Epic/Mythological Fantasy
Date Published: 08-28-2018
Publisher: Troubador
Akasha is a precocious young woman who lives in a world where oceans circulate in the aquamarine sky waters.
Before she was born, the Helios, a tribe of angels from the sun, came to Earth to deliver the Surge, the next step in the evolution of an embryonic human race. Instead, they left humanity on the brink of extinction and spawned a race of monstrous hybrids.
Horque is a Solarii, another tribe of angels, sent to Earth to rescue the genetic mix-up and release the Surge.
When Akasha has a premonition that a great flood is imminent and falls in love with Horque, her life becomes an instrument for apocalyptic change. But will it save the three races - humans, hybrids and Solarii – from the killing waters?
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Yes,
there is, but to reveal it would be a spoiler. Under the circumstances, the
best I can do is to introduce the story.
The Genes of Isis is the title of the novel. Isis is an Ancient Egyptian
goddess, because as everyone knows, What IS, IS.
Isis
also features in the myth of Isis and Osiris. Osiris is a legendary king in
Ancient Egypt, but he is murdered by his brother, Set, who is jealous of his
power. Set then dismembers Osiris and spreads his body parts around Egypt. Isis
gathers the parts together and miraculously brings Osiris back to life.
So,
the story is about something that starts as a whole, is broken into pieces,
then brought back together in a new whole, and given life. This is the metaphor
on which the story of The Genes of Isis is based.
The
genes of Isis are a glyph or shorthand for genesis, and these moots the first
book of the Bible by the same name. So, The Genes of Isis is a modern
re-telling or re-interpretation of the Biblical story of the Fallen Angels and
the Flood.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
I guess the thing
I find most challenging with writing is getting into the right place, the right
mind-set, to start writing. It’s often difficult to find the space and time in
which to hear the muse speak to you clearly, and succinctly. Notwithstanding
all the distractions of modern life, even then, you can sit down, and the muse
has gone home for the day, or gone shopping, or wherever it is that they go
when you need them.
So, it pays to be
patient, and to know the ways to counter things writer’s block. One of those is
to fill in the back story, and I found that usually releases the blockage.
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
The Genes of Isis was my first novel, and it’s a seminal book. You won’t find anything like it on the market place. It mixes mythology, legend, ancient history with questions about our genesis.
I asked the questions: Who are we? What are we? What
is our human genetic? Why are we like we are? Who made us? I enjoyed trying to
answer these questions in a fictional story, but in as realistic way as
possible.
The Old Dragon’s Head is my second novel. It’s a historical fantasy and supernatural thriller set during the Ming Dynasty and played out in the shadows the Great Wall of China.
A homage to Old China, it explores the secret
history of modern China, as it struggled to shake off the yoke of Mongol
invasion by Genghis Khan in the 14th Century.
My third novel The Coronation is set during the Great Enlightenment in the 1760’s in Eastern Europe when King Frederick the Great’s Prussia is at war with the two Empresses of Austria and Russia.
The
novel speculates on whatever happened to the Great Enlightenment and reveals
the secret history of perhaps the single most significant event that shaped our
modern world –
the Industrial Revolution.
It features Tula, a young woman, who believes in
angels, when no one in her society does.
She confronts her faith in herself, her faith in a higher purpose, and
ultimately, what it means to abdicate that faith.
If you had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?
I would ask Meryl Streep to play Issa,
one of the central characters in The Genes of Isis. She has that gravitas,
the regal bearing, and that sense of destiny that would be needed to play an
Ancient Egyptian Priestess mired in the politics of life and death.
When did you begin writing?
I’ve
always had a lover of history, and been an eclectic reader since childhood. I
had dabbled with writing fiction in my youth, but decided to take it up more a
few years ago. Now, it’s nearly fifteen years since I began a Creative Writing
Course at bath, in England.
How long did it take to complete your first book?
That first book was like pulling teeth and was a
journey of discovery in itself, and it was indeed, The Genes of Isis. My
first draft of the novel was some 185,000 words, which was too long by far. So, after many edits, and
plans, and re-writes, the finished product was around 105,000 words. And that
took all of six years.
Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
I
have been inspired by many writers: Herman Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Albert
Camus, Leo Tolstoy, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Jorge Louis Borges. I could name
many more, Joseph Conrad for example, William Shakespeare and Sophocles to add
a playwright or two. These are men who
have fired their imaginations, and fired mine at the same time. They have each
inspired me in different ways, with their plots, their overriding imagination,
and their sumptuous characterization.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
It’s
the discovery of the story, without doubt. It’s the finding of the part of the
story that didn’t know was there, that your muse delivers up to you, and takes
the story into a new sphere, giving the characters a motive that you hadn’t realized
before.
Describe your latest book in 4 words.
Repulse the
Spanish Armada.
Can you share a little bit about your current work?
My
next book is set during Elizabethan times.
Nelan
is a young man and a Dutch émigré who becomes a master of conjuring the four elements.
But in 1588, Spain is by far the richest and most powerful nation in Europe,
and its Catholic King is sending a huge fleet of warships to invade England – the
legendary Land of Angels – and burn all its heretical Protestants at the stake.
Nelan
knows that a battle is won before it’s been fought, so can he rescue England from
the existential threat of the Armada?
About the Author
Justin Newland is an author of historical fantasy and secret history thrillers - that’s history with a supernatural twist. His stories feature known events and real people from history which are re-told and examined through the lens of the supernatural. He gives author talks and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio Bristol’s Thought for the Day. He lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.
His Books...
The Genes of Isis is a tale of love, destruction and ephemeral power set under the skies of Ancient Egypt. A re-telling of the Biblical story of the flood, it reveals the mystery of the genes of Isis – or genesis – of mankind. ISBN 9781789014860.
“The novel is creative, sophisticated, and downright brilliant! I couldn’t ask more of an Egyptian-esque book!” – Lauren, Books Beyond the Story.
The Old Dragon’s Head is a historical fantasy and supernatural thriller set during the Ming Dynasty and played out in the shadows the Great Wall of China. It explores the secret history of the influences that shaped the beginnings of modern times. ISBN 9781789015829.
‘The author is an excellent storyteller.” – British Fantasy Society.
Set during the Great Enlightenment, The Coronation reveals the secret history of the Industrial Revolution. ISBN 9781838591885.
“The novel explores the themes of belonging, outsiders… religion and war… filtered through the lens of the other-worldly.” – A. Deane, Page Farer Book Blog.
His latest, The Abdication (July, 2021), is a suspense thriller, a journey of destiny, wisdom and self-discovery. ISBN 9781800463950.
“In Topeth, Tula confronts the truth, her faith in herself, faith in a higher purpose, and ultimately, what it means to abdicate that faith.”
V. Triola, Coast to Coast.
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