Maria Rodrigues’ parents were not who they seemed, and so the girl is raised apart from them, hiding without understanding.
As she grows into adulthood and becomes enthralled by environmental activism, she meets a man whose genius is tempered by his questionable ethics, coming to learn that the lines between what is right and what is necessary are so easily blurred.
Philosophy, ethics and science are at odds as a disparate cast of soldiers, technicians and explorers clash in the maelstrom surrounding the Ismud project – Earth’s first crewed interstellar probe. Some will seek validation for past wrongs; others revenge for festering pain; some merely a meaning to their existence; while others will stop at nothing to see their genius brought to life.
These lives are mapped with sympathetic immersion, narrating a multivalent trajectory that will see a future cut short as the Ismud launch looms...
Science Fiction, Dark, Environmental Activism, Medical Ethics, Human Nature, Meaning of Life
About The Author
Ishmael lives with his wife in Brisbane, Australia.
He's been writing since 1996, with many short and flash fiction published prior to approaching Temple Dark Books with his debut novel, Sha'Kert: End of Night. In this multi-perspective first-person POV, Ishmael's writing is genuine and heartfelt, insightful and raw. He weaves a tale of desperation, isolation, separation and – ultimately – discovery that manages to comment on the ills and obligations of modern society while screaming at us to find our own reason for living.
Sha'Kert: End of Night was well received by Publishers' Weekly, and was nominated for the prestigious Ditmar Award by Ion Newcombe, the editor and publisher of Antipodean SF, Australia's longest-running online speculative flash fiction magazine.
Ishmael has been interviewed on the Australian Book Lovers podcast, and an extract from Sha'Kert: End of Night was featured in the Canadian webzine, The Quarantine Review.
