The Phantom of the Earth (Books 1-5 Omnibus Edition) - Kindle edition by Raeden Zen. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Phantom of the Earth (Books 1-5 Omnibus Edition).
FOR A LIMITED TIME: THE PHANTOM OF THE EARTH SERIES (1,350 PAGES) IS AVAILABLE FOR 75% LESS THAN THE OMNIBUS PRICE OR 90% LESS THAN PURCHASING THE 5 BOOKS INDIVIDUALLY. IT'S A THOUGHT-PROVOKING POST-APOCALYPTIC SCIENCE FICTION SERIES.
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THE STRUGGLE FOR THE TRANSHUMAN SPECIES...
TO AVERT EXTINCTION AND RETURN TO THE SURFACE ...
WILL BE DECIDED UNDERGROUND.
The Phantom of the Earth Omnibus Edition! The Omnibus Edition combines the first five books of the Phantom Series in one unbeatable package, including (in proper reading order): The Song of the Jubilee, The Gambit with Perfection, The Synthesis and the Animus, The Descent into the Maelstrom, and The Restoration of Flaws.
In the Great Commonwealth of Beimeni, a subterranean civilization in North America, expansion long ago gave way to peace and prosperity in the face of the history's most devastating plague. Immortality is the reward for service and loyalty in Beimeni, a place where the physical blends with the metaphysical and power consolidates in the hands of those with a genetic edge. The fissures first spread slowly, then swiftly, until now the Great Commonwealth finds itself on the brink of economic devastation, challenged by forces from within that know its secrets and its crimes. At the center of the conflict lie the Selendias of Piscator, founders of the resistance with an uncanny connection to the zeropoint field, and the Barão Strike Team, three researchers tasked with finding a cure to the Reassortment Strain, the plague that nearly wiped humanity from the Earth. Traveling from the uninhabitable but pristine surface to the habitable but inhospitable underground, this is a story about dedication to dreams, battle for survival, discovery and connection, song and celebration, undoing past misdeeds, and sacrifice for the greater good.
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PRAISE FOR THE SONG OF THE JUBILEE (BOOK 1)
David Estes, Author of THE MOON DWELLERS -- "[THE SONG OF THE JUBILEE] is a major SciFi book. It is extremely well-written and has a compelling post-apocalyptic hook. The characters and their situations are interesting (scientist, rebel leader, etc.). The underground but highly technologically based setting is vividly described."
IndieReader Official 4-Star Review -- "In a post-apocalyptic world, trans-human scientists fight a deadly disease while rebels battle with the leaders of Earth's last Commonwealth. ... This is the beginning of a complicated and intricate science fiction epic. ... The characters' personalities and backgrounds are revealed bit by bit in the course of the story, naturally and believably, so that they appear as three-dimensional people with real backgrounds and understandable motivations - no cardboard heroes or villains here. THE SONG OF THE JUBILEE is a vigorous yet thorough introduction to a very promising new science fiction world."
Rowena Hoseason, Top 50 Reviewer (Amazon UK) -- "Dazzling. That's the impact of this intro to an extensive dystopian sci-fi saga. The first book in a series of five, [THE SONG OF THE JUBILEE] sets the scene and themes in a complex, carefully crafted future history. ... [It's] a relatively short book. It contains a complete story arc, but it is only the tip of the overall tale. If you find yourself intrigued by the extensive cast of characters and the unfolding multiple scenarios, then you'll want to hop straight on to the next in the series, [THE GAMBIT WITH PERFECTION]."
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It was a pleasure to edit Raeden Zen's Phantom of the Earth Series, a subterranean post-apocalyptic that readers of hard science fiction will enjoy. As much credit as Raeden deserves for getting the science right, consulting with leading researchers in the field of synthetic biology and synthesizing information from a wealth of primary sources, what makes this series most compelling for me is the intergenerational conflict it explores. At its heart, this is a story about two families, the Selendias and the Barão-Rheas, who share a common goal of reclaiming earth's surface for humanity. But they come from factions with very different ideas about how much personal liberty the citizens of Beimeni should sacrifice to achieve this aim.
Eternal partners Broden Barão and Damosel Rhea, both scientists, work within Chancellor Masimovian's regime to defeat the plague that drove humankind underground. High achievers within a society that prizes scientific progress, they have every reason to accept the status quo, even if that means banishing underachievers to the Lower Level and sending insurgents to their deaths on the earth's surface. At the series' outset, the Barão-Rheas consider their lives forfeit to the greater cause of humanity's survival, just like anyone else.
