For centuries, men have been dreaming of telepathy, the power to read and influence the minds of others. Now, all around the world, telepaths are finally starting to appear. Men and women are developing awesome powers with the potential to dramatically change society. Governments are soon starting to become aware of them, even recruiting them, while striving to keep knowledge of their abilities hidden from the general public. Academic researchers too are discovering telepaths and it isn’t long before awareness of their existence starts to spread. But non-telepaths, ordinary people, don’t want to have their minds read or controlled; the telepaths soon find themselves widely regarded with fear and hatred. Inevitably, some of them want to fight back.
In this alternative history, albeit set in the near-future, Christopher Nuttall explores the likely impact of the appearance of telepathic abilities in some members of the human race. While telepathy and related psionic abilities have long been a mainstay of science-fiction, the impact of their emergence has not been as well imagined as, say, that of fantastic mutations. Almost everyone has something to hide, thoughts they wouldn’t want made public. Governments have secrets they wish to keep, whether for national security or just to hold on to power. How would the general populace react to mind-readers in their midst? How would telepaths respond when threatened by a frightened mob, or constrained by politicians fearful of the disclosure of scandals and long-buried secrets. Intelligence agencies would be both alarmed at the threats and intrigued by the possibilities. Would all nations respond in the same way?
And then there’s the endless possibilities for criminals and terrorists…
