Book 1
Utopia Falling: A Darkness Rises
“Utopia once created cannot long survive the onslaught of human nature.”
The Great Destruction brought Earth to its knees. As centuries passed, humanity grew into the near-utopian realm of Tartica, founded on free love, dedicated to living off nature, and committed to repopulating civilization. Living the dream, Reyne’s only desire is to marry Mithany, raise a family, and reap the promise of a simple life.
But Reyne’s hopes are shattered when assassins from the parallel domain of Evidar, a brutal world condemned to exist forever in darkness, arrives on Tartica just days before his wedding… and mark him for death. Elsewhere, benevolent leaders guiding Tartica’s ideal society succumb to dark ambitions based on tainted promises and spark events that threaten to set millennia of cultural harmony ablaze.
As Reyne refuses to accept that he alone can pass through the Void to a parallel realm—that he doesn’t believe exists—to kill its leader, secrets are revealed, lies are laid bare, and what cannot be real… is.
Driving everything towards chaos, the Devil’s Blacksmith, Evidar’s master manipulator, has secrets of his own and will stop at nothing to secure salvation and to free his world from its perpetual darkness at the expense of Reyne’s life and Tartica’s existence.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Most of us have been forced to face difficulties in our lives, those of our own making or as a consequence of someone else’s actions. Sometimes we rise above them, other times we aren’t so lucky. I wanted to explore how we deal with those dark moments as individuals and collectively as a society. A story whose starting point is an idyllic utopian civilization seemed like a good place to begin the unravelling.
I’m an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy. The more epic the better. Throw in dark undertones and I’m hooked. In the end, I wrote an adult themed story that I would want to read, and I believe others will as well.
First and foremost, anything by Joe Abercrombie for his characters, his dialogue, and his depiction of gritty realism. Stephen R. Donaldson’s works are also high on my list. His GAP series is especially dark. Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, including all the related series, are exceptionally well written. Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire and Red Sister are both imaginative and compelling. When taking a break from SFF, I enjoy Lee Childs’ Jack Reacher novels and Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne books.
I suppose you could ask that question to anyone who writes fantasy. Utopia Falling has one foot in several sub-genres; epic, dark, post-apocalyptic, new adult, adventure, portal and few others. You don’t need to be an expert or even familiar with the world the book transports you to…it’s fantasy. But it does have to be interesting; something that is entertaining. You want a story with characters that you love or hate or maybe even love to hate. If the author draws you in and delivers on the book’s promise, what else can you ask for? I think I’ve done just that.
On a lazy Sunday afternoon sitting outside or at the beach enjoying a family vacation, print is the clear favorite. Indoors, the convenience of a tablet wins hands down.
As an example, A Song of Ice and Fire is an exceptionally well written multi-POV (point of view), epic fantasy. I admire George RR Martin’s work immensely. Like ASOIAF, Utopia Falling is a character driven narrative where several distinct character’s actions, motivations, and decisions move the story forward, piece by piece. The realms of Tartica and Evidar, given the stakes in play, are beyond the scope of one person to determine the outcome. While each chapter or scene focuses on a single character’s points of view, they’re all interrelated in the end.
The utopia falling saga
The award-winning, dark epic fantasy trilogy
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