Distantly Falling Stars is a Bronze Punk thriller based on the Open Novella Contest II prompt #2. 

Bronze Punk is technology-based sci-fi set in Ancient Egypt. The plot and characters of this story are historically accurate to the time period (12th dynasty, Middle Kingdom), but the story features magic and a more advanced technology than they actually had at the time. For readers who want to know what is fact and what is  fiction -- distrust all of the technology in this story. It's most likely a Bronze Punk element. 

This story also deals a lot with ancient Egyptian theology and religious belief, all of which is portrayed 100% accurately (as far as scholars can tell). For those readers who know nothing, or very little, about ancient Egyptian religion, I've largely avoided using the names of gods so as not to confuse anyone. I have also attempted to explain any beliefs that are important to the plot.

The way I've portrayed the workings of government bureaucracy are also fairly accurate to the time period, no matter how modern it seems. The ancient Egyptians always did have an elaborate system of public documentation.

All chapters are approximately 2k in length. Total word count is 21 k. 

This is the original prompt: 

"A meteor has hit Earth and brought an alien virus along with it.  The virus spreads like wild fire and affects every human in its path. While the virus does nothing to the victims physically, it does severely mess with their mentality, especially their moral compass. It turns people into highly sadistic animals want to kill and destroy anything they see for mere enjoyment. Of course that includes each other." 

How I've altered it: 

The meteor of the prompt has become "falling stars" (a clump of them) which the Egyptians and Babylonians know have very -- how shall we say --special properties. The stars are both a gift and a curse, as they enable people to create better technology and improve society on the one hand, but also mess with the mentality of anyone who possesses them, turning them into monsters that eventually fall prey to their own greed and desire for ultimate power. A two-edged sword if ever there was one.    

Thank you for reading and if you like what you read, why not leave a 'falling star' of your own? 

And oh, btw, this story won the Open Novella Contest 2019. Here's the sticker: