Cristina Prescott at The Book Commentary:

‘The Conscious Virus by Miki Mitayn is a quirky and incredibly unique story that pits spirituality against science in a riveting adventure, featuring a multidimensional, extraordinary protagonist. With Mari and Nerida’s utterly unusual lives, readers will find themselves drawn into mysticism and spiritual wisdom explored in relation to the afterlife. This is a novel with a plot that is stunningly imagined and intelligently executed.’

5 Stars.

Mitayn expertly blends magical realism and science fiction, drawing readers deep into an extraordinary setting and character in her engrossing debut installment in An Aedgar Wisdom Novel series.

Aboriginal Dr. Nerida is a woman of science who travels all over Australia with her wife Mari, helping indigenous communities and mining towns. But she has a secret world, a world in which disembodied spirit voices talk and guide her. The Earth Spirits resonate with her Aboriginal roots, long-buried under her scientific education otherwise. When the spirits warn Nerida off impending doom to humanity, she finds herself torn between the factual world of science and the ethereal spirit voices. She must tread carefully or risk losing her professional reputation and medical career.

Mitayn immerses readers in a multifaceted and intricate world of medical advancement, scientific skepticism, spirituality, morality, mortality, and indigenous dreamtime storytelling. Set in multiple timelines, including the present, past, and future, the story follows the protagonist’s struggle to find a middle ground between two drastically opposing words of science and spirituality.

Mitayn skillfully draws her complex, multifaceted characters, each struggling with their own individual burdens and desires, bringing them alive on the pages: the gentle, caring, compassionate Nerida, struggling to find some kind of balance between her indigenous spirituality, long-buried under her scientific education and the everyday world around her; Mari, loyal, fiercely determined, and willful; Jim, petty, mean-spirited, and forever victim; the wise and perceptive M’Hoq Toq doesn’t get much space in the story but he is equally compelling.

Mitayn skillfully integrates the aboriginal culture, folklore, and traditions into the main storyline. The oppression and the destruction that the natives faced at the hands of settlers and reigning governments are both timely and palpable. There are individual struggles for identity, life purpose, self-discovery along with the exploration of resilience of human spirit, but spirituality and faith make the heart of the novel. Themes of racial disparity, LGBTQ issues, absolutism, environmental concerns, oppression, disruptive world politics, and the needs of the society versus those of the individuals resonate throughout.

Skillfully juggling a seemingly impossible plethora of various timelines, settings, and characters, the narrative builds to a thrilling series of revelations. The satisfying, heartening ending ties all the loose ends nicely, leaving enough for the next in the series.

This novel, with its strong theme of spirituality is not for everyone. But the lovers of dense literary fiction heavy on magical realism will be rewarded.

— The Prairies Book Review The Conscious Virus [Five Stars]

BooksCoffee's review Jul 28, 2021

‘Mitayn expertly blends magical realism and science fiction, drawing readers deep into an extraordinary setting and character in her engrossing debut installment in An Aedgar Wisdom Novel series.’

Miki Mitayn’s “The Conscious Virus” speaks from the past, the present, and the future. Primarily set in various towns and cities located within rural Australia, the novel mixes elements of Aboriginal dreamtime storytelling, with medical knowledge and scientific skepticism. The main character, Nerida, finds herself wedged between two drastically opposing worlds.

On the one hand there is the scientific/medical world where she is established professionally, concerned with hard facts and data. However, there is also Nerida’s private experiences with the spiritual world, a world explored purely through personal experiences and whispers throughout the ages. Nerida’s inner dialogue explores the contradictions between these two sets of beliefs, trying to wrap her head around a conceivable middle ground.

Set primarily during the initial coronavirus outbreak, “The Conscious Virus” shares insight into the experiences of medical workers fighting the virus front line. It serves as a cautionary tale- warning the reader of the detrimental results of the current trajectory for humanity, while also expressing a quiet optimism for our possible future.

A story expressed through empathy, lived experiences and thoughtful dialogue between varying characters, both physical and spiritual, “The Conscious Virus” is profoundly relevant for 2021.

It challenges the reader’s beliefs and what we think we know about our world, while gently encouraging a more open mind on often dismissed discussions surrounding spirituality.

