HIVE by DL Orton
“We have to take the risk, Madders. Go back and start the dominoes falling in another direction … we just need one tiny, new poke.”
In DL Orton’s latest sci-fi adventure, HIVE, two lovers must make the ultimate sacrifice to save humanity. In order for one of them to go back in time and rewrite the past, the other will be left in a crumbling biodome surrounded by swarms of deadly microdrones.
As the first installment of the Madders of Time series, HIVE sets the stage for an epic tale of love, survival and second chances — both for our protagonists and the world.
A Desperate Plan to Rewrite the Future at a Devastating Cost
Isabel and Diego may be protected within the Eden biodome, but that doesn’t mean they’re safe. Far from it. Isabel is dying and desperate, willing to do whatever it takes to change the past. When the possibility emerges to do just that, she and Madders — the disembodied AI program all that remains of the brilliant physicist Matt “Madders” Hudson — convince Diego to go back in time and help set the future on a different course.
What ensues is a sci-fi puzzle box of moving parts and shifting pieces surrounding Isabel, Diego and Matt, alongside an entourage of curious scientists, greedy billionaires and overbearing government agents. Through the digital eyes of Madders using the Trans Timeline Viewer, readers see the effects Diego’s presence has on the flow of time.
A gentle nudge here, a slipped note there, and the multiverse opens up as timelines subtly diverge. Isabel and Diego’s lives are suddenly on a different path, but is it enough to change the fate of humanity?
Time Travel, High Stakes and a Multiverse on the Brink
HIVE perfectly balances its attention on characters, action and mystery, driving the plot forward in a way that keeps readers hooked at every turn: from Matt’s abduction and Diego’s struggling business and regretful love life, to Isabel’s covert plans for the microdrone program and a team of scientist’s search to unlock the secrets of time travel and the multiverse.
The complexity of these characters makes them feel real, while their interpersonal dynamics come across as gripping and emotional without venturing into melodrama. Isabel’s personal struggles — divorce, heartbreak and, eventually, grief — alongside her professional dilemmas make her an especially captivating character. Her bravery alongside her tender heart, her sass and her vulnerability, will surely linger in many readers’ minds.
And author DL Orton’s decision to frame the story around the Trans Timeline Viewer adds an unexpected layer of suspense as it allows readers to see how the timeline is fluctuating — or not — at different points in the story.
Characters That Feel Real, Emotions That Hit Hard
While HIVE is the first in the Madders of Time series, the book is connected to Orton’s previous series, Between Two Evils, through its familiar characters, settings and sci-fi elements. While the previous series adds depth and nuance to the story, readers will find HIVE just as compelling without having read the previous books.
While the science fiction elements of the story feel grounded in the real-world, they still maintain an air of the fantastical, which makes for an entertaining read for any sci-fi junky. Some aspects of the plot stand out as imaginative, while others seem eerily possible.
Like all science fiction, the sci-fi aspects are meant to enhance a story rooted in reality: a story about real people and the lengths they’ll go to for love, for greed, for power and for redemption. HIVE is sure to appeal to sci-fi fans both for its imaginative storytelling and its commentary on humanity, both on a global and personal scale, asking the important questions: Where is our future headed, and is it too late to change course?
About DL Orton:
The best-selling author, D.L. ORTON, lives in the Tropics with her husband, a golden retriever mix, a Siberian cat, and a bazillion geckos.
When she’s not writing or playing tennis, she’s busy building a time machine—mostly so someone can go back and finally get the laundry done.
Ms. Orton is a graduate of Stanford University’s Writers Workshop and a past editor of “Top of the Western Staircase,” a literary publication of CU, Boulder. The author has a number of short stories published in online literary magazines, including Literotica.com, Melusine, Cosmoetica, The Ranfurly Review, and Catalyst Press.
Her debut novel, CROSSING IN TIME, has won numerous literary awards including an Indie Book Award and a Publishers Weekly Starred Review. It was also selected as one of only 12 Great Indie Stars by BookLife’s Prize in Fiction.
