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WORK TITLE: The Icelandic Cure
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1969
WEBSITE: http://www.jdmoyer.com/
CITY: Oakland
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1969; married; children: daughter.
EDUCATION:University of California, Davis, J.D.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, musician, blogger, martial arts instructor, and database application developer.
WRITINGS
Contributor of short fiction to periodicals, including Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, InterGalactic Medicine Show, Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, and Compelling Science Fiction.
SIDELIGHTS
Based in Oakland, California, J.D. Moyer is a science fiction writer, electronic musician, record label organizer at Loöq Records, and blogger. He earned a J.D. at the University of California at Davis. In his writing career, he has published science fiction and fantasy stories in various publications, such as Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, and the InterGalactic Medicine Show. He writes about genetic engineering, the sociological effects of climate change, virtualized consciousness, and evolutionary divergence. He produced electronic music in two groups, Jondi & Spesh and Momu, and has been a disc jockey, event promoter, and music placer in films and television.
Moyer’s first story, The Sky Woman: From Ringworlds to Earth, an Epic Struggle of Love and Survival, published in 2018, follows anthropologist Car-En on a field assignment observing the Happdal villagers, a Viking-like society in the mountains. She especially notices the handsome bow hunter, Esper. Then, after her sister is kidnapped by a sword-wielding outworlder, Car-En breaks contact with her advisor and follows the abductor into the mountains.
The 2018 The Icelandic Cure, Moyer’s next novelette, won the 2016 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction contest. In 2021, Icelandic scientists have created a retroviral gene therapy that can cure all diseases as well as mental health issues. As part of the U.S. delegation from the Centers for Disease Control, Jane Tokugawa is sent to investigate this remarkable cure, called the Hrattnif (“fast knife”) protocol. However, head scientist and founder Ásdís Lúthersdóttir is vague about the details, especially as to who exactly controls the cure and who decides who gets it. Jane soon realizes that the other members of her delegation have ulterior motives for going to Iceland. After learning the truth behind the Hrattnif cure, Jane’s next actions may affect the lives of millions of people.
The story brings up for discussion issues of medical ethics, people’s right to choose their medical treatment, corruption in the medical field, and the horrific consequences of medical advancements used in the wrong hands. A Publishers Weekly reviewer called the story a curious combination of an ethical thought exercise with medical jargon and introspection. The reviewer concluded that despite the brevity of the story, underdeveloped characters with minimal backstory, and events that feel forced, “this is a strong, thoughtful story that inspires hope for the future, [and] curiosity about medical progress.” Online at Arkansas International, a contributor noted: “The chapbook prioritizes a well-paced plot and subtext-laden dialogue over description, including atmospheric details that would have solidified the setting.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, January 29, 2018, review of The Icelandic Cure, p. 174.
ONLINE
Arkansas International, https://www.arkint.org/ (June 1, 2018), review of The Icelandic Cure.
About J.D. Moyer
Hello and welcome to my blog!
I write science fiction, make electronic music, and blog about my various interests. I live in Oakland, California with my wife Kia Simon, our daughter, and our mystery-breed dog.
Science Fiction
My short stories have appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Strange Horizons and Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores. Here’s my list of published fiction. Here’s a list of some of my favorite science fiction novels. My favorite authors include William Gibson, Iain Banks, David Mitchell, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Octavia Butler, and many others.
My debut science fiction novel “The Sky Woman” comes out this September. You can preorder it here.
Recurring themes in my fiction include genetic engineering, the sociological effects of climate change, virtualized consciousness, and evolutionary divergence. I started to write science fiction in earnest once I became a father, thinking about both grim and hopeful possibilities for our species and our planet.
Music
I produce electronic music as Jondi & Spesh, Momu, and other aliases, and run Loöq Records with DJ Spesh. Our tracks have been played by the world’s top DJs as well as featured in major motion pictures (Groove), TV shows (C.S.I.), and video games (Dance Dance Revolution) and released on a multitude of labels including Bedrock, Renaissance, Proton, 19Box, and Sony BMG. Some of my older tracks are considered classics. You can listen/read more here. Here’s my complete Discography.
Other Stuff
Some people say you should focus on just one thing and ruthlessly eliminate all other activities and pursuits, but I side with Heinlein:
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
― Robert A. Heinlein
In addition to writing and music, I also work as a freelance database application developer. I have developed and maintained projects for BART, Google Transit, Alameda County, the San Francisco Symphony, and a number of small businesses and non-profit organizations.