— Genie Lynch, writer. Goodreads review [5 stars]

https://bit.ly/3ywzy63

From Scott Taylor at Chanticleer Book Reviews

Dr. Nerida Green travels across Australia, tending to struggling communities and connecting with her wife Mari—as well as the three spirits who Mari channels through her body, in Miki Mitayn’s climate-fiction novel The Conscious Virus: An Aedgar Wisdom novel.

Nerida works sporadic jobs as a doctor, from the mining community of Newman to the small town of Fitzroy Crossing, and back east to a disappointing stint at a naturopathy clinic in Byron Bay. Between her working hours, Nerida speaks with M’Hoq Toq, the Native American medicine man, Bartgrinn the Celtic druid, and Aedgar, an ancient being of the Earth. Nerida asks the spirits for their opinions on topics as broad as climate change and as narrow as her personal matters, engaging them in deep conversation.

While Nerida and Mari travel, the Coronavirus makes its appearance on the world stage, and shortly after that, Australia. Nerida manages to find them a safe place to live through quarantine, but her role as a doctor weighs heavily on her as the pandemic picks up steam. She turns to the advice of her ephemeral friends, who at once soothe her heart and spark her worries.

The Conscious Virus tackles current global issues, both through Nerida’s personal experience and the wisdom of the spirits.

Climate Change hurts the vulnerable people whom Nerida cares for, and as the spirits tell her, disrupts the natural systems and energies of the planet. Covid-19 spreads amongst people who are profoundly unprepared for a pandemic, while the entities try to communicate the metaphysical nature of the pandemic.

All three spirits have distinct voices, filling their conversations with personality and the unique word-choice of people who haven’t walked the Earth in centuries. Their beliefs mesh with Nerida’s as often as they clash. She connects with them through their philosophy and deep thoughts on the world, but she struggles to understand their often very unscientific perspectives. How much of what they say is metaphorical, and how much is literal? Will Nerida side with the wisdom of the spirits or with the research and knowledge of her peers?

Between Nerida’s lengthy conversations with the spirits, she and Mari experience the beauty and difficulties of the material world. Mitayn paints Australia with beautiful descriptions, full of color and heat and smells. The world becomes tangible as Nerida walks and drives through it. Her life with Mari is a grounded and realistic one, concerned with whether the air conditioning will keep working, how they’re going to find a place to stay along their travels, and how they should treat each other to maintain a relationship of love and respect. They meet and reconnect with many interesting people, creating a collection of vignettes across their journey.

This story explores many facets of the modern world and its struggles.

The lives and work of Aboriginal people often take center stage, as Nerida—an Aboriginal woman herself—understands the unique challenges they face. Nerida, Mari, and the spirits tell an engaging and deeply thoughtful story about LGBT+ identity, racist systems, and how entire groups of people are pushed down by the interests of the rich and powerful. Mitayn takes none of these issues lightly but instead gives them the time and consideration that they deserve.

Jumping between past, present, and future, The Conscious Virus creates not just a compelling image of the modern world - but also of how the future might play out depending on whether people face their trials with wisdom and compassion - or something so pointless as greed.

“A debut novel asking the big questions - and ultimately, who can answer them? Brilliant and mind-twisting - a book we highly recommend.”

- Chanticleer Reviews

Awarded 1st Prize (Best in Division) in the Chanticleer International Book Awards 2022 Book Awards in Supernatural & Paranormal Fiction.

Kerri Shying Author of Elevensies, Know Your Country, Sing Out When You Want Me and more.

It's such a good book; prescient and the epitome of speculative fiction as philosophy.

Thrilled to finally have a hard copy of this book - a very funny/serious/sci-fi/pro-Aboriginal/pro-queer/anti-mining novel - part of a series, where we drop into it in the middle. Ancient wisdom, modern problem solving, reality, fantasy plus I learned a little German.... Kindle wasn't enough for me.

Go for more Miki Mitayn!

From BookLife:

This ambitious spiritual adventure, the first novel in Mitayn’s Aedgar Wisdom Series, finds a doctor, Nerida, and her shaman life partner Mari, guided across Australia by spirits like Aedgar, who often appears as a blue wren, and M’Hoq Toq, a Native American Medicine Man. Mari’s entranced encounters with these channeled beings help the couple discover new ways of seeing, being, and healing.