An eco-fantasy journey reflecting on Earth’s distress and the trials of modern humanity.
In Tembreull’s sci-fi thriller, the first of a new series, Earth is facing judgement and potential annihilation by alien entities.
The story introduces the Inani, bat-like humanoid creatures who exist in a hellish realm of dark matter and are the inspiration for the “Mothman” cryptid legend. The Inani feed on unworthy planets to sustain themselves, and due to humanity’s self-destructive behaviors—driven by greed and violence—Earth may be next. Once full of promise, Earth’s potential was eroded as Indigenous North American cultures, with their nature-centered values, were wiped out by European colonizers wielding prejudice, weaponry, and religious zeal. Now, humanity suffers under climate change, political strife, and the manipulations of Chaos agents. Amid natural disasters and the rise of fascist militias, Texas secedes to become the brutal Lone Star Nation, though a few champions and elementals still fight on behalf of Earth Mother.
Among the heroes is Arden McBride, a war-scarred Iraq veteran turned “Druid” who protects a small community of nature-loving pagans in Austin from extremist death squads. Other figures include Komkom “Kwin” Akwini, a talking tree, and STEM, an elemental spirit caught in the digital “innerverse,” struggling with the disinformation and hostility characteristic of the Trump era. The enigmatic Mothman looms, with further revelations promised in future books. This series opener, which builds on Tembreull’s previous short-story collection Stories, Legends and Truths From the Blighted Earth (2023), offers a thought-provoking exploration of anthropology and introspection. The narrative, rich in unique language and concept-building, gives a critical view of Western civilization while examining the 21st-century struggles that set it apart from the literary age of Carlos Castaneda’s Don Juan.
An eco-fantasy journey reflecting on Earth’s distress and the trials of modern humanity.