In the past I have worked as an event promoter, DJ, movie extra, martial arts instructor, dolphin cognition researcher, and Renaissance Faire fish hawker.
Other activities/hobbies I enjoy: reading great science fiction and fantasy, tabletop RPGs (especially Dungeons & Dragons), painting miniatures and making terrain, sword-fighting, racquetball, keeping up on health and nutrition research, watching MMA fights, metal detecting, and genealogy research.
If it sounds like our interests overlap, then I invite you to subscribe to this blog (right sidebar), and/or follow me on Twitter (I might follow back or I might not–I read almost every tweet in my feed so I keep my follow list pretty short).
Banner photographs by NASA
J.D. Moyer lives in Oakland, California, with his wife, daughter, and mystery-breed dog. He writes science fiction, produces electronic music in two groups (Jondi & Spesh and Momu), runs a record label (Loöq Records), and blogs at jdmoyer.com. His previous occupations include dolphin cognition researcher, martial arts instructor, Renaissance Faire actor, dance music event promoter, and database application developer.
J.D. has been reading and writing science fiction and fantasy since he was a boy, inspired by authors such as Susan Cooper, Piers Anthony, and Lloyd Alexander. As an adult his favorite authors include William Gibson, Octavia Butler, Iain Banks, Kim Stanley Robinson, Margaret Atwood, and David Mitchell.
J.D. went to Berkeley High (other alumni include Philip K. Dick and Ursula K. Le Guin) and the University of California at Davis. After graduating, J.D. embarked on a long career as a music producer, DJ, label runner, and event promoter, culminating in world tours and music placement in film, television, and videogames (including Dance Dance Revolution) as well as the international hit “We Are Connected” made famous by John Digweed. After the birth of his daughter, he quit the DJ hustle and returned to his love of fiction writing.
His short stories have appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, The InterGalactic Medicine Show, Cosmic Roots And Eldritch Shores, and Compelling Science Fiction. His story “The Icelandic Cure” won the 2016 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction contest. Recurring themes in his fiction include genetic engineering, the sociological effects of climate change, virtualized consciousness, and evolutionary divergence.
The Icelandic Cure
Publishers Weekly. 265.5 (Jan. 29, 2018): p174.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Icelandic Cure
J.D. Moyer. Omnidawn, $6.95 trade paper (72p) ISBN 978-1-63243-051-9
Moyer's novelette, winner of the 2016 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Prize, is a curious blend of ethical thought exercise and medical jargon couched in introspection. Jane Tokugawa is a representative of the U.S. Center for Disease Control, part of a delegation sent to Iceland to learn about a new gene-altering technology that promises to revolutionize health care and potentially eradicate physical and mental illnesses. As Jane contemplates how the protocols can be used for betterment of humankind, other members of the delegation have more questionable motives. Information is tightly packed within the pages of this story, allowing readers insight into the complex world of medical ethics. The work is also a love letter to the people and government of Iceland. Its brevity detracts from the message's impact: characters are shallowly developed, with little to no backstory, and interactions feel forced, especially among members of the delegation. Nonetheless, this is a strong, thoughtful story that inspires hope for the future, curiosity about medical progress, and sheer terror at what might be done in its name. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Icelandic Cure." Publishers Weekly, 29 Jan. 2018, p. 174. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A526116542/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=40158e85. Accessed 14 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A526116542
THE ICELANDIC CURE, by J.D. MOYER
In J.D. Moyer’s The Icelandic Cure, Jane Tokugawa is the lead scientist sent to investigate whether new genetic therapy treatments in Iceland risk inciting a global epidemic. Each chapter reads as one of Jane’s journal entries, detailing her suspicions and discoveries about the truth of the Icelandic medical advancements, as well as her own government’s interests. The chapbook prioritizes a well-paced plot and subtext-laden dialogue over description, including atmospheric details that would have solidified the setting. The nuances of characterization are successful in rendering believable Icelanders and motivationally complicated Americans.
The primary impetus for Moyer’s chapbook is the morally ambiguous matter of genetic engineering, which should haunt any advancing medical establishment. Moyer’s research into neurology and gene therapy gives Jane a credible persona. Her intellectual progress as she unearths fragments of the mystery is lovingly tied to the ever-greater—and ever more crucial—questions of self-determination. While Moyer presents Jane with an emotional arc that is somewhat threadbare, this minimalism leaves ample space for all the ethical discussions which form the heart of his story. Jane writes, “Who wouldn’t fix a genetic flaw or two if they could?” Beyond the human desire for personal improvement, the consequences of this technology involve systemic corruption and the preservation of our right to choose.