Colorado Author Ian Patterson Releases Parthenogenesis Novel

What does a book about women giving birth without men mean for folks on the Western Slope?

It means less noise from politicians and more clarity in your living room. Ian Patterson’s latest speculative fiction, “Fruits of Our Labor,” isn’t just a story about biology. It’s a critique of the political rot that has defined recent years.

Patterson is an award-winning author. He lives in the Colorado mountains. He writes science fiction, horror, and poetry. His debut novel, “Transference,” won the Colorado Book Award for Science Fiction in 2025. This new work targets capitalism, inequality, and environmental destruction. It does so through fast-paced narratives that don’t waste your time.

The premise is simple but radical. Women in near-future America gain the ability to give birth parthenogenetically. They can reproduce asexually. Men are no longer strictly necessary for the continuation of the species.

This shift triggers a profound transformation in society. The story asks who holds autonomy now. It asks who writes the future. And it asks who that future actually serves.

The narrative unfolds through three interwoven perspectives. One follows a woman living through the early backlash to parthenogenetic (PG) birth. Another tracks a child born into the first major PG generation. A third features a future historian looking back on it all.

The text intersperses these character stories with scientific articles. These blend present-day fact with future fiction. The transition feels seamless. You don’t have to switch gears between reality and speculation.

Patterson cites Naomi Alderman’s “The Power” as a hopeful mirror for his work. He also points to N.K. Jemisin’s “The Fifth Season” for structural inspiration. Both were inspirational novels for him.

What drove the writing? The repeal of Roe v. Wade in 2022 stands at the center. So does the rise of toxic masculinity and right-wing gender politics. These forces took power in the 2016 and 2024 elections.

Patterson wrote the book listening to sexist, misogynist rhetoric from that 2024 cycle. He set out specifically to critique what he saw as a rot in American politics.

He grew up surrounded by women who taught him to see things through a feminist lens. He wants them to understand their experiences in America. He has a daughter. He wants a more just future for her than the one we are spiraling toward today.

He wrote this book for them. Most of all, he wrote it for his daughter.

The Colorado Sun selected the first two opening chapters to run in their SunLit feature. These chapters introduce Samara’s perspective. She is a woman in a floundering relationship. She lives through the legalization of parthenogenesis. She experiences the major societal shift firsthand.

The excerpt sets the scene for the whole story. It grounds the high-concept science in personal reality.

Patterson can usually be found on his bike somewhere in the mountains of Colorado. Or he is spending time with his family and his two cats. His work centers philosophical discussions within genre-bending trappings.

Read that again. The repeal of Roe didn’t just change abortion access. It inspired a new way of looking at power, gender, and the future.

The short version? The politics are toxic. The biology is changing. The story reflects both.