As the fire died in the sky we built one with driftwood on the land. The people who’d found Paula and I told us the rest of what they knew, and we did likewise, and together we tried to make sense of what had happened to us and to the world. Ideas and explanations leapt from our collective imagination like sparks from the burning wood as we confronted the past and considered the future.
Many things were beyond our comprehension—perhaps more than we understood—but of one thing we felt sure: there had to be a greater power than man at work in this. I don’t know how we knew; we just did. It had used computers to save us when we lost our way, and taught us that we must put our faith not in technology but in ourselves and each other. It had taught us how bad it was when greed came to be seen as good, and how much was lost along with coral reefs and butterflies and rainbows, the pull of far horizons and the names of the wind. It had taught us that the true god is nature.
And now it was down to us to start anew and make a world where we could learn to live, to laugh and to love again.
Then once more there was silence around the fire because above us—impossibly far above us—the stars were coming out one by one, and it was a humbling sight. I put my arm around Paula and we counted stars until we ran out of numbers, and then gave names to constellations until we ran out of words.
The tide turned and with it came a wind. It was stronger than a breeze but gentler than a storm, so nobody knew quite what to call it. There was nothing acrid or tainted about it; instead, it carried the salty tang of the sea. It was a smell so fresh we wanted to breathe it in deeply—and, in doing so, were reborn.
I know that in time the wind will carry other things: the earthy promise of freshly turned soil and the scent of rising sap; the perfume of blossoming flowers and the sweetness of ripening fruit. I know that in years to come it will carry the sound of leaves rustling in dark green forests, and stalks of wheat swaying in golden fields; the call of birds in high branches, and the laughter of children as they dance barefoot with carefree abandon around fires such as this. It will be a song of Mother Earth that sounds different from place to place and one moment to the next—and, in listening to this song of things long-forgotten and yet to be found, people will be enchanted by the singer, and they’ll rediscover wonder and wisdom and give wildly romantic names to the wind once more.
THE END
Escape Tomorrow’s World of names and numbers and explore the stunning beauty of
DAVIE HENDERSON’S
WATERFALL GLEN
When Kate Brodie inherits Waterfall Glen it seems like the start of an exciting new life. Full of romantic notions, she swaps her dull routine in San Francisco for life as a Highland lady.
But the stunning beauty of the glen belies a troubled history and uncertain future, and Kate’s imposing new home, Greystane House, is full of disturbing revelations about her family’s past. Each portrait on the ancient walls tells an un-nerving story, while the empty rooms echo with rumors of a centuries-old curse that takes on new significance when unsettling events threaten the small community whose fate lies in her hands.
The only person Kate can turn to is a man haunted by equally troubling events, a man she has every reason not to trust. Only with his help can she find a way to defend old values against the materialism of the modern world. Only together can they lay their ghosts to rest.
ISBN# 9781932815832
US $6.99/CDN $9.99
Mass Market Paperback / Fiction
Available Now
www.daviehenderson.bravehost.com
THE KILLING FROST SCOTT GAMBOE
THERE IS AN UNEASY PEACE BETWEEN THE UNITED Systems Coalition and the Bromidian Empire. But it is constantly strained by the actions of a group of renegade Bromidians who call themselves Rising Sun, and an elite Coalition military group known as the Avengers has been fighting a covert war against them for years.
Captain Arano Lakeland leads one of the teams. His motivation, vengeance. Revenge against the Rising Sun’s invasion of his homeworld and the subsequent slaughter of his family. His actions, however, in his relentless quest to see the Bromidian empire brought to its knees, have won him the enmity of Grand High Councilor Balor Tient, a corrupt man holding one of the most powerful positions in the Coalition.
To further complicate matters, Arano’s efforts to prove a connection between Rising Sun and the Bromidian government are being hampered by both a traitor in the Coalition bureaucracy, and the Coalition’s desire for peace at any price. And now it is a race against time as Arano and his companions try to survive long enough to solve a series of brutal murders, expose the traitor in their midst, and unite various factions with the Coalition. And if he fails?
Cataclysmic war that will engulf the entire galaxy.
ISBN# 9781932815986
Mass Market Paperback / Science Fiction
US $6.99 / CDN $9.99
Available Now
www.scottgamboe.net
The Piaras Legacy
Scott Gamboe
LONG AGO, SO THE LEGENDS SAY, THE NECROMANCER VOLNOR invaded the continent of Pelacia. His legions of undead soldiers ravaged the land unchecked, until the three nations united and pushed their evil foes back into the Desert of Malator.
But that was centuries ago, and few people still believe the tale. Other, more worldly matters occupy their time, such as recent attacks by renegade Kobolds. But Elac, an Elf who makes his way as a merchant, is too concerned with his business affairs to become involved in international politics. Until a marauding band of Kobolds attacks Elac’s caravan and he finds himself running for his life.
