It sometimes feels like writing the back cover book description is harder than writing the book. Over the past months I’ve written at least three versions for my novel Deception Well–Book 2 of the Nanotech Succession. Today I wrote two more. I need to get it right this time, because I’m about to send in the files for the print version. If you’ve got a minute to read the following, I’d appreciate feedback. If you haven’t read the book, all the better. But even if you have, I’d still appreciate hearing your opinion.

UPDATE: NEWEST VERSION (07.25.2011)

In a war of belief, faith is a virus, and it’s spreading fast.

Remnants of an alien nanotechnology infest the surface of the planet, Deception Well, giving rise to deadly plagues that make the Well uninhabitable—or so most believe. Jupiter Apolinario saw it differently. He believed the planet was host to an ancient, alien mechanism of transformation meant to embrace all life forms in an ecstatic communion. Jupiter disappeared on the planet along with a handful of followers, though whether they were taken by death or transcendence, no one could say.

Ten years later, Jupiter’s son, Lot, stands at the center of conflict. Like his father, Lot has a seductive presence, and a charismatic nature that seems more-than-human. People are helplessly drawn to him. Their faith in him is strong and their numbers are growing, but Lot is beset with doubts about his father’s teachings. So he sets out to learn the truth about Jupiter, about his own powerful calling as a prophet, and about the real nature of Deception Well, where a razor-thin line divides bliss from damnation.

SHORT VERSION:

In a war of belief, faith is a virus, and it’s spreading fast.

Lot has a seductive presence and a charismatic nature that he inherited from his father, a prophet who preached that transformation and an ecstatic communion could be found among the alien plagues that infest the wilderness planet known as Deception Well.

Lot’s father disappeared on the planet ten years ago, but whether he was taken by death or by transcendence no one can say.

Conflict ignites around Lot as he sets out to learn the truth about his father’s fate, about his own disturbing calling as a charismatic prophet, and about the real nature of Deception Well, where a razor-thin line divides bliss from damnation.

LONGER VERSION:

In a war of belief, faith is a virus, and it’s spreading fast.

Deception Well is an isolated planet on the frontier of human settlement. A massive space elevator links ground to orbit, but the elevator cars were disabled long ago to prevent the spread of alien plagues that infest the wilderness of the planet’s surface. The only settlement is the sky city of Silk, perched on the elevator column.

Silk exists in a fragile balance that’s shattered by the arrival of Jupiter Apolinario, a charismatic prophet who preaches that the alien plagues of the Well do not lead to death, but instead to transformation and an ecstatic communion of human and alien life forms. When Jupiter defies the people of Silk and attempts to lead his fanatic followers to the planet’s surface, battle ensues. Thousands are killed, Jupiter disappears, and the people of Silk must learn to live with the despised survivors, who still dream of redemption in the Well.

Ten years later, as the city’s resources are stretched thin, tensions multiply, and eighteen-year-old Lot, Jupiter’s son, is drawn into a struggle over faith and the city’s future that he’s been desperate to avoid. Like his father, Lot has a seductive presence, and a charismatic nature. People are drawn to him. Their faith is strong and their numbers are growing, but Lot is plagued with doubt.

So he sets out to learn the truth about his father’s fate, about his own disturbing calling as a charismatic prophet, and about the real nature of Deception Well, where a razor-thin line divides bliss from damnation.