After the Sky
Spirits of the Earth Book 1
by Milo James Fowler
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic SciFi Fantasy
The world isn't how they left it. When the bunker airlocks release them after twenty years in
hibernation, the survivors find a silent, barren world outside. But they are not alone. There is a presence
here, alive in the dust—spirits of the earth, benevolent and malicious as they interact with the human
remnant.
Milton is haunted by a violent past he's unable to escape, despite the superhuman speed the spirits give
him.
Not interested in bearing the next generation, Daiyna is determined to destroy the flesh-eating mutants
lurking in the dark, pierced by her night-vision.
Luther is a man of conviction who believes the Creator has offered humankind a second chance, yet he's
uncertain they deserve it—and he's perplexed by the talons that flex out of his fingers.
Willard is a brilliant engineer-turned-soldier who refuses to leave his bunker, afraid of becoming infected
and willing to destroy any obstacle in his way.
As their lives collide, the mysteries of this strange new world start unraveling, culminating in the ultimate
life-or-death decision one survivor will make for them all.
Don't miss this Post Apocalyptic Adventure with a Paranormal Fantasy twist! It's perfect for fans of
Stephen King, T.W. Piperbrook, and The Walking Dead.
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Tomorrow's Children
Spirits of the Earth Book 2
The future is in their hands.
The post-apocalyptic world is bigger than the remnant imagined. Across the ocean, the domed cities of
Eurasia have survived the nuclear holocaust that ravaged the rest of the planet. But only the survivors
from the North American Wastes can give the sterile Eurasians what they need most in order to continue
existing as a society: children.
Sergeant James Bishop, United World Marine, leads his team across the desert wasteland in order to
make first contact with survivors in Eden, who are rumored to have a lab full of viable embryos.
Meanwhile Cain, a coastal warlord dedicated to repopulating the planet, follows the will of Gaia, a
malicious spirit of the earth with no love for humankind. Margo, telepathic geneticist responsible for
designing the next generation, struggles to balance the will of a selfish dictator with what's best for
humanity. Tucker, an invisible man on a mission, carries precious cargo across the Wastes in an effort to
rally a group of survivors into action against Eden.
As their lives intersect, agendas collide and tensions reach a breaking point. Twenty unborn children in
incubation chambers hang in the balance—along with the fate of the world.
Grab the thrilling sequel to After the Sky! It's perfect for fans of Stephen King, Tom Abrahams, and
The Walking Dead.
City of Glass
Spirits of the Earth Book 3
The children of the remnant are adults living in the 10 Domes of Eurasia, self-sustaining biospheres
along the Mediterranean Sea. Aerocars fly, clones work as security officers, and every citizen's
words and actions are monitored via their neural implants. Peace reigns over all—until a group of
terrorists targets government buildings, and Chancellor Persephone Hawthorne is kidnapped.
Sera Chen, Dome 1 law enforcer, is drawn into the conflict after chasing a curfew violator capable of
leaping from one skyscraper to another. When her augments go offline due to a localized EMP burst, she
starts hearing voices. The band of survivors in North America is fractured. Daiyna roams the Wastes with
a bounty on her head, refusing to confront her demons. Samson and Shechara target UW raiders who
are pillaging ruins for resources the remnant needs to survive. James Bishop struggles against
unexpected obstacles to be reunited with his family. And Luther is determined to find a way into Eurasia
to meet the twenty children taken from Eden.
As their lives converge, unlikely alliances will form to combat an emergent enemy with plans to
undermine the course of humanity's future.
The Spirits of the Earth Trilogy concludes with this epic final installment. You won't want to miss this!
Milo is a teacher by day and a speculative fictioneer by night. When he's not grading papers, he's
imagining what the world might be like in a dozen alternate realities. www.milojamesfowler.com
GUEST POST
What inspired you to write this book?
I had a dream where a guy with an
eagle's eye and the taloned foot of a bird of prey was standing on a
hilltop overlooking a valley. In the distance was a nuclear-powered
biodome full of post-apocalyptic survivors. For some reason, that
enclave had to be destroyed, but I didn't know why. So I started
writing the story from the first-person POV of an unreliable narrator
escaping from a very dark past, and After the Sky evolved from there.
(Without the eagle-guy or the biodome.) Once I got started, I wanted
it to be an homage to John Milton's Paradise Lost. Not sure if I
succeeded, but that's been the goal for the whole Spirits of the
Earth trilogy.
What can we expect from you in the
future?
I've got a couple other trilogies in
the works: one's comedic space opera and the other's "new
weird". I also have ideas for a spinoff series that will feature
characters from City of Glass (Spirits of the Earth Book 3). My goal
is to draft four novels this year and get at least two of them ready
for a publisher by December. We'll see how it goes.
Do you have any “side stories”
about the characters?
My flash story "When Tomorrow
Comes" takes place prior to After the Sky and features Milton
and Julia as children; my short story "Beneath the Surface"
is a retelling of Willard's origin story, but it was altered for the
novel and doesn't work continuity-wise.
Can you tell us a little bit about
the characters in After the Sky?
The story is told from the point of
view of four core characters. Milton is on the run from a very dark
past; he's on the verge of losing his mind when he meets Daiyna, the
first human being he's seen since he came out of the bunker. Daiyna
was a member of a bunker of "breeders" expected to give
birth to the next generation at All-Clear, but she's not interested
in bearing young, not with so many threats against the survivors.