Meanwhile, Johann Selendia, interim president of the resistance movement, strives to free his father from imprisonment and keep his underdeveloped brother from harm. The urgency behind this mission is both tactical and personal given that Johann's father, the founder of the Liberation Front, stands to reveal sensitive secrets if he cracks under interrogation. At stake are the lives of millions of members of the Liberation Front, including children, a rare sight in the commonwealth, where babies are developed into adults in a matter of days.
What I so enjoy about this series is that neither death nor banishment can extinguish the true history of the Commonwealth of Beimeni, which surfaces bit by bit despite the efforts of those in power to snuff it out. A five-book series is the perfect format to advance this big-canvas story, giving us first a glimpse, then a footing, and finally the full scope of the world Raeden Zen has created. From book to book, children, siblings, and compatriots take up the flag for their cause before it hits the ground. Endings are therefore beginnings, the line between good and evil blurry at best. Discovering Beimeni along with its characters is an intense ride that reaches epic heights by the series' end--an experience not to be missed.
The former nonfiction editor of Drunken Boat and copyeditor for Alaska Quarterly Review, Erin Wilcox has edited some of the finest talent of our day, from literary legend Grace Paley to 2015 Pulitzer Prize winner Gregory Pardlo. Erin maintains a vigorous freelance editorial practice specializing in literary and speculative fiction. She has edited work nominated for Hugo and Pushcart Prizes, and her clients have placed work with big-5 publishers and reached top-ten status in the Kindle store. Erin writes for trade and scholarly journals such as Copyediting, Text, and The Rumpus. Her creative work has been featured in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Praxis: Gender and Cultural Critiques (SUNY Oneonta), Cold Flashes (University of Alaska Press), and The Sonoran Desert: A Literary Field Guide (University of Arizona Press). Her story "Half a World Away" was nominated for a 2014 Pushcart Prize.
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WILCOX EDITING SERVICES Q&A WITH AUTHOR RAEDEN ZEN
Erin Wilcox: Hi, I'm Erin Wilcox and I'm here with author Raeden Zen, who is a client of mine and the author of the Phantom of the Earth series. How are you, Raeden?
Raeden Zen: I'm doing well, how are you?
EW: Excellent, and I'm very excited to be talking with you today about your books. Would you run down, just very quickly, what are the titles of the five books that you've written?
RZ: Sure, so there are five books and the first book is The Song of the Jubilee, the second book is The Gambit with Perfection, the third book is The Synthesis and the Animus, the fourth book is The Descent into the Maelstrom, and the fifth book is The Restoration of Flaws.
EW: And all told, how many pages have you written? Or words, or however you want to measure?
RZ: In total it's about 415,000 words or about 1,650 pages.
EW: Wow. So it's this huge big-canvas story, and there's just a whole lot of great world stuff, and there's always that question about how are we going to enter this world and find a way in. So I'm curious, and I'm sure our listeners are also curious, who is the main character that we meet first in book one?
RZ: The first main character is Johann Selendia, and he is the son of the resistance leader. Initially, the conflict begins where the government has apprehended his father and Johann must act as leader of the resistance in his father's place.
EW: And he is the resistance leader for what movement? What conflict is Johann engaged in?
RZ: So the conflict is called the Evolutionary War and it's basically a decades-long guerilla war between the Liberation Front and the government of Atticus Masimovian. Johann's father and his mother founded the movement, although at the time of the story his mother has already been killed by the government, and his father at the start of the story has been taken captive. So Johann has to make a choice when his older brother unexpectedly arrives at his inaugural celebration, and he delivers new intel. His name is Zorian, and he lets Johann know he has new intel and schematics to the prison where he tells Johann that their father is being held.
EW: Okay, so the plan is prison break--and spring Dad. Alright, very good, and where is all this happening?
RZ: So it's happening inside the earth. It's really a three-dimensional setting, but the main setting is 2,500 meters deep inside the earth. That's where the main commonwealth lies, and then the rebels are sort of holed up in a shallower depth of 300 meters, but all of the story ... most of the story ... is inside the earth.
EW: The rebels and the resistance leaders are one side in the Evolutionary War, and would you outline the other side?
RZ: Yeah, so the main other side is the commonwealth--it's the Great Commonwealth of Beimeni. It's led by Atticus Masimovian and his wife, Isabelle Lutetia. Basically, it comes down to a vision for how to lead humanity in this sort of advanced world where everyone can live forever. If they serve the government, the government will allow them access to gene therapy that will enable them to live forever, and it's sort of a conflict between how to handle that kind of technology, how to handle immortality. The government handles it one way, where if you serve them you get it and have access to it, and the rebels don't feel that's the way the world should be run. They think everyone should have equal opportunity to basically live their lives the way they want, and that's essentially what the battle is over...
