Them That Are Called

An Epic. 

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THEM THAT ARE CALLED is complete at 204,912 words as a standalone novel. It’s contemporary and high fantasy for the upmarket audience. The story takes the shape of an epic, with prose in use which is intended to take the reader on a journey. It follows five separate vantages, tied together by blood and the reach of a nefarious plot which has been maturing since the days just after the birth of time. It deals with insecurity, the esteem of self, doubts, choices, the conflict between expectation and individual want, the concepts of duty and free will, and ultimately comments on the human experience in finding meaning and purpose in one’s life. It leverages the vehicles of humanlike beings from another world, through the eyes of a wartime admiral, the coming-of-age story of two dynamically different heirs (the princess Jerusha and her younger cousin from another kingdom, the high prince Judah), the cohort of Trinus (a small number of exceptional scouts), and an orphaned boy of common means who’s been left alone in the wild, after the slaughter of his family. I write from my own cultural anchor, so I’ve described these four leads as phenotypically Black, yet the story carries a diverse cast reaching across the stars in our stellar community and incorporating mythology from all corners of the world – some lesser known than others.  

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Our chronicler meets us at the open, with the story of them that are called – the epic. It begins with Samael, the Lord Commander of the Order of the Nazerites, who’s discovered an offworld razing which unfairly targets the innocents of Egnatia. The dijin are known for such evil, and the Egnatians are, on this day, their unfortunate victims for they are rumored to hide the book of the page (otherwise called the Book of Nythrin) somewhere on their world. Samael ends the slaughter, visits the Herald of that world (an immortal Malachim who is nearly omniscient), and interrogates a captured dijin all in pursuit of their nefarious plot – incepted by none other than the encumbering power of the dijin leader, Zagan, called Ethoaba; the First Made. This pursuit takes us to the heiress Jerusha, who is amidst her rite of passage, offworld as well, on the planet Corinth.  She becomes involuntarily enveloped in the conflict as the solitary knight who must be, where no other can be found to assuage that dijin army. From there we follow Trinus and her number, hot on the trail and led to the base of a hidden tower where a battle ensues.

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The chronicler takes us back to a tale of a stubborn boy, self-absorbed and pouty, who learns the value of the world around him, the family and community that he’s in, only after both are devastatingly robbed from him – too late for him to rightly appreciate them. When he’s cared for by the same hand who wronged him – the legendary evil, Behemoth – he’s shamed by the help he accepts for he is unwanting of his own death and it is the only way he will survive the wilds, alone. Thereafter we visit Judah; fourth in an ancient line, Melek Kosi (high prince) to the Melek Tau (high king) of Uhuru (the capital city of Congor – his home world), and seemingly the only hope of any who would survive this dijin campaign. Judah’s destined to inherit legend and limitless power, but he wants none of it. To him, life should be simple and shared with familiars, preferably those who know neither his name nor to bow when he comes. But there is great contest between want and need when your life is not your own.

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His straightforward path made crooked by an overzealous father; he’s set on an unwanted odyssey as his rite is initiated two years too early. Compounding on his misfortune, they’ll send him to Earth, the only forbidden world to the vandun people. Curious to him, when he arrives a resounding bell is rung and perilous dijin come for him, courting him with guile and lethal intent, as emissaries to their supreme leader, Zagan the Ethoabba. The curiosity draws him into Samael’s pursuit as together, they uncover the trail of the book of the page and the treachery that follows after it; it leads from Earth.

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There he’ll cross the ice bears, Kunik the mother, and Narnuk the bear god. He’ll meet the great wolves Romulus, Dante II, Hati, and Skoll. He’ll face schemes that draw him unwittingly into fell designs, using him further as a piece in another’s game. To make it home, he’ll first need to stifle their plot with enchanted items from Hephaestos the maker, and to find the ankh before the dijin open the gate. To win the war, he’ll need his covert cadre, an alliance of 12 kingdoms, his uncle’s army of Nazerites, the assertion of his own voice, and the confidence of knowing his name when it’s called. Life on their world may never be the same.

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If you're an agent with interest, I'm happy to provide a larger sample. Please feel encouraged to contact me.