“People never thought it would all collapse. They never believed it could. Why would they? Most people don’t think past what’s in the icebox, or who’s playing in the games next week.
No. They never believed it was happening, even while it was happening, and once the lights went out, they never came back on again.
...And that was just how it all started.”
-Unknown Author from the Age of Capricorn
Baelfire is a tale of a geneticist whose studies have altered the world in its entirety. Wars have been fought over the greatest discovery of mankind: immortality.
The series follows a dichotomous plot of two timelines: one is the search for the scientist himself; the second is a tale of three individuals that live in the aftermath of the first- eons in the future. Both timelines eventually collide.
Our main characters are introduced early to the tragedies of oppression and loss, and each is carved into dynamic, near antagonistic versions of their former selves. Such is the loss of innocence. Enslaved by the Roman-like Sabrinians, our main characters are subject to all manner of deprivation. Finding companionship with each other, they plot to escape their captors, and eventually do at a great cost.
The darker writing style is meant for a mature adult audience whose fantasy worlds have not matured with them. Historic studies of actual civilizations (Native Americans, Romans, Egyptians, and Chinese) are used as templates to provide readers a familiarity with a strange new world that takes little influence from current popular sci-fi or fantasy settings. An anthropological background helps illustrate human (an, in this case, near-human) behavior in a no-holds-barred manner.
Topics that define a person are carefully addressed, and some of the themes of Book 1 include how a child deals with obscurities like the loss of a parent, rape, and even taking a life. In the end, the resilience of human nature and cooperation to meet a common goal are victorious over the atrocities previously mentioned.
This series, nearly 25 years in the making, is complete with illustrations of all types: maps, fauna and mega-fauna, characters, and cities.
It has been a life hobby (dubbed obsession) longing to be shared.
“Our stories tell us we came from the heavens in a time of great peril for our cousins, who are man. He had covered the body of the Earth Mother, and pierced the heart of our Skyfather. He had carved and dug like the Trickster, and he had laughed at the Moon. Man was then, as man was now. They say he was greedy, and beyond saving, but we came to save him anyway. Of course, that is only one story. Other stories tell us we were his punishment...”
“It was known as the First Cleansing, when the Goddess brought her wrath down upon us through the fires of the heavens. In those days, women and men lived and prospered all over the lands, as far as the eye could see.
It was a time before the Dragons of the Deep Sea patrolled the oceans, and people flew like Griffons to lands beyond them. It was a time before the Diushi’Madrid was overrun with forest, when the skeletons we know were covered in glass. People once thrived there, and many places like it.
There was a great darkness then, in the hearts of many. False gods taught nothing but cruelty and hate. So, with much sorrow, the Goddess cast down her punishment.
Only we survived. Her Chosen. Daughters of the Goddess that carried on to remake the world in her image.”
-The First Book of Beginnings, The Holy Doctrine, Chapter One
“It is always The Great Circle. Nothing is bigger than this, even if they think they are. There is no destination. No Ending. No starting point. Even the mountains will someday return to the sea. The watching stars know their place, as well. They too will shine brightest one day, only to become part of the darkness of the night. Everything must do this. So when you tell me we are a young race, I will tell you we’ve been here before. And when you tell me you are lost, I will assure you, that one day you will be found.”