Befriended by an Elven warrior named Rilen, he travels to Unity, the seat of power on the Pelacian continent. There he is joined by a diverse group of companions, and he sets out on an epic quest to solve the riddle of his heritage and save the land from the growing evil that threatens to engulf it.
ISBN# 9781933836256
Trade Paperback / Fantasy
US $15.95 / CDN $17.95
APRIL 2008
www.scottgamboe.net
DARK PLANET
CHARLES W. SASSER
KADAR SAN, A HUMAN-ZENTADON CROSSBREED DISTRUSTED BY both humans and Zentadon, is dispatched with a Deep Reconnaissance Team (DRT) to the Dark Planet of Aldenia. His mission: use his telepathic powers to sniff out a Blob assault base preparing to attack the Galaxia Republic. Dominated by both amazing insect and reptile life forms, and by an evil and mysterious Presence, Aldenia was once a base for the warlike Indowy who used theirsuperior technology to enslave the Zentadon and turn them into super warriors to deploy against humans.
The DRT comes under attack not only from savage denizens of the Dark Planet, but also from the mysterious Presence, which turns team member against team member and all against Kadar San. The Presence promises untold wealth and power to any member of the team unscrupulous enough to unleash the contents of a Pandora’s box-like remnant of Indowy technology. The box’s possessor poses a greater threat than the entire Blob nation, for he is capable of releasing untold horrors upon the galaxy.
Kadar San finds himself pitted against a human killer, an expert sniper, in a desperate struggle to save both the Republic and the human female he has come to love. Like all Zentadon, however, Kadar San cannot kill without facing destruction himself in the process, and he has no choice but to kill. In order to save the galaxy, Kadar San must face the truth … No one will leave the Dark Planet.
ISBN# 9781932815139
Mass Market Paperback / Science Fiction
US $6.99 / CDN $9.99
Available Now
www.charlessasser.com
STEPHEN HENDRY
LEAPFROG
A SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION HAS GONE TERRIBLY AWRY. Highly advanced aliens decide to test the human race by offering free secrets that will enable universal space travel without time or distance constraints. Earth snaps at the challenge and collectively musters resources to develop the most advanced starship ever built o
n earth, which is appropriately named Leapfrog for the technological jump over existing science.
Unfortunately, corrupt secret services, greedy politicians, and overly wary generals condemn the mission from the start. Instead of arriving at the designated rendezvous with goodwill and an intent to share, the joint military contingent mutinies, plunders, then destroys the site to prevent possible access from any other species.
Returning with their plunder and while in cryo-sleep, the ship encounters a disastrous meteor shower that destroys the main engines. Thousands of years pass while the stricken ship slowly meanders its way back to earth with two hundred and seventy-five humans solidly frozen in deep suspended animation.
While they sleep, earth becomes embroiled in a disastrous DNA/RNA holocaust. The perpetrators use a crocodile-bred virus to alter the human genetic code and reverse human evolution, thereby eliminating their enemies.
Once the plague damages the human sexual organs, nothing can be done in time to save the human race, and human beings eventually reverse back to soulless Neanderthals. However, the crocodiles benefit immensely from this ill-fated experiment. Their evolutionary cycle goes into high gear, and they soon surpass humans as the dominant creature.
Seeking clues as to what has happened, the survivors encounter enormous wolf spiders hidden in a long-abandoned pressurized dome on the moon. Barely escaping with their lives, the explorers are forced to abandon their derelict starship and return to earth to face horrifying battles among cannibal Neanderthals and highly evolved crocodiles.
ISBN# 9781933836508
US $15.95 / CDN $17.95
Trade Paperback / Science Fiction
NOVEMBER 2008
www.stevehendry.com
TOLTECA
K. MICHAEL WRIGHT
His name is Topiltzin. He is the son of the Dragon, a blue-eyed Mesoamerican hero. He is also a godless ballplayer, a wanderer, a rogue warrior. He will become known as the Plumed Serpent, the man who became a god, who transcended death to become the Morning Star.
In the world of the Fourth Sun, Topiltzin is the unconquered hero of the rubberball game. When he comes with his companions to a city to play, children flock to meet him, maidens cover the roadway with flowers for him to tread on, and people gather to watch the mighty Turquoise Lords of Tollan. They are the undefeated champions of the ancient game of ritual, a game so fanatically revered that spectators would often wager their own children on its outcome. To lose meant decapitation. The Turquoise Lords of Tollan never lost. At least until now.
The Smoking Lord, descended from Highland Mountain kings, has come with vast armies. He has learned of the splendid Tolteca from a priest who tried to teach him the true way of the one god. After offering the old man up as a sacrifice to the midnight sun, Smoking Mirror has now come north to see if the legends are true.
