Revived to build a utopia. Educated by recordings. Their perfect society collapses the moment they step onto the ruined Earth.
Title: Killer Earth
Author: R. Morello
Series: Standalone Novel
Publisher: Cathedral Rocks Publishing
ISBN: 9798883340634
Format: Ebook and Paperback
Pages: 86
Word Count: 22,849
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian, Post Apocalyptic
A small, naive group awakened after millennia to build a perfect society on a ruined Earth must confront the immediate collapse of their utopian ideals under the weight of human nature and a harsh post apocalyptic reality.
Killer Earth follows a small group revived from millennia of suspended animation and educated by recordings to build a perfect society on a ruined Earth. Naive and untested, they step into a post apocalyptic world determined to create a utopia, only to watch their ideals collapse under social immaturity, harsh reality, and the brutal truths of human nature.
Killer Earth follows the awakening of a small, carefully selected group of men and women who have spent thousands of years in suspended animation after humanity’s near total destruction. While the rest of the species vanished beneath the fallout of its own wars, this group was preserved as a final attempt to rebuild civilization. During their millennia of sleep, the group was educated entirely by instructional recordings meant to prepare them for their mission: return to Earth and construct a flawless utopian society free from the failures of the past.
But the moment they emerge from their underground vault, everything begins to unravel.
The world they step into is a harsh, scarred wasteland, silent, empty, and brutally indifferent. Although they have been taught the principles of leadership, cooperation, and perfect social harmony, they possess no lived experience, no survival instincts, and no understanding of human nature beyond what their recordings taught. Their innocence, once a gift, becomes a catastrophic liability.
As they attempt to settle into the hostile terrain, their inexperience quickly reveals itself. Social structures crumble under pressure. Jealousy, fear, and immaturity take root. What was meant to be the foundation of a perfect society becomes the seedbed of conflict. Leaders falter. Friendships fracture. Their noble mission, built entirely on theory, collapses the moment it is tested by reality.
Without the psychological resilience or emotional intelligence needed to navigate real danger, the group spirals into chaos. The dream of utopia collides with the unforgiving truths of survival, exposing the fragility of human ideals in the face of scarcity, fear, and the unknown.
Killer Earth is a stark, philosophical post-apocalyptic novella that examines what happens when untested idealists confront a brutal world they were never prepared to survive. Through its concise and unflinching narrative, it explores the failures of utopian thinking, the vulnerability of human aspiration, and the devastating gap between the societies we imagine and the realities we inherit.
The Failure of Utopia: Discusses the impossibility of creating a perfect society based solely on theoretical learning and recordings, contrasting idealism with reality.
The Brutality of Human Nature: Examines how quickly order and morals break down when untested individuals are exposed to high stakes survival scenarios.
Post Apocalyptic Realism: A bleak and honest look at the struggle for survival in a harsh, ruined world.
Nature vs. Nurture: A talking point on whether the long sleep and recorded education prepared them for true leadership and society building.
A dark, philosophical take on the post apocalyptic genre, focusing less on zombies and more on the collapse of human ideals.
A short, brutal, and fast paced read ideal for fans of intense dystopian fiction.
Highly rated by reviewers for its unflinching look at human fragility.
Readers who enjoy dark, psychological, and realistic post apocalyptic stories.
Fans of dystopian fiction that explores social dynamics and philosophical themes.
Anyone looking for a quick, impactful standalone novel in the science fiction genre.
R. Morello writes psychological and surreal science fiction that explores grief, identity, memory, and the hidden emotional worlds people carry inside them. Shaped by New England roots, his work blends speculative concepts with deeply human storytelling.
R. Morello is a speculative fiction author whose work blends psychological tension, cinematic surrealism, and deeply human emotional arcs. His novels and novellas, including Upside Down, Fractured Echoes, and the Simulation trilogy, explore grief, identity, and the unseen internal worlds we rarely reveal.
His stories often feature “dual selves,” mirrored identities, looping realities, and emotional architectures made literal.
He writes for readers who want more than escapism stories that feel uncomfortably true, beautifully painful, and haunting long after the final page.
ISBN: 979-8883340634
Author photos (on request)
R. Morello
Cathedral Rocks Publishing
