1759 was a defining year for the colonies that became Canada. It was also the year the British Empire rose to preeminence over other European nations and empires.
Welcome to the January 31st stop on the blog tour for XNOR by Anand Purohit with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts & interviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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Author Guest Post
A Uniquely Human Virus?
Native North American people called it Wetiko in the south and Wendigo in the Canadian north. Lacking a knowledge of viruses, they preferred the idea of an evil spirit invading a human, consuming them, forcing the victim to feed an insatiable need and thirst for jealousy, greed and power. Wetiko, a lunacy blinding a person from consideration of others was feared as a European might fear typhoid or smallpox. Infected people were shunned if the evil spirit could not be exercised by a Shaman.
Though it was common for tribes to have squabbles, even wars over hunting and fishing rights, their wars were not battles of annihilation. More often they were displays of displeasure and threats with few serious injuries and fewer deaths. Occasionally, a tribal member would deviate from the common tradition of communal sharing. It was believed this person was infected, captured by Wetiko.
When the hairy, white men came ashore everything changed. Wetiko had arrived en masse. Outnumbered, unable to compete, unwilling to integrate with those infected, Native people chose to band together as best they could, waiting for the day when Wetiko would either consume itself or all the bounty Nature had provided.
When I read of the story of Wetiko, it reminded me of viruses known to infect insects and small animals driving them to act in completely irrational ways detrimental to their survival but vital to the propagation of the virus. I had to wonder, could humanity harbour a similar virus unaware of its existence?
About the Book
XNOR
by Anand Purohit
Published 7 September 2021
Tellwell Talent
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Page Count: 539
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
1759 was a defining year for the colonies that became Canada. It was also the year the British Empire rose to preeminence over other European nations and empires. All that changes when technology deployed in 2047 to shield Canadians from an escalating world conflict inadvertently teleports a group of scientists, engineers, teachers and medical people back to Nova Scotia, 1759. Despite their technological superiority, they, like many new settlers, struggle to establish a homestead, feed their community and deal with the constant threat from a violent world. Established empires with their large populations are not about to let a small group of upstarts interfere in their lucrative slave trade and subjugation of whomever they please.
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Excerpt
Chan is uncharacteristically circumspective. “If you have truly developed a means to communicate with an intelligence, whatever its nature, and with the capability to cause a physical effect, this is monumental … and potentially dangerous. Very dangerous! My first decision is to lock down any communication of your research. Our contracts with our military prevent scientific publication of research such as this for one year until the military has time to evaluate its impact on their operations. I have no intention of revealing much to them at this time. I will move cautiously, as should you.”
“We have a multi-trillion-dollar technology in the making here,” Peggy interjects. “If we truly have control of it, the potential is unlimited. It will revolutionize all transportation, including travel to the stars. On the other hand, are we in control of it, or is it out to control us?”
Chan’s mind is racing. Is this technology scalable? Maybe it’s just an interesting lab phenomenon. “Have you experimented with other materials or object sizes?”
“We experimented with several sizes of steel and plastic balls and transfer distances,” Neil answers. “The same amount of AI processing is used. If we want to demo something really big, like a house, the problem will be in defining the volume to be teleported. How much of the earth beneath the house will also move? What will we destroy in the space where the house is moved to? Doing a large-scale demo on land will be tricky.”
About the Author
ANAND PUROHIT was born and raised in a Caucasian, Christian family. After several years of inexplicable experiences, he travelled as young man to India for insight. The shocking immersion, alone in a chaotic and foreign culture, forever changed him. Wandering among the slums, always on the edge of death and disease, his perception was shattered. He returned to Canada with a new name and legalized it to cement his commitment to a life of mindfulness.
While enlightenment proved elusive, the quest for greater understanding remained strong. Forty years of software design and business ownership did not quell the thirst. Constant study of history, logistics, physics and metaphysics watered the desire to weld a nexus between analyst and mystic.
The days of designing complex software systems have passed. A new door has opened.
Giveaway Alert!
Anand Purohit will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway| Nov 8 | Long and Short Reviews | Nov 15 | Literary Gold |
| Nov 22 | Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews | Nov 29 | Fabulous and Brunette |
| Dec 6 | Hope. Dreams. Life… Love | Dec 13 | Booklover-Sue |
| Dec 27 | All the Ups and Downs | Jan 3 | Seven Troublesome Sisters |
| Jan 10 | Kit ‘N Kabookle | Jan 17 | Gina Rae Mitchell |
| Jan 24 | The Obsessed Reader | Jan 31 | Westveil Publishing |
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Thanks for hosting!
I have this book on my wish-list and can’t wait to read it. Such an interesting premise for a story
Hello Bea, thanks for your support throughout the blog tour.
I hope that you have enjoyed your book tour and I wish you the best of luck in all of your future endeavors. I am looking forward to reading your book
I have enjoyed the tour. Sounds like a good read.
Congratulations on your recent release of XNOR, Anand, I enjoyed following the tour and learning about your book, which sounds like a great book and the cover is very nice! Good luck with your book and I hope the tour was a success! Thanks for sharing it with me and have a spectacular week!
Thank you, Eva for following the tour. It has been a success in ways I never expected.
I love the cover and the excerpt.
What inspires your main character ideas?
Hello Tracie, your question seems simple at first glance. The more I thought about it, the more difficult it became to answer.
The XNOR story has its roots in the idea of a community of 5000+- people from various disciplines (no lawyers or politicians) and with above average skill and/or intelligence somehow being transported back in time to 1759 and Nova Scotia province of the British Empire.
I wondered which characters and disciplines would dominate the leadup to the teleport (how it could feasibly happen without a purely magical cause like many time travel fictions employ). Then I wondered how the different characters might change their individual viewpoints and positions within the community after the teleport.
I’m sure the story is open to much needed and deserved critique. As a first-time author, it was my best shot. An improvement is in progress.