Saturday, June 3, 2017

Shadows of Our Fathers (Primal Patterns, Book 3) by Rex Jameson

Release date: May 24, 2017
Subgenre: Post-apocalyptic, space opera

About Shadows of Our Fathers:

 

Imagine a war between angels and demons that extends across our universe. Now, think bigger. Imagine that the fight between Lucifer and Jehovah extends across not only our universe but also involves two more ancient universes filled with demons and the remnants of the proud elven race.

Angels and demons fall as the Great War between Order and Chaos comes to a close. For those who thought Jehovah's days of smiting stopped in the Old Testament, it's time to give the devil his due.

In the face of democratic and social reforms, the Chaos Universe struggles with its past while pursuing the future that King Lucifer promises. While the demons thrive, the creator of the Elven universe looks to his own past for the salvation of his favorite immortals. Jehovah's wife Gaea and son Isaac seek asylum in Chaos as Lucifer and Jehovah have their final, apocalyptic battle.

"Shadows of Our Fathers" is the last book of the Lucifer's Fall trilogy, and book three in the Primal Patterns series.

 

Excerpt:


The demon Usmi Agalal, clothed in a black and silver robe, plopped down on his great grandmother Tiamat’s divan and grinned impishly at her. He unpinned his dyed, dark-black hair, letting it fall down—an invitation for her to get her brush. He knew she felt better when she kept her hands busy—especially when her mind was scheming.
“Hello, my pet,” she purred.
“Grandma,” he said, bowing his head.
Her bedroom gave him the creeps. Not just because it was pitch black, even under lights, but also because of what the furniture meant to her. His own room was furnished in the most opulent of silks, intricately-woven wools, and woods. Hers was made of zinanbar, and not just any zinanbar. Her room was furnished with the souls of her most intimate, vanquished enemies. The whole thing reminded him of mementos kept by a serial killer.
Everywhere outside of this room, she had taught Usmi to hide his evidence. Throughout his life, loose ends were treated as fatal mistakes. There were plots Usmi had been forced to participate in that had literally removed whole families from existence, simply to hide a whispered conversation.
But not here. This was a kind of trophy room, but a most peculiar one—likely the most unique trophy room in the multiverse. She did not gloat here. This was not a place with plaques and dedications. She had never once explained whose wasted souls now occupied her sleeping space. These were her greatest, most silent conquests. No one but Usmi or her past protégés had known about the contents of this room. She gave no personal tours here. She took no lovers here. Whatever lesson was meant to be learned in this room must have been reserved for those foes formidable enough, or secret enough, to earn a place here.
“Judging from that smile on your face,” she said, picking up her ornate pearl and gold brush, “you have news for me.”
Her long salt and pepper hair brushed against Usmi’s face.
“Three major papers are going to run the stories we gave them,” he said.
Tiamat grinned from above him with perfect white teeth shining through her youthful but leathery face. Even an immortal can age after a few billion years. All it takes is prolonged exposure to the harshest of cosmic events, and she had experienced them all.
“Lucifer was a fool to let the people form a free press,” she said, contempt dripping from her mouth like poison.
She attacked the knots in Usmi’s hair with a precision and lack of empathy that was her trademark. Thankfully, his scalp had long ago grown accustomed to these kinds of assaults.
“One is running a story about Ostat’s love children with Gishtil being housed in the palace. Another is claiming that they are actually Lucifer’s children. A third is running a story which essentially says that Gishtil and her children are just the tip of the iceberg. The lesser demon who is running the Alurabum Herald is essentially printing whatever conspiracy theory he can dream up. This latest one has elves and demons and even humans from Order involved in trysts that have produced deformed offspring.”
Tiamat chuckled as she pulled on a knot. “And Lucifer will not return for weeks…”
“When he does, he’ll have an absolute shit storm to clean up. Kishargal has taken our suggestion of a Samu and gone nuts with it! She’s convinced that her mother would want her to start bigger riots than Mina ever did.”
“And you hid the viewers?” Tiamat asked professionally.
“Naturally,” Usmi said. “I’ve even subbed false viewers into the Chaos University Library. My spies inside the university have assured me that Sariel took them and watched them before he left for Arnessa. He believes Kisha’s mother was just as bloodthirsty for lesser demon deaths as Kisha is trying to be.”
“And while Lucifer tries to quench flames at home and with the mining guilds from the riots, we’ll make our own moves against Kishargal.”
Usmi laughed as she continued to brush his knotless hair, just to keep her wrinkled, spotted hands busy.
“Kisha was never meant to rule this clan,” Tiamat said, “and Lucifer was never meant to rule this land. It will be you, my pet.”
He patted one of her hands. “I’m doing my best, Grandma. I’ll let the press stories fester a while.”
“Exploit your advantages,” she said, repeating a mantra he had heard since birth. “Trust your instincts.”
“Always.”
“And when Kisha is dismissed for incompetence and negligence of duty as Grand Commander,” she said, “we’ll make a move for you to usurp it.”

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About the Primal Patterns series: 

 

About Rex Jameson: 

Rex Jameson is the author of three novels ("Lucifer’s Odyssey", "The Goblin Rebellion", and "Shadows of Our Fathers") in the Primal Patterns series and half a dozen short stories. An avid history buff and an unabashed nerd with an appetite for science fiction and fantasy, he loves to create complex speculative fiction with layered characters. He earned a PhD in Computer Science at Vanderbilt University and researches distributed artificial intelligence in robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. Rex and his wife Jenny live in Pittsburgh where they enjoy hosting family and friends.


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