Tooth and Talon

Humanity and creatures on an exoplanet are bound by tragedy.

Oya Valette knows that her traditional family values, instilled by her grandmother, will be challenged by her desire to pilot the FTL transport ship HS Hurricane to Beta Hydri, where she and a small crew of base-line humans will ferret out genetically modified ‘harpies’ and set up their own master colony.

Faced with the potential annihilation of the inhabitants of the planet, Oya must either choose to accept their past illegal deeds or embrace the possibility of a fresh future together.

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Embracing the aspects of inclusivity, society, and human emotion on an alien world, Tooth and Talon explores what it means to be human and stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of Latino and Latina science fiction.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alex Hernandez is a Cuban American science fiction writer based in South Florida, and the first of his family to be born in the U.S. He is a library director at Miami Dade College.

For the most part he is a solitary writer, but his work represents as part of the Latinofuturist movement, which includes visions and presentations of space futures. (1)

Hernandez’ most influential experience with (written) science fiction was when he discovered Isaac Asimov’s short stories and immediately connected with the author’s immigrant story. Perhaps because of that, the themes of migration, colonization and posthumanism permeate his work, which usually blend the subgenres of space opera and biopunk. His stories have previously been published by Bean Books, The Colored Lens, Interstellar Fiction and others.

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(1)The future of human travel and engagement with space is usually portrayed in science fiction as a predominantly all-white endeavor. The alternatives to an all-white conquering, space faring society exist, but the views of those coming from those underrepresented, non-white communities are rarely if ever discussed or considered in the public eye.