The Trillionist

The Trillionist, Sagan Jeffries, Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, 2013

This novel is the story of a young man named Sage Rojan. Even from birth, Sage's parents knew that he was "different."

In the crib, it looked like he was talking to someone. He spoke in complete sentences at a very young age. As a child, Sage would suddenly fly into a rage, for no apparent reason. He was also incredibly smart.

The reason was that Sage had a Presence, not an actual being, living inside him. The Presence needed a technologically advanced planet, so, with its "help," Sage invented all sorts of techno-marvels. It started with a way to learn what was happening on the other side of the world. Imagine if America had technologically progressed from the light bulb to the Internet, within ten years. Sage becomes the most popular person in the world.

The Presence thought nothing of taking over Sage's body, working it past the point of exhaustion, and letting Sage deal with the aftermath. He couldn't tell anyone about the Presence, because his popularity would vanish, and he would be thrown in the equivalent of a mental hospital. His popularity did vanish, because the Presence's single-minded determination turned Sage into a mean, rotten person.

In space, Sage is forced to build a thing which goes very wrong. It starts moving toward Sage's planet, and will destroy the planet if it reaches it. An attempt to tow it out of the way is a failure. A plan to teleport the whole population to another world never gets going. The only possibility is for Sage to plead his case before The Artisan, the being which created the universe. Does he succeed? Does The Artisan help Sage get rid of the Presence, once and for all?

The story is very easy to read, and does a fine job at showing a society in technological fast-forward. From start to finish, it is very much worth reading.