Saturday, July 28, 2012

NEW BOOK!

I've just published a fantasy novel, Illumen's Children, for Kindle. It's pretty exciting be able to do this in such a democratic way- the readers decide! If you have a Kindle, check it out. It will be available for other platforms soon.



The book is cool in that in doesn't use sentient species as an unconscious metaphor for race. While at times this has been an apt way to explain how different culture can make us, it has also been a vehicle for racist stereotypes.

In my book the main characters are dark skinned, and live on the outskirts of their city. They are generally poor. They interact with fantastical sentient species but also humans who look different and have more money. In some ways, the world in the book mirrors ours, and in others, it is a new place to discover. Above I've posted a water color map that appears in the Kindle version. The city is stratified by class- other species and foreigners may not enter past the first ring, Agora, while the dark skinned may not enter beyond Subagora (low market) District, the second outermost ring. Alturba (derived from latin- alta urbis, high city) is for the largely wealthy and light skinned, and the innermost ring, Citadel, is where the eight noble families live. The main characters, Subagorans, face the problem of alerting the king of an assassination plot, and they're not allowed anywhere near him.

It also has a range of characters, from a heretic who speaks the truth, to a half man, half monster, who passes for human among those who once ostracized him, and a hero of the wendigo people, who makes an improbable alliance with our protagonists. 



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