Holtondome by Ryan Southwick

SPSFC 2023

Seg Holton yearns to leave his isolated farming dome and travel the ravaged Earth, or even to Mars Colony. Only a few things stand in his way: an authoritarian government, deadly storms, and an enchanting outsider who may be the most dangerous of all. Fast-forward 500 years. Civilization has nearly wiped itself out of existence, and is on the long, slow road to recovery, held together by an agreement called the Pact between cities, agricultural domes, and a new global government. Seg is a farmer in Holtondome. Like his ancestors, he's chosen a life of ignorance about technology and the outside world in favor of a simple existence, free of the corruption that almost destroyed the human race. His world turns upside down when Fi arrives. Tall, exotic, and far too wise for her age, she challenges everything he's been taught to believe, making him question for the first time if a simple life is right for him or, indeed, for the rest of humanity. But Fi has secrets darker than her black-ringed eyes — bigger than the Pact — that have implications far beyond Seg and the residents of Holtondome.

Adult • Science Fiction/Post-Apocalyptic • Science Fiction/Dystopian