The next morning, clouds covered the autumn sky above the Bauman’s home, and a light rain had come down throughout the night. Even now, it was dripping off the roof, splashing against the windows, and leaving the trees, shrubs, and meadows across their estate refreshed, vibrant, and lush. It was a perfect day to sleep in, and Aran and Anu were clearly taking advantage of it, although no one else had. The rest of them had awakened early, eaten breakfast, and were now whiling away their time in conversation, staring at their phones, reading, or just simply sitting in front of the fireplace, catching glimpses of the stairway in anticipation of seeing Aran and Anu coming down the stairs.
The Alban Saga is a fantasy trilogy made up of Beatrice, Black Grotto and the new book that I’m writing entitled The Vortex. All three books take place at real locations in Scotland, with actual Scottish history woven into their plot lines. The Vortex begins just as Black Grotto ends. Bea Bauman, a young Druid Priestess, is brought into the future by an ancient prophet named Erin. She cannot resist his call. He reaches for her from the center of the Vortex inside the Black Grotto, and she takes his hand, leaving her family and friends behind as she travels with him through time and space.
Just as Bea enters the Vortex, Aran Brodie, who has become a close and dear companion, cannot let Bea go alone into the void. He jumps in after her. For a time, they travel together inside the violent maelstrom, but they cannot maintain their grip on one another and become separated and lose consciousness. When Bea finally awakens, she finds herself at the Stones of Calanais in the year 2026 - three years in the future - staring into the eyes of Erin the prophet. In the meantime, Aran Brodie is expelled from the Vortex at the same location as Bea, but his exit casts him over 4500 years into the past where he finds himself surrounded by primordial Druids in search of a human sacrifice.
As all of this is going on, another character from the previous books also finds herself at the Stones of Calanais in the year 2026. Her name is Obsidian. For years now, she has been an acolyte in the grove of an extraordinarily powerful Druid Priestess named Brenna. Brenna brought Obsidian with her to this time and place to help her battle her nemesis, but Brenna is overcome and vanishes. Saddened and distraught, Obsidian is left alone without a way to return to her own time. She wanders aimlessly for days, but then remembers something that Brenna once shared with her. A Druid, even more powerful than Brenna, lives somewhere near the Stones of Calanais. She is called The Keeper. Obsidian sets out to find her in the hope that she can bring Brenna back and restore her to her former greatness and power.
The Vortex carries forth the story of the Alban Saga, weaving the plot lines of the three books into a surprising and volatile romp through time, space, and Scottish history. This dangerous and risky journey will either end in the past being completely reshaped, leading to a malevolent and dire future, or… the current timeline will remain untouched and safe for the development of humankind. Bea Bauman will be at the center of this struggle. She will attempt to unravel and countermand whomever or whatever is trying to alter history, while also dealing with her feelings for Aran, her fear for his survival, and having to navigate the treacherous intricacies of traveling through time and space via The Vortex.
On the morning of Bea’s twenty-first birthday, the break of dawn arrived behind a thick layer of fog, burying the land beneath for most of the night. Bea, too, had been buried…stretched out under a thick, warm comforter, sleeping soundly - unmoving and dreamless - as the minute hand of her bedside clock ticked through its circular arc and the sun began to journey across the sky. The light outside her window had not yet attained the correct angle to enter her bedroom and nudge her awake, but it had brightened and warmed the air enough to fully dissipate the remaining fog and the bothersome midges that were much better suited to cool and dark than to sunlight. Beneath that same window, the earth and rocks of the meadows and forests of Bea’s family estate had also started to soak up the sun’s rays, releasing puffs of vaporous steam into the air and adding their own type of beauty to the morning. But Bea…she remained oblivious to it all.
The Alban Saga is a fantasy trilogy made up of Beatrice, Black Grotto and the new book that I’m writing entitled The Vortex. All three books take place at real locations in Scotland, with actual Scottish history woven into their plot lines. The Vortex begins just as Black Grotto ends. Bea Bauman, a young Druid Priestess, is brought into the future by an ancient prophet named Erin. She cannot resist his call. He reaches for her from the center of the Vortex inside the Black Grotto, and she takes his hand, leaving her family and friends behind as she travels with him through time and space.
Just as Bea enters the Vortex, Aran Brodie, who has become a close and dear companion, cannot let Bea go alone into the void. He jumps in after her. For a time, they travel together inside the violent maelstrom, but they cannot maintain their grip on one another and become separated and lose consciousness. When Bea finally awakens, she finds herself at the Stones of Calanais in the year 2026 - three years in the future - staring into the eyes of Erin the prophet. In the meantime, Aran Brodie is expelled from the Vortex at the same location as Bea, but his exit casts him over 4500 years into the past where he finds himself surrounded by primordial Druids in search of a human sacrifice.
As all of this is going on, another character from the previous books also finds herself at the Stones of Calanais in the year 2026. Her name is Obsidian. For years now, she has been an acolyte in the grove of an extraordinarily powerful Druid Priestess named Brenna. Brenna brought Obsidian with her to this time and place to help her battle her nemesis, but Brenna is overcome and vanishes. Saddened and distraught, Obsidian is left alone without a way to return to her own time. She wanders aimlessly for days, but then remembers something that Brenna once shared with her. A Druid, even more powerful than Brenna, lives somewhere near the Stones of Calanais. She is called The Keeper. Obsidian sets out to find her in the hope that she can bring Brenna back and restore her to her former greatness and power.