An army has come, and a new age. Topiltzin witnesses its horrors. He finds cities destroyed, villagers raped and ritualistically slaughtered by sorcerer priests sent as heralds to offer up human sacrifice. Unable to stop the blood slaughter of innocents, realizing the vast armies of the Shadow Lords will annihilate even the mighty Tolteca, Topiltzin becomes obsessed with one final objective, one last move in the rubberball game: the death of the Smoking Mirror.
ISBN# 9781932815467
Hardcover Adult / Paranormal
US $26.95 / CDN $35.95 Available Now
shinigami
DJANGO WEXLER
Shinigami: In Japanese folklore, a spirit that collects the souls of the dead.
At age fourteen, Sylph Walker died in a car accident. That turned out to be only the beginning of her problems…
She and her sister Lina awake to an afterlife, of sorts —the world of Omega, ruled by cruel, squabbling, and nearly all-powerful Archmagi. When Lina finds a magical sword of immense power, she becomes the unwilling epicenter of the conflict. The sisters are forced to join the Circle Breakers, rebels sworn to prevent the tyrants from expanding their rule.
Lina, bearing the ancient artifact, is hailed as the Liberator —the latest in a long line of heroes expected to destroy the Archmagi. Sylph finds herself at the head of the rebel armies fighting to take back the land and the lives of its people. But what kind of a land is it? Is Omega really the world that lies beyond death? And who is the legendary Lightbringer, a being greater even than the Archmagi?
ISBN# 9781932815719
Trade Paperback / Epic Fantasy
US $14.99 / CDN $18.99
Available Now
www.bloodgod.com
HOLLY TAYLOR
Crimson Fire
In the land of Corania, the lone survivor of a shipwreck, a Kymric woman, makes her way to shore, gives birth to her child, and dies. So begins a cycle of events that will end in a tragic war.
Havgan of Corania knows he is different from others, although he does not know why. He does know, however, he hates the witches of Kymru with all his heart. When his years of scheming come to fruition and he becomes Warleader of Corania, he sets the might of the Empire against Kymru.
In Kymru, Gwydion the Dreamer dreams of the coming destruction of his country and the deaths of those he loves. Desperate to unravel the truth of the dream, he seeks out Rhiannon and together they join in a race against time. Traveling to Corania to spy on Havgan, they are accepted into his household and try to uncover his plans while concealing their true identities. In their frantic attempt to save Kymru, they risk everything. But when an unthinking action threatens to doom them all, Gwydion and Rhiannon must fight not only to discover Havgan’s secret, but understand why Havgan seems so hauntingly familiar.
And escape Corania alive…
ISBN# 9781933836034
US $14.95 / CDN $18.95
Trade Paperback / Fantasy
Available Now
www.dreamers-cycle.com
HOLLY TALOR
Cry of Sorrow
From the author of NIGHT BIRDS’ REIGN and CRIMSON FIRE
The Coranians have won the war, Kymru is defeated. For Havgan, however, the victory is not complete. Cadair Idris, the hall of the High Kings, remains closed to him. To gain entrance he must locate the Four Treasures—the Stone, the Spear, the Cauldron and the Sword—and bring them to the Guardian of the Doors. Only then can he proclaim himself High King of Kymru.
But the Treasures were hidden long ago, after the death of the last High King. To find them Gwydion the Dreamer must locate a long-forgotten song, and the clues it contains. Following the dictates of the song, he persuades Rhiannon, her daughter Gwenhwyvar, and his nephew Arthur to set out with him on the dangerous quest.
Dogged by Havgan’s soldiers they race against time to find the artifacts. But the difficult journey is made even harder by the distrust they have for each other, as well as the necessity to face their own worst fears in order to succeed and gain entrance into Cadair Idris—only to watch helplessly as Arthur risks his life, and his very soul, on the next move in the deadly game.
ISBN# 9781933836263
US $15.95 / CDN $17.95
Trade Paperback / Fantasy
JUNE 2008
www.dreamers-cycle.com
DAVIE HENDERSON
photo by Davie Henderson
I’m a forty-year-old journalist with a love of writing, travel, and photography. I like to find out about the people and places of the world at first hand, living out some little dreams along the way. For many years I combined my interests in the form of travel articles, but long wished to write a story set in my native Scotland.
The result was Waterfall Glen, published by Medallion Press in April 2006. The idea began with two characters and a wildly beautiful place that changes their lives forever. The story wrote itself, driven by the fact that the people are at turning points in their lives, and the place is under threat from dangers old and new.
In this novel, I wanted to write about what’s happening to the world, what we’re in danger of losing, and how much we’ll miss it when it’s
gone. Issues like global warming and genetic engineering form the backdrop for a murder mystery and the relationship between two very different people trying to solve it.
www.daviehenderson.bravehost.com
Tomorrow’s World Page 24