A literary cross-genre love story and adventure, for the intelligent reader. (British English Edition)
(The hard cover editions are two books in one, as they include the separate book, Unfettered Journey Appendices.)
Six Book Awards in 2021:
*** Eric Hoffer New Horizon Award (Best Debut Fiction) and *** Grand Prize Shortlist
*** Eric Hoffer Book Award (Spiritual Fiction)
*** The Wishing Shelf (UK) Finalist (Adult Fiction)
*** National Indie Excellence Award Finalist (*** New Fiction, *** Science Fiction)
"It's a captivating and fast-paced futuristic love story ... a future that feels eerily authentic..."
- She's Single Magazine
Unfettered Journey is the story of Joe Denkensmith, an AI scientist who seeks to create true robot consciousness. He leaves everything behind to find answers. But a mysterious woman on a personal mission interrupts his search. Fighting unjust forces, Joe is swept into an evil plot that neither can elude. Their struggles against machines, men, and nature test the resilience of the human spirit.
Set in a richly imagined near future, this is a cross-genre novel combining thrilling action, adventure, and a love story. It traces an epic journey - from inside the human mind to the vastness of space, from AIs battling in the desert to the peace of a mountain refuge. It asks social, spiritual, and philosophical questions that will linger. How does the will to survive bring clarity to the human experience? What would you sacrifice to achieve social justice?
"Shades of Huxley and Asimov. Gary F. Bengier has created a science fiction adventure that is reminiscent of the masters."
- Lee Scott, for the Florida Times-Union