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Description edit
At the dawn of time, two ancient adversaries clashed over control of Earth. One man rose to stand at humanity's side. A soldier whose name we still remember today... Mikha'il awakens, mortally wounded, in his crashed ship. The woman who saves his life has abilities which seem familiar... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Characters/People edit
- Colonel Mikha'il Mannuki'ili: Mikha'il is a Colonel in the Angelic Air Force elite Special Forces team.
- Ninsianna: Nin-Si-Anna - She who Serves the Goddess - is a young, beautiful young maiden of Assur.
- Jamin: Jamin is the son of the village chief.
- Emperor Shay'tan: Emperor of the Sata'anic Empire, Shay'tan is an ascended being who cannot die. He is a large, somewhat portly red dragon who has a firm grasp on the foibles of mortals.
- Eternal Emperor Ha'shem: Ha'shem (aka 'God') is an ascended being who cannot die and ruler of the Alliance.
- Prime Minister Lucifer: Adopted son of the Eternal Emperor, Lucifer has been placed in charge of the day-to-day running of the Alliance as their elected Prime Minister.
- Colonel Rapha'el Israfa: Rapha'el's command carrier has been sent to investigage a suspicious uptick in Sata'anic 'trading' activity in a remote, largely uncharted spiral arm of the Milky Way. Best friend of Mikha'il since they went through basic training together, his mission includes finding his friend who disappeared in that sector while shadowing a Sata'anic ship.
- Supreme Commander-General Joffi'el: Beautiful, talented, and cold, the highest ranking Alliance general.
- General Abad'don: The Angelic Air Forces highest ranking general, second only to Jophi'el.
Quotes edit
-
“"You're out of pawns."”
Emperor Shay'tan -
““It is a replicator.” Mikhail pulled out a little biocube from the storage container underneath the machine and showed it to him. “This contains all of the sub-atomic building blocks contained in most foods. You simply program in whatever you want to eat, for example, fish and potatoes, and the machine reassembles the molecules to make it for you.” Immanu looked at him as though he were a twelve-headed ollphéist. “It is magic, but the magic which runs the machine is broken.””
Mikha'il -
““As the hybrid races that defend us go, so shall the Alliance.””
Prime Minister Lucifer
Setting & Locations edit
This book alternates between the ancient Mesopotamian village of Assur and the larger stalemate between the galactic Alliance and the Sata'anic Empire. The Alliance is protected by four species of genetically engineered supersoldiers, Angelics, Leonids, Centauri and Mer. But after millennia of inbreeding, they are going extinct. The source race the ascended emperor/god, the Eternal Emperor, used to create his hybrid armies and keep Shay'tan at bay was lost when their planet was destroyed. Or so they think...Until Angelic Air Force Colonel Mikhail Mannuki'ili is shot down over an unknown planet by a Sata'anic naval destroyer and awakens with no memory of who he is on a stone-aged planet.
- Assur: Assur is an agrarian village along the banks of the Hiddekel (Tigris) River in the Fertile Crescent. In 3,390 BC, the climate was warmer and wetter than it is now, but rival tribes are forever trying to usurp the Assurians from their fertile lands and drive them out into the desert.
- Alliance: The Alliance is an empire spanning nearly one-half of the Milky Way Galaxy. Ruled by the Eternal Emperor Hashem, it is a bastian of democracy. The Emperor assumes a place as both a figurehead and leader, but delegates the day-to-day operations of the massive empire to an elected Parliament and his adopted Prime Minister son, Lucifer.
- Sata'anic Empire: The Sata'anic Empire spans nearly the other half of the Milky Way. Their society is built upon the notion of unquestioning service to the Empire and their emperor/god, Shay'tan.
- Uncharted Territories: The outer spiral arms of the Milky Way and those areas that are largely unexplored.
- Ubaid
- Hiddekel River
- Moloch
Organizations edit
- Alliance Parliament: Parliament has two houses of elected representatives similar to the system set up in most modern democracies, a House of Lords and a House of Commons. Parliament has existed for as long as the Eternal Emperor has ruled the Alliance, but the position of Prime Minister was only created after Lucifer was born to alleviate the burden of the Emperor having to perpetually hold court and arbitrate the squabbles between minor factions. Although the Prime Minister is technically elected, nobody has ever given a serious political challenge to the Emperor's adopted son, Lucifer, as it's no secret the only reason the position of Prime Minister was created was to give the Emperor a break.
First Sentence edit
"You're out of pawns."