The Vortex carries forth the story of the Alban Saga, weaving the plot lines of the three books into a surprising and volatile romp through time, space, and Scottish history. This dangerous and risky journey will either end in the past being completely reshaped, leading to a malevolent and dire future, or… the current timeline will remain untouched and safe for the development of humankind. Bea Bauman will be at the center of this struggle. She will attempt to unravel and countermand whomever or whatever is trying to alter history, while also dealing with her feelings for Aran, her fear for his survival, and having to navigate the treacherous intricacies of traveling through time and space via The Vortex.
 |
| Readers Around the World |
If you haven’t read this science fiction duology yet, please check it out. It's as relevant today as when it was first written.
The two books in this series are ROOMS and THE CHOSEN. They were originally published in 2014, and people who have read them often comment on how extremely relevant they remain, even today, in an almost prescient way.
This is because within the plot of the two books there exists a deep and abiding concern over the growth of right-wing, autocratic governments across the globe that come to power often times by promising their citizens that only they can improve their lives. However, in the end, these types of governments are influenced much more by the interests of large corporations and wealthy oligarchs than by anything else. When that is the case, terrible consequences inevitably arise for the poor, the middle class, for worker’s rights, the environment, for freedom, and for democracy in general. This could even be beginning to happen in the United States right now.
Look at the election that we just had and the first couple months of this administration. Soon, people in the U. S. may no longer have a government “of, by, and for the people”, but one that is autocratic and oligarchic in nature that will do everything in its power to support the ultra-wealthy and big corporations, with little respect or consideration for the largest segment of our country, the middle-class and the poor. The “almighty dollar” could become its guiding principle, not the health and happiness of its people overall.
And now, some 65% or more of the citizens of voting age view this administration unfavorably! It is my belief - an hope - that these people are thoughtful and responsible voters who keep themselves up to date on important events, read books and periodicals, travel, understand the difference between truth and lies, and are very tolerant and caring people. I also believe that they have empathy and concern for others, for their country, for the world, and for the environment. They must be the ones to stand up for freedom and democracy no matter the cost.
However, that will not be an easy task because of the 35% of the total voting population that voted against our democracy and are responsible for this mess. That group, I believe, is made up of three kinds of people: those who chose not to vote at all, the wealthy who selfishly wanted more than they already have, or the wantonly ignorant who cast their votes without properly performing their due diligence. The people that I do not hold responsible, even though they did not vote, are the poor, the overworked, the homeless, or anyone who has been denied their basic rights, despite being a citizen of the U. S.
I mention all this because I wrote the Rooms’ Series, in part, to cause people to ponder the possibility of just such a dystopian future. But you must also know that the series contains considerable "hope!" With hard work, a facts-based, scientific approach to life, thoughtful governance, and some luck on our side, the human race still has the potential to overcome whatever lies ahead.
So, please, take a look at the series, with the understanding that it is a very creative and scene-driven story, told from the view of a diverse cast of characters. It takes place in the distant future after most of the human race had already left the Earth because it had become uninhabitable. They are now living inside large, protective lifeglobes on planets, moons, or asteroids that contain enough raw materials to sustain life. None of those heavenly bodies, however, were anything like the Earth of old - a dazzlingly beautiful and diverse celestial orb where all life had once been able to evolve and flourish on its surface with no barriers between them and the "outside."
ROOMS
Summary
There was a time in Earth’s past when the entire planet was sick and dying and could no longer sustain life. A group of wealthy humans, who called themselves "The Chosen,” decided to abandon the Earth. And just as a person might skip across a shallow pond, moving from stone to stone, the human race multiplied and over hundreds of years gradually stretched across the Milky Way in the hope of finding another jewel, another Earth-like planet.
In this time of exploration and colonization, the humans on each of these desolate outposts lived in protected settlements called lifeglobes. Their daily life had a surreal consistency that affected and numbed them. They longed to see beyond the horizon, to feel something new. Because of this, their freedays and evenings were often spent in Rooms. These were extremely sophisticated, holographic, multi-sensory game rooms, which could adapt to each player. Each session in a Room was unique and helped to fill the void created by constantly having to live inside an enclosure, always separated from the outside, never being able to walk open and free.
One of those humans was Rad. He had just moved to the lifeglobe on planet R-131 and was a member of the governing council. However, he was also an elite Rooms’ player. His main reason for coming to R-131 was that he had heard rumors about one particular Room, which was steered by a woman called the “old one.” It was supposedly unparalleled for its graphic realism and complexity. All the best players were moving there, and for some, like Rad, to be chosen to play it had become an obsession. However, this particular Room had not been designed for entertainment or pleasure. This Room had been created to change the course of human history.
THE CHOSEN
Summary
In the future, the Earth is dying and is abandoned by The Chosen, an elite and powerful, corporate upper-class. Most of their descendants have settled in lifeglobes on various rocks throughout the galaxy. Their original society and culture has been lost and forgotten everywhere except on M-78. On that rock-strewn, resource-laden planet, The Chosen’s way of life has remained in tact for over five centuries, and Harlequin has been their leader ever since leaving Earth.
But now, Harlequin is determined to locate another Earth-like planet to inhabit and exploit. She succeeds in finding one; its name is Loon. And not only does she learn how magnificent Loon is, but at the same time discovers that Earth has reset itself. The Chosen may even be able to reinhabit their ancestral home once again.
This sets up a struggle between two extremely divergent cultures: one where reason, science, and social awareness have created a society in tune with their world; the other, that of The Chosen, whose main philosophy is centered upon the acquisition of profit at any cost.
In The Chosen, these two societies and the unique individuals who inhabit them, tell a story of two worlds on a collision course, with the result being a galactic conflict whose outcome will impact the human race for eons to come.
