Cygenic by Monique Poirier
Circlet Press, an imprint of Riverdale Avenue Books, has just published Cygenics by Monique Poirier. The book takes place in the not-so-distant future, where human DNA and advanced technology have combined to create sentient machines that look and feel oh-so-human, whether they are used as nannies, nurses, or sex toys. But what happens when a sex toy sits up and demands rights?
Dante is blond, brilliant, and beautiful because he was made that way, commissioned and raised by an eccentric professor to prove a point. After the professor’s untimely death, Dante’s life is reduced to usage by the state, because technically a cygenic is a machine, not a person. To everyone, Dante is just a piece of “wetware” that happens to think and feel like a human. Drudgery at the hands of the state isn’t the worst fate, though. Many humans have developed cruel tastes they satisfy with cygenic exploitation. Can Dante rise above the sordid and sadistic circumstances he finds himself in?
Nate is a programming prodigy with a righteous soul. Fresh out of college, he goes to work for a nonprofit dedicated to rehabilitating destitute cygenics. But cyborgs aren’t the only ones being taken for granted and exploited by those who may be human but are far from humane.
Dante and Nate are both lonely, angry, and left vulnerable by a world that should have treated them better… and they are on a collision course. Can they navigate the pitfalls of love, lust, and systematic oppression together, or will the system rip them apart?
“Like all the best robot and cyborg stories, Cygenic asks us to examine our own humanity, in particular the very human needs for sex and love,” said Editor of Circlet Press Cecilia Tan. “I’m so pleased to have Monique Poirier’s first novel. She has been selling brilliant erotic short stories to Circlet Press for over a decade and it has been fantastic to watch her stretch her wings with a full-length book.”
