WHAT IS THE BOOK ABOUT?

The world is coming to an end… again.

After a limited nuclear war, climate warming, and the rising of the oceans, humanity managed to hang on, thanks to the tender mercies of the worldwide AI. But then the techgrid collapsed, and things really got tough.

Now that technology no longer functions, and all the easily exploitable metal and mineral resources have vanished, civilization can only be maintained at a stone age level. There is a mad scramble as multiple demagogues attempt to revive their ancestral way of life.

Among the future versions of past cultures struggling to be reborn: Egyptian, Assyrian, Roman/Fascist, Mayan, Tarascan, Azteca, and Viking.

Anything to do with cultural appropriation? Nope. This is about people, not cultures. The characters in the book know far less than we moderns do about ancient civilizations. Efforts to reconstruct the past are based on best guesses and false assumptions. Worse, they are led by demagogues exploiting past hatreds and current fears to stay in power through fear and terror.

I think you can see where the possibilities for social satire creep in.

Tragically, the declining population is still too large for the dwindling resources. Enter Rudwulf the Smiter, a mercenary who is expert in culling human population. He is in constant demand.

He has only one problem. He hasn’t the faintest idea how to do his job, so he fakes it, taking credit for every fresh, unanticipated catastrophe. If his equally incompetent employers ever find out, they’ll kill him.

Necessity compels Rudwulf to focus on survival. He dares not plan ahead. Instead, he reacts to events, always striving to react faster than anyone else, courtesy of his hyper situational awareness, while avoiding confrontation as much as possible. Not exactly your typical hero determined to conquer. Rudwulf relies on blind luck.

I think you can see where the possibilities for SF cliché satire creep in.

Like most of us, Rudwulf hates his job and wishes he’d chosen a different profession. Too late now. Maybe, too late for everyone.

You have an offbeat sense of humour? You’ll enjoy my book. Preorder here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alexmcgilvery/shatter-dark