In the year 2065, or so, the first world Sovereign unleashed a retrovirus, called the Legion, that would remove all primary emotions, except for fear, for those infected. Since retrovirus changes the genes of the host, generations that were born after would know no emotions at all. In a couple of generation, the Era of Chaos ended, the timid populated the entire world, and began the Era of Order.
But the lone genecist, who created the Legion, did not agree. He formed a a secret sect, the Keepers, to guard a secret and wait for a prophecy, that in about 500 years, someone will be born with a natural immunity to the Legion. This boy, technically a mutation, would restore human emotions and bring back Life, implying those live without emotions were as good as dead. The secret was a vial of antidote to revive the emotions for those who took it. There were only 5 doses. Therefore, 5 people will be fated to find the boy and save the world.
This was the stage of an epic struggle. Five to reshape humanity.
Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee wrote a SciFi without much science or technology, but a really a social fantasy.
These Books of Mortal, a three volume series, were enjoyable yet too long. The first book, Forbidden, is excellent and stands on its own. The 2nd, Mortal, and the 3rd, Sovereign, are really just one long book. The plot turned religious, as many good SciFi, but I felt it deviated too much from the SciFi genre rules: that things must be plausibly scientific. Otherwise, it became fantasy.
They are still very enjoyable stories and memorable characters.
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