Alterra — Zachary Bonelli

Young people on Alterra must choose. After completing secondary school, they enroll either in University-a life of science and mathematical pursuits-or Monastery-a life of literature, history and spiritual depth. Initiate Le is approaching graduation. All his life, he has prepared himself for University, but something feels wrong. Neither University nor Monastery compel him forward. One night, Le discovers Initiate Stok, a fellow near-graduate, sneaking into a 'zone,' a dangerous area cordoned off from the rest of the city where nanotechnology runs rampant. Against all reason, Le follows Stok inside, and what he discovers will change him and his world forever. Equal parts love story, military adventure and social philosophy, Alterra is the story of three young men striving to save two estranged parallel worlds whose only hope for survival is to rectify the ancient schism that shattered them both.