Zach Parker
The Ghost in the Heart of Tarven
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Check out the first chapter to get a feel for it!
The Ghost in the Heart of Tarven is a sci-fi corporate espionage novella with a Midcentury Americana vibe and more than a dash of fantasy and office banter.
and/or add it to the TBR on Goodreads!
Ludeng Corporation has done the improbable. They have developed a device inserted just below the heart that makes people live three times longer. But the Heart of Tarven is more a miracle than a scientific breakthrough. The source of its power and the mechanism by which it operates are a mystery. Not even the brightest minds in the Shilloan Empire have been able to reverse-engineer the technology.
What makes the Heart of Tarven beat?
That is the question that drives Dian Corporation to send Birik Lev, a failed scientist and disappointing son of privilege, to infiltrate Ludeng in a desperate attempt to rescue its falling stock price.
His only source inside is a fellow new employee, Adiri Roni, a failed entrepreneur falling back on a corporate career, who is fascinated by the Lost Gods, the once deities of the Shilloan Empire who left Their people millennia ago.
Birik finds the laboratory that birthed the Heart holds more than machinery and test tubes. He finds lies, love, consequences, and an Old Power all but forgotten.
Quotes!
Opening paragraph: Birik Lev waits for his offboarding interview in a cavernous shared office space that Dian Corporation employees call the Pen. According to the human resources department, the origin of the name is a mystery. According to every other department, the name notes the similarity between the roles of the junior scientists who work there and livestock.
On Religion: “If Man wants to play God, He should be Godly. He should take on the Gods’ burden, not just Their power…”
On Corporate Productivity: "Bitching is part of my process."
On Science: “He has tenure. I have deadlines.”
On Beauty: I have never seen anyone so beautiful, and the fact that such a creature exists in the same world as me is the only convincing evidence I have ever heard that the Gods exist and that They love me.
On Interplanetary Relations: “Well, that answers one question I’ve had about Tarvenians but have been too afraid to ask: it is green...”
Reviews!
If you would like a free copy to review The Ghost in the Heart of Tarven on your blog, YouTube, Goodreads, etc (i.e. you're amazing and undoubtedly very good-looking), please reach out on either Twitter/X or Instagram or zachparker_sff (pawnzac) on Discord or zachparkersff@outlook.com, and I'll send you a copy to review!
Some advantages of The Ghost in the Heart of Tarven for content creators:
- It is a novella. So it has a low time-to-content ratio. Very important for a content creator.
- It is a complete, standalone story. (Although the plan is to have more books in this world, the first few books will be able to be read in any order and are complete stories in-and-of-themselves).
- It's got themes in it — Grade A themes. So you have a lot you can discuss, critique, praise about the author's brilliance, etc.
- I have very thick skin and won't be a dick if you don't like it :).
Future plans
The world in GITHOT (pronounced: git-hot, my favorite abbreviation of the novella title) first appeared in a very long draft novel I wrote, but in revising I realized that probably a better way to tell the story was in a number of shorter novels/novellas. The first few stories will be able to be read in any order. I really like the novella as a format as well so I might stick to it. I find it fun to write, and, as a reader, I like being able to finish a story in one sitting. The Ghost in the Heart of Tarven is the first novella in this series, but the novella is completely standalone.
The three novellas I've sketched out or written first drafts of (all titles "working titles") with the briefest, vaguest teases:
- The Three Strangers At Dah-At: three strange women show up at a space station.
- The Mouse: some people rebel.
- Sarra: a civil war (this one is more novel-length than novella).