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Sandra Ulbrich Almazan
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Lyon's Legacy: Catalyst Chronicles, Book One Kindle Edition

by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 49 ratings
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Sometimes being a geneticist isn’t enough to understand your family....

Joanna Lyon, descendant of the legendary TwenCen musician Sean Lyon, would rather study genes than play a guitar. Resentful being overshadowed by her famous ancestor, she hopes to establish her own identity as a scientist. Standing in her way is Uncle Jack, who controls the family fortune and insists the entire family go into music. When a wormhole opens to an alternate universe where Sean is still alive, Jack seizes the opportunity to have him cloned and hires Joanna to steal the DNA. Joanna knows that Sean will be murdered and his clone exploited. To save them, she will have to come to terms with her heritage, face her immediate family in her home universe, and take on a role she never expected to play, a role that could block her from her dreams.

A novella of about 36,000 words.
Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 2
    Catalyst Chronicles
  2. Print length
    136 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    October 5, 2011
  6. File size
    703 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005T82Z0G
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Solar Unicorn Publishing (October 5, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 5, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 703 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 136 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 49 ratings

About the author

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Sandra Ulbrich Almazan

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan

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Sandra Ulbrich Almazan started reading at the age of three and only stops when absolutely required to. Although she hasn’t been writing quite that long, she did compose a very simple play in German during middle school. Her science fiction novella Move Over Ms. L. (an early version of Lyon’s Legacy) earned an Honorable Mention in the 2001 UPC Science Fiction Awards, and her short story “A Reptile at the Reunion” was published in the anthology Firestorm of Dragons. She is a founding member of BroadUniverse and a long-time member of the Online Writing Workshop for Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror. Her undergraduate degree is in molecular biology/English, and she has a Master of Technical and Scientific Communication degree. Her current day job is in the laboratory of an enzyme company; she’s also been a technical writer and a part-time copyeditor for a local newspaper. Some of her other accomplishments are losing on Jeopardy! and taking a stuffed orca to three continents. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband, Eugene; and son, Alex. In her rare moments of free time, she enjoys crocheting, listening to classic rock (particularly the Beatles), and watching improv comedy.

Sandra can be found online at her website, blog, and Twitter. Future projects from Sandra include a standalone fantasy story called “The Fighting Roses of Sharon”; Twinned Universes, the second book in the science fiction Catalyst Chronicles series; and Scattered Seasons, the first book in the fantasy Season Lords series.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
49 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Briane F. Pagel Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars This book deserves a place on a sci-fi lover's shelf.
Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2011
Verified Purchase
I recently read Lyon's Legacy and loved it. Almazan's mixture of real (seeming?) science, science-fiction, and family dynamics plays out extremely well, and the story remains relatable while never becoming predictable, which is to say that every time I thought "Oh, I bet this happens," it didn't and something even better happened. The characters are believable and well-written and the story manages that delicate balance of description and action; it's neither Vonnegut-esquely sparse nor John Irving-ishly overwhelming in detail.

I don't read quickly, but the book isn't a long one and it drew me back to it each night to find out what happened next.

Among the most interesting things Almazan does in this book is the character of Sean Lyon himself; for the first 1/3 of the book or so, Sean is simply someone everyone mentions, with varying degrees of reverence or anger, and he becomes and outsized notion, so when Almazan actually brings Sean into the story, it could have been disastrous, but Sean was one of my favorite characters in the book, which speaks of the skill Almazan displays.

Lyon's Legacy is a must-read for anyone who wants a brisk but compelling story that manages to center a family story amidst the wonder of science.

(Read an interview with the author here: [...])
4 people found this helpful
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Toinette
3.0 out of 5 stars Curious to see how this ends.
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2021
Verified Purchase
I like time travel, but this short book is not what I was expecting. I found the unique premise of the story intriguing. While I didn't love the book I enjoyed it enough to get the next one just to see how this all ends. While this is shorter than the average novel, it's long enough that it doesn't feel underdeveloped, though I do have unanswered questions, but that's part of the fun.

I liked the main character by the end of the book but it was a slow build. She is not an unlikeable character but for most of the story her efforts to be overlooked by those who might recognize her works on the reader as well. She's not very memorable for the longest time. This character, which I feel is meant to be a strong female lead, has some issues. I still think she's worthy to carry this story, but her flaws are a bit problematic. She has anger issues but it seems a bit misplaced at times. Then when she meets a wonderful guy, she almost loses him by holding on to her family issues. If you are really into drama, which I'm not, this story will be perfect for you. Still, a little drama is necessary to keep the story going.

The science and the medical aspects of the story fit in well and grounded the story to keep it from feeling too far-fetched. As with many sci-fi tales, there are several moral dilemmas the characters and readers are faced with. Time travel and the rules that come with that and the notion of how and or when to use cloning tech are big themes that help to balance out the drama of the story.

There's also a musical component that I feel added originality to the story. If you really like music it might be enough to pull you in, but not if you're only a casual music fan.

Not sure this is for everyone, but since I enjoyed it, surely others will too.

Recommended to fans of anything time-travel, science fiction with moral dilemmas, and those interested in genetics.
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Mr. Richard Lw Bunning
4.0 out of 5 stars Cloning a Parallel Past into a Present Future
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2013
This short book of 36,000 words is a trifle too short to fully expand and explore all the elements of the plot in the detail I would have liked. Almazan's writing is certainly entertaining and has a lively spark of originality about it.
This book will suit those who wish to read stories about strong female fantasy/SF characters that maintain their individuality and femininity. Joanna Lyon is a research scientist. How refreshingly normal that is. She is a truly normal female with all that that entails, rather than some sort of super-heroic titan that wields a sword better than mere men; so often the fare of modern SF and fantasy.
The action is set on an Earth and a parallel Earth that is possibly identical. This second place is on a timeline that is running slow by a century or so. This parallel existence is an interesting concept as it allows Joanna to go backwards in time to before her own birth, without actually using a time machine. The possibility that the "wormhole" took her back to earlier in her reality, which is certainly a common enough SF scenario isn't contemplated. Almazan's plot-line is far more mathematically plausible. To paraphrase, "time may change thee, but thy can't change time". Well, at least not in one's own past. I actually felt that neither Earth was quite the one I am in, as music had a stronger role in social development in Joanna's than I have observed. Bear to mind, though, that I sit in an atmosphere of words rather than music.
I am a fan of speculative fiction. This story very much fills that bill. Almazan also uses this work as an opportunity to explore scientific issues that are starting to emerge as concerns for all our futures. This book, good read though it is could have been so much more. So many issues of both social and scientific natures are only so lightly brushed. I know this author has a great deal more to say. I hope she does. Perhaps she had been put off by the modern fashion for minimalist and short content; a trend which seems to suggest that humans have suddenly evolved backwards in their attempts to sustain thought. The short sound bite has its place, but that can be achieved sufficiently by the use of short climatic chapters, rather than by producing books that try to get by using far too few words.
Yes, of course a strength of this book is the lack of waffle. You must realise I like waffles, and just wanted a bigger one with even more Almazan chocolate.
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