David  Walton

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David Walton

Goodreads Author


Born
in Philadelphia, The United States
Website

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Member Since
October 2009

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David loves to read science fiction and lives near Philadelphia with his wife and eight children. His latest series, LIVING MEMORY, is a thriller in which paleontologists save the world.

"Walton has brought hard sci-fi roaring back to life."
—The Wall Street Journal

“One of my favorite science fiction writers, Walton consistently delivers exciting thrillers packed with likeable characters and big ideas.”
—Craig DiLouie

"...gives the reader exciting insights into the threats and the promises that are coming our way."
—Vernor Vinge

...more

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Popular Answered Questions

David Walton Thanks for asking! I'm working on the second draft of The Gray, a novel about an alien takeover with a unique twist. The alien in question is a gray g…moreThanks for asking! I'm working on the second draft of The Gray, a novel about an alien takeover with a unique twist. The alien in question is a gray growth that takes things apart and remakes them new and better! But is better good? According to whom? We can't communicate with it, and we don't even know if it's alive itself or programmed by aliens elsewhere. When it takes apart buildings and remakes them better, we might be pleased. When it takes apart people... not so much.(less)
David Walton Yes, it's an intentional play off of Asimov's laws, with some discussion in the book about how those laws apply to modern day systems. The book also i…moreYes, it's an intentional play off of Asimov's laws, with some discussion in the book about how those laws apply to modern day systems. The book also includes "three laws of warfighting AIs" considering military AI that is intentionally made to do harm, and the dangers inherent in that. The title "Three Laws Lethal" is a play off of the "Three Laws Safe" mantra used in Asimov's robot stories.(less)
Average rating: 3.72 · 7,716 ratings · 1,194 reviews · 11 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Genius Plague

3.74 avg rating — 3,952 ratings — published 2017 — 13 editions
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Superposition (Superpositio...

3.66 avg rating — 1,822 ratings — published 2015 — 13 editions
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Quintessence (Quintessence,...

3.51 avg rating — 697 ratings — published 2013 — 7 editions
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Three Laws Lethal

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 469 ratings — published 2019 — 7 editions
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Supersymmetry (Superpositio...

3.74 avg rating — 451 ratings — published 2015 — 7 editions
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Terminal Mind

3.59 avg rating — 233 ratings — published 2008 — 10 editions
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Living Memory (Living Memor...

4.03 avg rating — 97 ratings — published 2022 — 4 editions
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Deadly Memory (Living Memor...

4.18 avg rating — 51 ratings — published 2023 — 4 editions
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Quintessence Sky (Quintesse...

3.93 avg rating — 30 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions
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Memory Reborn (Living Memor...

4.40 avg rating — 15 ratings3 editions
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More books by David Walton…

Living Memory

livingmemorycoverebook


LIVING MEMORY is the first book of a globe-spanning thriller trilogy about extinction and genetic possibilities.

When paleontologists Samira and Kit uncover dinosaur skeletons in northern Thailand, they find the remains of an ancient genetic technology that nations will kill to control. Catapulted into a web of murder and intrigue involving the Chinese Ministry of State Security, a powerful Asian c

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Published on September 29, 2025 18:35
Superposition Supersymmetry
(2 books)
by
3.67 avg rating — 2,273 ratings

Quintessence Quintessence Sky
(2 books)
by
3.53 avg rating — 727 ratings

Living Memory Deadly Memory
(2 books)
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4.08 avg rating — 148 ratings

The Good Dog
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Children of Strife
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Katabasis
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by R.F. Kuang (Goodreads Author)
bookshelves: fantasy, currently-reading
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Quotes by David Walton  (?)
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“The truth is, everyone is confused by quantum physics.”
David Walton, Superposition

“He should call it Oronzi’s Law: Any sufficiently-advanced intelligence will be indistinguishable from insanity.”
David Walton, Supersymmetry

“I guess if you’re smart enough, you can do and say what you like and people just call you eccentric. It’s like being old.”
“Or rich,” Alex said.”
David Walton, Supersymmetry

Polls

What would you like to read in the spring? The books with the most votes will be our selections for April, May, and June, though there may be a runoff poll at some point. of each books price and availability.
Only vote if you will return to discuss (if your book wins), please. Take note
Happy voting!

