December 14th, 2009
What if our Earth and life as we know it never came about quite as it did? What if there had been a relatively small number of minor differences with Earth and its life forms, along with just a handful of major differences? What could Earth and life on it have become?
In Search of the Seventh Kingdom is a story that takes place in an alternate universe, or alternate reality – a reality that might have been, or could have been - if things had happened just a little bit differently.
The Earth of our story is familiar enough to us. While the shapes and placement of the continents, islands and seas may appear less familiar, the Earth is still the third planet from its yellow sun. The moon appears to be pretty much the same. The planets and the star patterns are also very nearly what they are to us now, and so the night sky is, for the most part, recognizable.
The plant and animal life on this Earth will also be familiar enough, with perhaps an occasional surprise. Fruits, vegetables, flowers and trees, all are recognizable to us. Cougars, geckos, goats, wolves, rats, frogs, opossums… all are the same animals we know, and they have the same place in this universe’s ecology as they do in ours.
However, in the world of The Seventh Kingdom there are some remarkable, and therefore notable, differences. The most striking difference between our universes is in the races having intelligence and language. In the world we know, humans alone have the powers of true language and creativity. But in the world of The Seventh Kingdom there aren’t any humans, as such. Instead, there are eleven races that have the gift of speech and the power of creativity. Of these sentient races there are nine mammalian races: Ape, Badger, Ferret, Hedgehog, Mole, Otter, Possum, Rat, and Wolverine. Another race considered as belonging to these is the Frog race. All together they are known as The Ten.
However, there is yet one more race having speech and creativity - the Serpent race. But the Serpents are not reckoned with The Ten.
While these races may be called by animal names, the physical appearance of the Ten is more human-like than animal, and yet they are immediately recognizable at first sight as belonging to their respective race. The Serpent race, however, does not have human features, beyond their ability to speak, and to be creative. The Seventh Kingdom progressively reveals its science fiction genre - especially when the question, How did these races come to be, is eventually answered.
There are other similarities between our world and the world of this story. One is that in both worlds the evil live only to bully others. And in both worlds the evil is in time challenged.
Note: The sentient races, Possum, Frog, Badger, Rat, Hedgehog… all are spelled with an initial cap. Any true non-sentient opossums, frogs, badgers, rats, hedgehogs… that might be mention in the story would not have the initial letter capitalized.
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The history of this world and its races is very old, and it is divided into two ages, The First Age, and The Second Age.
The First Age stretches far back in time for several thousands of years. The beginning of this First Age saw the unusual origin of the races, and the long and wondrous civilization they built together. Then came the nightmarish End of the First Age, and the desperate acts to save the races from extinction.
From there the Second Age began, becoming a period just over two thousand years long. From nearly primitive beginnings, The Ten races, along with the eleventh, slowly reestablished civilization again. But this new civilization saw only disunity and waste for its first seventeen hundred years.
Near the end of that time, there emerged from this disunity a bold new approach to ordering the world. There came to be what was called The Sixth Kingdom, and with it began this Second Age’s industrial period.
But sadly, the Sixth Kingdom fell before it could realize its potential, and a wish for a Seventh Kingdom slept for nearly 14 decades until it could awaken. This is the time of our story.
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But In Search of the Seventh Kingdom is not so much a story about a world in an alternate universe, or even the characters who live there, as it is a story about resolute courage to regain peace and happiness in a world robbed of both. Our story takes place well into a long period of darkness - 137 years of cruel oppression - 137 years of enforced isolating confinement, ignorance, and poverty. This darkness began with the Fall of the Sixth Kingdom.
The Fall of the Sixth Kingdom was brought about by the combined efforts of two powerful Serpents - Kahph II, and Pallador. Pallador is still alive and he rules this dark and wretched world. Emperor Pallador’s army is made up almost entirely of soldiers drawn from the race of Rats, and for all these decades he has been slowly gaining strength as he rebuilds the world that he and Kahph ruined nearly 140 years earlier.
The opening chapters begin by introducing two of the villains. We meet the main characters next - fifteen-year-old Kayla (of the Frog race) and fourteen-year-old Annabelle (of the Hedgehog race).
It is the evening of the full moon, when the people of a dying, impoverished town, gather for their monthly evening of story-telling.
From this night on begins a series of powerful and unexpected revelations that quickly propel the two girls on their journey to find answers that will reveal the cause of, and the solution to, her world’s dark and hopeless condition. In the end, their journey will also lead them to find the stunning answer to the question: How did these eleven races come to be?
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Genre: In Search of the Seventh Kingdom is an adventure story that all readers can enjoy. The story could possibly end up being a very large work in as many as four volumes. In this story there are no witches, wizards, ghosts, goblins, or trolls. No magic, fairies, elves, gore, sex, or bad language. This story is one of true science fiction, even if it’s told in a slightly different way.
Rating: The story does have some deaths, and some fighting and killings. And there will be some humor that juveniles will enjoy - and the juvenile in us all. But it is doubtful that any of it can be considered gratuitous. So how might the story be rated? Most will see it as being rated a safe PG.
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The Kindle - The Future of Reading Books: We may consider offering In Search of the Seventh Kingdom as a Kindle novel. Keep your eye on this development. CLICK HERE to check the fascinating reader out.