Luther is a man of peace who wants more than anything to unify the
survivors, but human nature keeps thwarting his plans. Then there's
Willard. He's content to live underground and make a future for
humankind where it's safe with filtered air, running water, food, and
books to read. He has no tolerance for anyone who doesn't share his
view of the world.
How did you come up with the concept
and characters for the book?
I've always been a fan of those
post-apocalyptic movies from the 1970s, and I wanted the reader to be
unsure of who to believe as the story progressed. The themes of
survival, redemption, and conflicting views of God were important. I
wanted each of the characters to tell their own story as it happened,
and the reader to piece everything together as we went along. For
patient readers who don't mind a puzzle, the payoff is worth the
effort.
Where did you come up with the names
in the story?
Milton was named after John Milton,
Luther after Martin Luther, and Samson was named after Samson in the
Bible; but the others just showed up and introduced themselves to me.
I wanted the women from Daiyna's group to have unique, beautiful
names, so I invented a few of them. Willard's crew had to sound like
salt of the Earth, when they're anything but.
What did you enjoy most about
writing this book?
I enjoyed seeing the characters'
stories intersect and how they work together to overcome a greater
threat.
Tell us about your main characters-
what makes them tick?
They all want to survive and make a new
life for not only themselves but humankind as a whole. Milton doesn't
want to be alone anymore, but he's seriously messed up. Daiyna wants
to eliminate external threats to the group, such as the bloodthirsty
cannibal freaks. Luther wants to build unity among the survivors and
look toward the future of human civilization. Willard wants to live
underground, avoiding the toxic surface at all costs. Some
compromises are made along the way, but not many.
How did you come up with the title?
It was originally going to be After the
Sky Fell, but the final lines of dialogue changed it for me. (Read
the book to find out…) And I didn't want any Chicken Little
connotations to distract readers from the get-go.
Who designed your book covers?
They were designed by my publisher,
Aethon Books. I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. Aethon
did a great job of taking my ideas and running with them.
If you had to do it all over again,
would you change anything in your latest book?
It took me 12 years to write, revise,
edit, and find a publisher for After the Sky, and during that time,
it underwent several iterations. By this point, it's more than ready
to be read.
Did you learn anything during the
writing of your recent book?
Book 3 in the trilogy, City of Glass,
taught me that I could draft a 400-page novel in two months. I've
never done that before, and I'm very happy with how it turned out.
If your book was made into a film,
who would you like to play the leads?
Sam Rockwell would make a great Milton.
Jessica Chastain would be an awesome Daiyna. Idris Elba would have to
play Luther, and Gary Busey embodies Willard. (I'd like to play one
of the mutant cannibals who gets shot, followed by a garbled Wilhelm
Scream.)
Anything specific you want to tell
your readers?
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy my
work and tell everyone you know about it.
What is your favorite part of this
book and why?
I like it when the characters work
together to overcome a major obstacle. It shows that no matter who we
are or where we come from, it's possible to unite against a common
enemy. And who knows? Maybe even remain united after the fact.
If you could spend time with a
character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do
during that day?
I'd like to hang out with Samson, drive
some monster trucks around in the desert or something.
Are your characters based off real
people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
I assume all of my characters are in
some way a combination of people I've met. After teaching for over
two decades, I'm sure aspects of various students (and their parents)
show up as well. But for the most part, my characters enter my mind
fully formed, and I learn more about them as I draft their scenes.
Do your characters seem to hijack
the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?
It's a symbiotic relationship. I never
force them to do anything because I have a specific plot point in
mind; on the contrary, they're often the ones leading me to the next
scene. But I do have an end in sight, and we have to get there, one
way or another.
Convince us why you feel your book
is a must read.
It's unlike any post-apocalyptic story
you've ever read or movie you've ever seen. You'll recognize aspects
of Mad Max and X-Men, but you won't have a clue where it's going.
Then you'll be pleased you went along for the ride.
Have you written any other books
that are not published?
Two: one's a survival thriller and the
other is about a time-traveling detective. Both are currently out on
submission, so we'll see what those publishers have to say.
If your book had a candle, what
scent would it be?
"Essence of Apocalypse"
What did you edit out of
this book?
All of the original scenes are in it;
they're just a whole lot tighter. I ended up cutting almost a hundred
pages of dialogue and interior monologue to keep the action moving at
a steady clip.
Is there a writer whose brain you
would love to pick for advice? Who would that be and why?
I'm impressed by Stephen King's
productivity and China Mieville's way with words, but I'd have to say
J.R.R. Tolkien. His Lord of the Rings trilogy will never be
forgotten, and I'd love to know more about his character development
and worldbuilding strategies. Spirits of the Earth is no Lord of the
Rings, but both involve unlikely heroes uniting for a common purpose,
overcoming their own character flaws and working together for the
greater good, to stop a horrendous evil.
Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes/Did You
Know?'-type tidbits about the author, the book or the writing process
of the book.
So this is kind of funny, considering
my affinity for '70s post-apocalyptic cinema. I was actually named
after a character from the Planet of the Apes series. When Cornelius
and Zira have their baby, they name him Milo! My parents were a
little chagrined when I found out, saying yes, that's where they
first heard the name; but then they started hearing it other places
as well. I don't mind at all.
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