Themes & Symbolism edit
- Hybrids: The Alliance Hybrids are a symbol for soldiers everywhere. Powerful, loyal, and willing to lay down their lives to protect the people they defend, they do not question the chain of command or those who have authority to send them into battle to die. Not even when the power-brokers who use them as pawns are so cut off from the -realities- of war that they become callous and indifferent about the reality of soldiers dying over disputes unworthy of their sacrifice.
- Angelics: Angelics were genetically spliced together from humans, a race now believed to be extinct, and Eagles. They were engineered to be the air force for the Eternal Emperor. They pride themselves on logic, emotional control and restraint, but still waters run deep.
- Leonids: Leonids were genetically spliced together from humans, a race now believed to be extinct, and Lions. The most animal-like of the hybrids, they were engineered to be the modern equivalent of the Marines for the Eternal Emperor. They are a fierce warrior culture who prides themselves on winning whatever battle the Emperor sends them in to win ... without question ... and no matter what the cost. Fierce and unafraid of showing emotion, their place as the Emperor's front-line fighting force has left them closest to extinction of all the Hybrids. Less than 3,500 survive in the galaxy today ... and yet they are still the first ones into a fight.
- Centauri: The Centauri were genetically spliced together from humans, a race believed to be extinct, and horses to be the Emperor's calvary. They were engineered to quickly race in and overrun an enemy fighting force and to then hold ground and maintain order until democratic reforms could be instilled. Fewer than 7,000 Centauri still exist in the galaxy today.
- Mer: The Mer were genetically spliced together from humans, a raced believed to be extinct, and aquatic mammals (dolphins). They were engineered to be the Emperor's navy. 500 years ago a planet of aquatic mammals descended from dolphins the Eternal Emperor had tinkered with to become fully sentient, and then forgotten about, was discovered. The Mer are no longer going extinct thanks to reunification with the aquatic half of their DNA, but there are very few full-blooded Mer left in existence.
- Humans: Humans represent the ordinary, everyday citizen of empires and countries everywhere. Struggling to survive against both a landscape which is often hostile to their existence and the larger forces of empires which seek to use them for their own purposes, humans are both savage ... and the greatest hope for evolution that the galaxy has ever seen.
- Sata'anic Lizards: The Sata'an are the ever-growing hoards of the 'other.' The enemy that threatens to overrun established order and impose a new way of existing upon the people. Although they posess social traits similar to modern Islam, they are not a symbol of Islam itself, but rather our PERCEPTION (or misperception) of Islam as being a threat to our way of life. In the 1970's, these characters would have traits similar to the Viet-Cong. In the 1950's they would have been Russian. In World War II they would have been Japanese or German. They are the enemy which can overwhelm us with an ideology we do not wish to see.
- Shay'tan: Shay'tan is not the 'devil' or 'Satan' of the bible, but the older vision of 'adversary' written about in the ancient texts. He is the heat of the desert, the cold of winter, the opponent who seeks to defeat you at every step. He is the unforgiving, inflexible god of the Old Testament. He is a conservative, an islamicist, an industrialist, a communist, a boogey-man who threatens lofty ideals with a viewpoint which is everything you were raised to believe was wrong. But although Shay'tan dogs you at every turn, he is not evil. He is simply the ugly reality which rears its head every time lofty ideals hit the ugly reality of human nature.
- The Eternal Emperor: The Emperor is the lofty, forgiving god of the New Testament. He is the god who preaches forgiveness and salvation for everyman who would turn the other cheek, love his brother, and grant equality for everyone. Because ideals do not survive well in the real world, the Emperor prefers to retreat to his ivory tower so his lofty vision can remain untainted. The day-to-day reality of running an empire is delegated to somebody else so the Emperor does not have to see problems that don't fit into his narrow view of what reality -should- be like.
- Lucifer: Lucifer represents the leader who truly believes they are doing what is right for their subjects. Forever placed between lofty ideologies and reality, Lucifer is the pragmatic force that shifts with the wind to get the job done. But power corrupts ... especially when woo'd by both Ideological extremes to be the 'swing vote' ... and if you aren't careful something else entirely can step in and twist your agenda for a purpose -neither- ideological extreme ever foresaw.
- The Fallen: The Fallen are refugees from -both- ends of the ideological lunatic fringe who have grown tired of forever being cannon fodder in other peoples wars. They are tired of the intrigues of both empires and simply want to turn their backs on the two emperors, do their own thing, and be left alone. If you had to pick a people, they would be the American Colonists back in 1776.
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Sword of the Gods Saga. (standard series)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Anna Erishkigal (Author)
Other Contributors:
- Rochelle Green (Cover Artist) - Cover art, 'Michael'
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
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Subjects edit
Links to Supplemental Material edit
- Blog: I Need A Hero: Blog of Anna Erishkigal, author of the series
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