Silas is an Arcadian, a blood drinking, sun avoiding,
earth dwelling child of the Mother, on a mission from her and the Grove to
desperately try and combat the tide of destruction humanity inflicts on the
planet. It’s a desperate fight, one they seem to have already lost, but the
Arcadians have many gifts to help them.
Despite this, Silas’s latest mission falls apart, badly.
So badly that it’s impossible that it was merely an accident. It seems the
Grove itself may have been compromised and he cannot return to the Mother.
Worse, his opponents had a new weapon, a chemical that burns Arcadians and does
far more damage than simple bullets ever could to the ancient warriors.
He frees the only person he feels he can trust, Mere; an
investigative journalist with strong experience in challenging large,
multi-national agricultural companies and they begin unravelling the knot of
what is actually happening
But as they travel the world, do the research and piece
together Silas’s shattered memories, there’s clearly far more going on than
they expected with at least 3 distinct players and it has ramifications far
beyond Grove – and maybe even Mother isn’t what she seems
I have to give this story all kinds of praise for its
originality, because it has a truly remarkable concept. Vampires as
environmental guardians, resisting the corruption and pollution of the world.
The whole sleeping in native soil myth which Urban Fantasy often discards now
brought back to have vampires connecting with the earth to heal, avoiding the
sun because, combined with airborn pollutants, it harms their chemical
sensitive bodies – it’s a wonderful twist on the old legends.
It’s tempting to think of these vampires, these
Arcadians, as gentle because of their environmental leanings. Humans are
over-consuming, polluting and, ultimately, disposable if not outright in need
of culling. They are warriors and guardians, fully willing to use their deadly
skills to protect the Mother.
The whole concept and the world here is incredible, and
that’s just made more so by this globetrotting story across the southern
hemisphere unveiling more and more of the mysteries around this multi-faceted
conspiracy. It’s complex, it’s action packed, it’s extremely well paced and
it’s huge – a true sense of being global about it
There’s also some great commentary on activism and empty
gestures – ignoring corporate control and over consumption in favour of gesture
politics that gets in the news and makes people feel good – the whole putting a
“save the whales” sticker in your Hummer, mindset.
