ASCENDANTS
Ascendants is a high-stakes technothriller where proof of an afterlife collides with corporate power in a future transformed by scientific achievement, authoritarianism, and the collapse of religious ideology.
“Don Schechter’s Ascendants is a provocative thought experiment on the future of consciousness and our quest to transcend biological mortality. It underscores the moral imperative to guide our technological ingenuity toward the common good, reminding us that the fate of humanity and the universe itself is in our hands.”
— Ray Kurzweil; Inventor, Author, and Futurist
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“The terrifying intersection of eugenics, theology, and political power.”
By 2060, society has been divided into two classes by a groundbreaking discovery: An afterlife exists, but only for the genetic few. Ascendants are genetically destined to experience what comes after. Biomasses are condemned to oblivion.
This new era of Ascension is controlled by The Jacobs Institute, a powerful research organization challenging the limits of consciousness and morality. Ascendants follows three characters caught up in The Institute’s web of secrets—the visionary scientist who started it all, a grieving husband beholden to his belief, and a fierce young woman grappling with what society has become. What will it cost them to unravel the science that fuels The Institute’s power?
A gripping techno-thriller, Ascendants is both a warning against the weaponization of science and belief, and a vision for the survival of humanity.
Next Generation
Indie Book Awards 2026
Finalist – Science Fiction
Readers’ Favorite 2026
Five Stars
2026 Pacific Book Awards
Finalist – Science Fiction
★★★★★
“Ascendants is a fascinating look at the intersection between science and philosophy and examines what can happen to those in a capitalistic environment. This modern cyber-punk adventure is a mirror to our current society and values, in the way that the best science fiction intends.”
—Erin Macdonald, PhD
Science Advisor for Star Trek
“Ascendants feels like a high-concept Black Mirror episode stretched into a techno-thriller, maintaining a breakneck pace while forcing you to grapple with profound ethical questions. . . . If you’re a fan of cerebral science fiction, like the works of Philip K. Dick, or modern dystopian thrillers that blend fast action with deep moral complexity (think Altered Carbon), this book is a must-read.”
—Manhattan Book Review
“Don Schechter’s Ascendants is a provocative thought experiment on the future of consciousness and our quest to transcend biological mortality. It underscores the moral imperative to guide our technological ingenuity toward the common good, reminding us that the fate of humanity and the universe itself is in our hands.”
—Ray Kurzweil
Inventor, Author, and Futurist
“Ascendants is a gripping techno thriller unlike anything I’ve ever read. The story pulls you in —tackling life and death in unexpected ways that keeps you turning the pages.”
—Derek Tyler Attico
Author of Star Trek: The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko
“[An] exciting dystopian novel… about power, faith, and transformation… Marked by intrigue, Ascendants follows an escaping family whose story exposes how some belief systems are used to justify harm.”
—Foreword Reviews
Full Review
From readers
Reviews on Amazon.
★★★★★
“What if a single genetic test decided not just who lives, but who gets to keep living after death?”
This reader read it against Brave New World — Huxley’s hatchery and caste-at-birth swapped for a genetic test and a biotech monopoly — and found the warning updated for an age of consumer DNA kits and death-tech startups. On the writing: “scenes move with a director’s sense of momentum, and the institutional intrigue escalates with genuine techno-thriller propulsion.”
Amazon · verified purchase · September 2026
★★★★★
“A debut of real conviction, and a mirror held up to our own age.”
Called it a rare thriller that earns its big questions instead of gesturing at them, and never lets the ideas float free of grief.
Amazon · verified purchase · June 2026
★★★★★
“A thrill ride that had me flipping pages well into the night.”
Recommended for readers who finished Blake Crouch’s Recursion and went looking for the next one.
Amazon · May 2026
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About the Author
Don Schechter is the founder and CEO of Charles River Media, as well as a filmmaker and professor of the practice at Tufts University. He is the cohost of No Win Scenario, a science fiction podcast. Ascendants is his debut novel.