they develop their extraordinary powers on the way to ultimately

replacing humans and becoming the dominant species on Earth.

Thus goes humanity, gentle into that still night. . . .