Read and/or listen to the rest of the interview at wilcoxediting.com.
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First of all, thank you for taking the time to read The Phantom of the Earth. None of this would be possible without you! Thanks to my friends and family for your support and patience during this process. Thanks to speculative fiction authors David Brin (The Postman, Uplift Saga), who read the first chapter of The Song of the Jubilee and offered writing advice, Jason Gurley (Eleanor, Greatfall), who designed the book covers, and Tammy Salyer (Spectras Arise Trilogy), who copyedited the manuscripts. Thanks to Mike Corley for creating the maps. Thanks to Penn State-University Park astrophysicist Dr. Zachary Prieskorn for reading several drafts, providing scientific and editorial perspective, and forming the space and time travel appendix. Thanks to Harvard University synthetic biologist Dr. George M. Church for searching the manuscripts for opportunities and offering scientific suggestions. Thanks to Columbia University synthetic biologist Dr. Harris Wang for meeting with me to discuss the project. Thanks to iGEM participants Clay Swackhamer (biological engineer), who read the manuscripts and provided scientific and editorial feedback, and Michael Easterbrook (chemical engineer), who read The Song of the Jubilee and The Gambit with Perfection and supplied scientific suggestions with a focus on the Reassortment Strain. Thanks to Matt Harkenreader (nuclear engineer) for helping me flesh out the terraforming appendix. Thanks to Victoria Chen (science engineer) for reading the first three books and providing scientific and editorial perspective on The Song of the Jubilee. Thanks to the Chinese University of Hong Kong iGEM team for sending me their updated research on synbio data storage (E. cryptor). Thanks to my beta readers: Amber Triplett, Bill Sullivan, Carl Nelson, Casey Miller, Cheryl M-M, John Boettcher, Joyce Gravino, Karen Klink, Kathryn Cunningham, Kelsey Mecher, Laura Johnson, Lauren Stoolfire, Michelle Hofacker, Natalie Hughes, Rowena Hoseason, Veronica Sardo, Violet Lauderdale, and Yulande Lindsay. Thanks to my concept artists Daniel Kvasznicza (300, Arkham Origins) and Juan Carlos Barquet (The Origin Mystery). Thanks to Polgarus Studio for formatting the books for publication. Special thanks to my editor, Erin Wilcox, without whom this project would never have been completed.
While synthetic biology and other technologies are treated fictitiously in The Phantom of the Earth, I delved into many excellent nonfiction models for inspiration. The most influential sources included: Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves by George M. Church and Ed Regis, PhD, The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe by Lynne McTaggart, More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement by Ramez Naam, Prehistoric Life: The Definitive Visual History of Life on Earth by DK Publishing, and Algorithmic Puzzles by Anany Levitin and Maria Levitin. Other sources that helped me apply concepts of earth science, theology, martial arts, what could happen to the planet's surface if humans suddenly disappeared, exoplanets, quantum physics, classical physics, metaphysics, and time include The Earth Machine: The Science of a Dynamic Planet by Edmond A. Mathez and James D. Webster; Time Travel and Warp Drives: A Scientific Guide to Shortcuts through Time and Space by Allen Everett and Thomas Roman; The World Without Us by Alan Weisman; Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness by Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner; Exoplanets: Finding, Exploring, and Understanding Alien Worlds by C. R. Kitchin; God's Universe by Owen Gingerich; The God Theory: Universes, Zero-point Fields, and What's Behind It All by Bernard Haisch; The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi; "Wormholes, Time Machines, and the Weak Energy Condition" by Michael S. Morris, Kip S. Thorne, and Ulvi Yurtsever, published in Physical Review Letters; and A Question of Time: The Ultimate Paradox and the Secrets of Consciousness, a compilation of articles from Scientific American. Discovery Channel's Inside Planet Earth and National Geographic's Down to the Earth's Core also influenced details inside Vigna and Earth. Note: any egregious errors beyond what would be considered acceptable artistic license in applying the science or technology to The Phantom of the Earth are my own.
Raeden Zen is a speculative and supernatural fiction author. When he isn't writing, you can find him hanging out with his family and friends, reading, eating exotic foods, enjoying movies, swimming, procrastinating with social media, or watching sports. He lives in New York City.
