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Back The Last Christian
Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Other Books by This Author
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Prologue
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. 47
  55. 48
  56. 49
  57. 50
  58. Author’s Note

Writing The Last Christian required extensive research in the fields of artificial intelligence, future trends, and jungle and missionary life. The two books upon which I relied most were a riveting personal life story, Child of the Jungle: The True Story of a Girl Caught Between Two Worlds by Sabine Kuegler, and a fascinating look into the possible future of artificial intelligence, The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by Ray Kurzweil. I am indebted to these authors for helping shape my thoughts in their respective areas of expertise and experience. My thanks also to the following authors whose writing enriched my understanding:

On jungle and missionary life:

Michael Dawson, Growing Up Yanomamo: Missionary Adventures in the Amazon Rainforest

Clarence Wilbur Hall, Miracle on the Sepik

Joel P. Kramer, Beyond Fear: A Harrowing Journey Across New Guinea Through Rivers, Swamps, Jungle, and the Most Remote Mountains in the World

Peter Matthiessen, Under the Mountain Wall: A Chronicle of Two Seasons in Stone Age New Guinea

Candice Millard, The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey

Mark Andrew Ritchie, Spirit of the Rainforest: A Yanomamo Shaman’s Story

On artificial intelligence:

Damien Broderick, The Spike: How Our Lives Are Being Transformed by Rapidly Advancing Technologies

Bill Joy, “Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us,” Wired, April 2000

Jay W. Richards, editor, Are We Spiritual Machines? Ray Kurzweil vs. the Critics of Strong A.I.

On future trends:

John Brockman, editor, The Next Fifty Years: Science in the First Half of the Twenty-First Century

James Canton, The Extreme Future: The Top Trends That Will Reshape the World in the Next 20 Years

Mike Wallace, editor, The Way We Will Be 50 Years from Today: 60 of the World’s Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century

Prologue

APRIL 3, 2088

I see your neurons firing, Ray.”

The voice was familiar, one Ray Caldwell had known for decades. Bryson Nichols’s face came into view overhead.

I must be on my back.

He had no such sensation. He tried to turn his head to the right, then the left. It didn’t respond. He tried moving his fingers. No sensation. Panic swept through him. He was paralyzed.

“I brought you back to consciousness to let you know about the procedure.”

The procedure. On whom? There were no more procedures scheduled. Caldwell had canceled them all.

Nichols’s face slid in and out of view as he hovered above and behind, wielding surgical instruments with which Caldwell was all too familiar.

No…He wouldn’t …

Nichols spoke calmly as he worked. “I do so apologize for having drugged you. But it was the only way. You know how much I’ve valued our working relationship—our friendship—these many years. I’d never do anything to jeopardize that friendship.