The Genius Plague by David Walton
2017, 384 pages, 3.74 stars
$10.49 Kindle, should be at larger libraries, print starts at $5.49


"In this science fiction thriller, brothers are pitted against each other as a pandemic threatens to destabilize world governments by exerting a subtle mind control over survivors. Neil Johns has just started his dream job as a code breaker in the NSA when his brother, Paul, a mycologist, goes missing on a trip to collect samples in the Amazon jungle. Paul returns with a gap in his memory and a fungal infection that almost kills him. But once he recuperates, he has enhanced communication, memory, and pattern recognition. Meanwhile, something is happening in South America; others, like Paul, have also fallen ill and recovered with abilities they didn't have before. But that's not the only pattern--the survivors, from entire remote Brazilian tribes to American tourists, all seem to be working toward a common, and deadly, goal. Neil soon uncovers a secret and unexplained alliance between governments that have traditionally been enemies. Meanwhile Paul becomes increasingly secretive and erratic. Paul sees the fungus as the next stage of human evolution, while Neil is convinced that it is driving its human hosts to destruction. Brother must oppose brother on an increasingly fraught international stage, with the stakes: the free will of every human on earth. Can humanity use this force for good, or are we becoming the pawns of an utterly alien intelligence?"
 
  34 votes, 30.1%

American War by Omar El Akkad
2017, 384 pages, 3.80 stars
$14.99 Kindle, should be at most libraries, print starts at $10.79


"An audacious and powerful debut novel: a second American Civil War, a devastating plague, and one family caught deep in the middle a story that asks what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons upon itself

Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, and that unmanned drones fill the sky. When her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she begins to grow up shaped by her particular time and place. But not everyone at Camp Patience is who they claim to be. Eventually Sarat is befriended by a mysterious functionary, under whose influence she is turned into a deadly instrument of war. The decisions that she makes will have tremendous consequences not just for Sarat but for her family and her country, rippling through generations of strangers and kin alike."
 
  30 votes, 26.5%

The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus by Richard Preston
1994, 352 pages, 4.14 stars
Used print starting at $1.99, $14.99 Kindle, not at library


"A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic "hot" virus. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their "crashes" into the human race. Shocking, frightening, and impossible to ignore, The Hot Zone proves that truth really is scarier than fiction.">
 
  22 votes, 19.5%

Road Out of Winter by Alison Stine
2020, 315 pages, 3.67 stars
$8.99 Kindle, should be at larger libraries, print is 18+


"In an endless winter, she carries seeds of hope

Wylodine comes from a world of paranoia and poverty—her family grows marijuana illegally, and life has always been a battle. Now she’s been left behind to tend the crop alone. Then spring doesn’t return for the second year in a row, bringing unprecedented extreme winter.

With grow lights stashed in her truck and a pouch of precious seeds, she begins a journey, determined to start over away from Appalachian Ohio. But the icy roads and strangers hidden in the hills are treacherous. After a harrowing encounter with a violent cult, Wylodine and her small group of exiles become a target for its volatile leader. Because she has the most valuable skill in the climate chaos: she can make things grow.

Urgent and poignant, Road Out of Winter is a glimpse of an all-too-possible near future, with a chosen family forged in the face of dystopian collapse. With the gripping suspense of The Road and the lyricism of Station Eleven, Stine’s vision is of a changing world where an unexpected hero searches for a place hope might take root."
 
  15 votes, 13.3%

Mara and Dann by Doris Lessing
1999, 407 pages, 3.85 stars
$7.99 Kindle, should be at larger libraries, print is 17+


"Thousands of years in the future, all the northern hemisphere is buried under the ice and snow of a new Ice Age. At the southern end of a large landmass called Ifrik, two children of the Mahondi people, seven-year old Mara and her younger brother, Dann, are abducted from their home in the middle of the night. Raised as outsiders in a poor rural village, Mara and Dann learn to survive the hardships and dangers of a life threatened as much by an unforgiving climate and menacing animals as by a hostile community of Rock People. Eventually they join the great human migration North, away from the drought that is turning the southern land to dust, and in search of a place with enough water and food to support human life. Traveling across the continent, the siblings enter cities rife with crime, power struggles, and corruption, learning as much about human nature as about how societies function. With a clear-eyed vision of the human condition, Mara and Dann is imaginative fiction at its best."
 
  12 votes, 10.6%

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