A Clifton Springs author has released his first book tackling the effects of technology on society.
The Silent Society by Rich Larsen was released on May 25 and is an adventure novel about a disease that makes its sufferers unable to speak.
Mr Larsen said he wanted to write something with “a lot of substance” and decided to write a story about humanity’s reaction to a disease.
“We’re at a point in our society now where we’re really drifting away from what human beings were designed for,” he said.
“There’s a lot of technology that we’re perhaps not equipped to deal with, and I saw this mismatch in our past and what we’re living through now.
“We’re just not equipped to deal with the technology that we face each day, the screen time, and the disconnection with the natural world.”
Mr Larsen said he combined his two loves of science and the outdoors and that it was nice to “understand the natural world” in different areas worldwide and “try to put that into words”.
“The lead character travels all around the world and I really liked researching those particular destinations,” he said.
“It was hard to write, but it was a lot of fun and when I realised that it was done, it was a really nice feeling.”
Mr Larsen said he had the idea of an illness sweeping across the world but didn’t know where his book would initially lead.
“It starts out as a very isolated thing, and they’ve got this core team that are looking to solve the issue,” he said.
“I thought it added to the intrigue and difficulty in finding a solution that people weren’t able to portray how they were feeling and what was going on in their lives.”
