The Geniuses in my novel “Geniuses”

Why did I write the novel “Geniuses”? Well, I noticed that today in popular culture (books, TV and movies) the heroes and villains often have extraordinary powers, like Superman, Spiderman, X-Men, etc.  I decided to make my characters super intelligent. Why? Because, our intelligence is the most important distinguishing characteristic of our species. I’ll discuss my Geniuses in a second.  But first, let me tell you about human intelligence in general.

On the bell-shaped distribution curve of human intelligence, most of us by definition have average intelligence, with IQs between 85 and 115. Some authorities define genius as an IQ above 140. Others say, above 160. But most agree that over 200 is really getting there.

We can observe great intelligence all around us, from today’s electronic gadgets to the ancient Pyramids.

We’re very curious about these extraordinary accomplishments and the minds that achieved them. We study Aristotle, Galileo, da Vinci, Newton and, of course, Einstein. His brain was removed soon after he died, and it’s been analyzed for years trying to figure out what gave him such amazing mathematical and spatial abilities.

Despite the Einsteins in our history (the geniuses who do come along every hundred years or so), some people believe that our ancestors could not by themselves have built the Pyramids or the other wonders of the ancient world.  They think there had to be some agency external to our species. Some even speculate that aliens from outer space contributed to our advances.

My novel is a fantasy, and I provide in it a different explanation.  A small group of people with IQs of over 1,000 have lived among us since the beginning of time. They call themselves “Geniuses”, with an upper case “G”. They have concealed their abilities, fearing what we would do to them. Still they have secretly guided us through the ages. They were, for example, instrumental in the construction of the Pyramids.

In addition to their great intelligence and creativity, the Geniuses in my novel may have other special aptitudes, such as: telepathy, the ability to create or erase memories, mind control, telekinesis, levitation, projection of laser-like pulses of energy as weapons, healing powers, and prophecy.

Great intelligence does not necessarily bring with it good judgment or virtue. The Geniuses in the Eastern Hemisphere try to use their abilities to control those they call “Ordinaries” and dominate the world. The Western Geniuses have always opposed this, trying to permit Ordinaries to control their own destinies. Many of the conflicts throughout world history have actually been clashes between Geniuses.

The good Western Geniuses include: Roxanne Reynolds, a beautiful Genius teenager and her powerful parents. The evil Geniuses include – the brothers Karl and Klaus Kleper.  The Klepers have been fighting Roxanne’s father Roger for over a hundred years. Suspicions run high when Andor Lysenko, an Eastern Genius teenager, arrives at Roxanne’s high school as a transfer student.

As the battle heats up, Roxanne must learn not to misuse her special powers as she deals with bullies and what she thinks are overprotective parents. Even though warned that she has been targeted by the Eastern Geniuses, Roxanne seems to be falling in love with Andor.  Roger was emotionally scarred by the murder of his parents when he was little.  The evil Geniuses are exploiting this by threatening the lives of his deeply loved wife and daughter.  Will Roger be able to save them and the world from the powerful evil Geniuses?

I’m not going to tell you what happens. You’ll have to read the book.