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Exertions of Better Men

The Better Men Series, Book 1

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About this listen

He wanted to end it all. Instead, his adventure is just beginning....

Denver, Colorado, 2009. Nicholas Smith is done with the world. After losing his wife in Operation Iraqi Freedom, the devastated engineering professor sees only one way to escape his grief. But when he leaps from a waterfall into the waiting arms of oblivion, the haunted man of science instead finds himself impossibly catapulted into the year 3010.

Tortured at the hands of a despotic dictator, Nicholas refuses to cooperate despite being threatened with execution. But after he’s rescued by a desperate band of freedom fighters, the lost academic believes he may at last have found a reason to live.

Can one man from the past bring hope to the future?

Exertions of Better Men is the thrilling first book in the Better Men science fiction series. If you like unexpected heroism, historic weaponry, and vividly evocative settings, then you’ll love Ashley B. Venenga’s apocalyptic what-if.

©2021 Amber Dragonfly LLC (P)2021 Amber Dragonfly LLC Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Time Travel
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In "Exertions of Better Men", Nicholas Smith's leap into oblivion quickly devolves into a wacky escapade through time and tyranny, where losing his wife morphs into dodging a dictator's whims. As he navigates the absurdity of a dystopian 3010, the question arises: can a man broken by grief really ignite hope in a future so bleak? Venenga deftly mixes unexpected heroism with a touch of irony, reminding us that sometimes, salvation lies not in solemn reflection but in the sheer ridiculousness of existence itself. As Nicholas grapples with his newfound purpose, we’re left chuckling at the cosmic joke of it all—grief may be a heavy burden, but it can also lead to the most absurd adventures.

From Grief to Absurdity

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