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Historical fiction, stranger than fantasy. The Four Lights series, languages from the dawn of civilisation, the world of 8500 years ago. Free chapters here or download the ebook free from BookFunnel.
Ancient historical fiction
In the Day of the Flood is an ancient history epic, the first in a series set in Europe before the dawn of history. It's currently free to download: BookFunnel or 99 cents / 79p on Amazon.
A paperback is also available on Amazon.
(Painting on the ebook cover. Artist: Irene Joy)
The setting for the Four Lights series
The setting for the Four Lights is Eastern Europe around 8500 years ago. It is a strange but beautiful time. The Neolithic is the last period before recorded history, but thanks to archaeological discoveries from both Anatolia and the Balkans we have a wealth of concrete information about what life was like. This is the time long after cavemen with clubs but long before the pyramids. The lost civilisations of Europe.
It is also the period when a catastrophic flood inundated the shores of the Black Sea, with a change in sea level of up to 300 feet, as the salt water of the Mediterranean swept into the freshwater lake, killing all the fish and drowning 10,000 square miles of farmed, populated land.
Why did I start writing about the time before history?
My inspiration was a single phrase in Proto-Indo-European. It sounded something like dyewus peter. This word eventually became Jupiter in Latin, and the words literally mean “sky father”, or “father in heaven”. The connection for me was obvious: this is the same phrase used by Jesus Christ 4000 years later to refer to a creator. Where did this idea come from and what did it mean?
To imagine and explore the possible beliefs of an even earlier time, I tried to imagine and then design a simpler language than Proto-Indo-European, which eventually became Meri, the language of the Sweet Sea. There is also a simpler cosmology, before anthropomorphic gods, of respect for Deya, the sky, and Deghóm, the earth and giver of food, which was beginning to be viewed as a mother.
What is In the Day of the Flood about?
In the Day of the Flood is a mythic, archaeological fantasy set around the ancient Black Sea, 8500 years ago. It follows Deghóm, a visionary young woman whose natural empathy brings her into conflict with the religious world into which she is born. Forced into exile, she travels through a world in which society is still an experiment, but where the most stable communities are governed by women. The flood then bursts into her world, sparking a series of events and a future that she could never have imagined.
Background information:
Curious about the world behind the story? My website at stephen-thomas.co.uk contains more information about the Meri language, the Danube‑inspired symbols, the great events that took place around 8500 years ago and the cosmological ideas behind the Four Lights.
Hope you enjoy it Thomas. I do agree that the Anatolian / European Neolithic in particular is neglected. Large villages, towns really, matrifocal societies, emergent symbolism and beautiful items of daily use.
Above all: PEACE. Very little evidence of human-on-human violence, at least in Eastern Europe before the Kurgan time.
Yes! Exactly, should cover it (let me know if not)!