The year is 2325—
The world has never been so quiet—or so fragile. For centuries, the International Women’s Party has guided a global peace where war exists only as memory in neural archives.
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Humanity has stabilized at half its former size, even as lifespans have nearly doubled. Bots handle almost all labor. Intelligence is woven into homes, cities, and minds. Children are conceived with high-quality, manufactured sperm, regulated as a public health service.
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In this carefully engineered order, men have become optional. No longer needed for their strength or paternity---their historic roles have been replaced by robotics and bio-tech. Thirty percent of the population—mostly men—live without work, income, or purpose. They need to be housed, fed, and cared for.
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For the first time in generations, men are beginning to wake up and fight back.
The world has never been so quiet—or so fragile. For centuries, the International Women’s Party has guided a global peace where war exists only as memory in neural archives.
​
Humanity has stabilized at half its former size, even as lifespans have nearly doubled. Bots handle almost all labor. Intelligence is woven into homes, cities, and minds. Children are conceived with high-quality, manufactured sperm, regulated as a public health service.
​
In this carefully engineered order, men have become optional. No longer needed for their strength or paternity---their historic roles have been replaced by robotics and bio-tech. Thirty percent of the population—mostly men—live without work, income, or purpose. They need to be housed, fed, and cared for.
​
For the first time in generations, men are beginning to wake up and fight back.
The world has never been so quiet—or so fragile. For centuries, the International Women’s Party has guided a global peace where war exists only as memory in neural archives.
​
Humanity has stabilized at half its former size, even as lifespans have nearly doubled. Bots handle almost all labor. Super intelligence is woven into homes, cities, and minds. Children are conceived with high-quality, manufactured sperm, regulated as a public health service.
​
In this carefully engineered order, men have become optional. No longer needed for their strength or paternity—their historic roles have been replaced by robotics and bio-tech. Thirty percent of the population—mostly men—live without work, income, or purpose. They need to be housed, fed, and cared for.
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For the first time in generations, men are beginning to wake up and fight back. But the system has been engrained for centuries. The stakes are high and time is running out.
The plot—
The Goldilocks Effect follows Alicia de la Rosa, the youngest Global Leader ever elected and the tech genius behind The Stream, a neural system that stabilizes the world. When it begins to shift—imperceptible at first, then unmistakable—and her closest ally, the President of the South America Protectorate, is kidnapped, Alicia must act before it’s too late.
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Despite her efforts, the crisis escalates into a global unraveling, and the exposing of a conspiracy rooted in Alicia’s past and threatening the future of the world women have spent centuries creating.
Alicia finds evidence of sabotage and an unexpected accomplice from her inner circle. At the center is a men's movement—organized, strategic, and composed of men who have grown resentful of the status quo. Their protests for equality grow louder and more violent each day. Peter Luca, the leader of The Men's Liberation Party, becomes an uneasy partner with Alicia to bring the world back from the brink.​​
Cathrin Stickney, Author
I knew I wanted to write this book the day I applied for a job as an architect at one of the world’s top firms and was told, “Sorry, we don’t hire women.”
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That moment shaped everything that followed. For decades, I’ve focused on advancing women in leadership and exploring how systems bend—or break—when one group holds all of the power. One question has always stayed with me: What would the world look like if men had to experience life through a woman’s lens? Not metaphorically. Literally.
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If you enjoy fast-paced tech-thrillers that push ideas as hard as plot, The Goldilocks Effect is for you. I’ve imagined a future where, over generations, women rise to global leadership—but at a cost. Technology has evolved to the point where men are no longer essential for strength or paternity, and society has grown indifferent to them.
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The world of the 24th century in this novel is grounded in scientific plausibility and built on real research in materials science, AI, and emotional-signal technology. My goal was simple: make you feel like you’ve been dropped three hundred years into the future.
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I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it.
— Cathrin
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A Novel
A FUTURE SHAPED ENTIRELY BY WOMEN
Arriving in 2026, The Goldilocks Effect is a propulsive new tech-thriller about trust, control, and the danger of chasing perfection. Blending cutting-edge science with high-stakes suspense, it challenges readers to rethink who holds power—and what happens when perfection backfires.
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