Five hundred years ago the world shattered, banishing the gods from the Sister Continents and stealing the memories of the mortal peoples in an event known as the Great Forgetting. In seventeen days the stars will align, and a religious cabal will summon the gods back to the realms of men. In the northern tundra priests search the Steaming Lakes, a place tormented by the Wakened Dead. Deep in the mountains, demonic shadows assail priests at a holy shrine. In the south, the clans know something foul is afoot, and dispatch warriors to seek answers, but instead they find horrors.
A young priestess named Eliles stands in the heart of this conspiracy; on her shoulders rest decisions which could prevent a holy war or demonic genocide. Through lies, manipulation, and murder, everyone is on a seventeen day march to fulfill or defy prophecy; the world will end or begin anew, come the Eve of Snows.
L. James Rice studied English Literature at UNI, Screenwriting at UCLA, and is a proud member the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Having lived in his own world for many years, L. James Rice decided he might as well share that world with folks otherwise trapped in reality, and got serious about writing. He has made enough wine to no longer enjoy wine. He has not eaten enough steak or pizza to no longer enjoy steak or pizza, but is working on it. Challenges are good, he maintains.
Having managed to graduate high school only rarely turning in homework, he moved on to a university to find it even more forgiving of lax study skills. He celebrated with copious amounts of beer. With scant few memories of either educational facility or anything they reputedly taught him, he refuses to confirm or deny their usefulness. Probably because he is wishy-washy, but I'm not sure of that. 98% sure... or maybe only 50%. Hell if I know.
His proudest success in life does, however, harken back to high school. In geometry class a teacher set a remarkable challenge by saying (paraphrased) "In ten years you might forget everything you ever learned in class, but you will not forget..." Taunted by this teacher's arrogance, LJ Rice managed to not only forget what it was he learned, but the name of it too. And for good measure, the name of the teacher. But not the challenge itself. That would've made the exercise of forgetfulness pointless. To pile on insult to injury, he does remember the name of a spell from the video game Wizardry which he played often during this time: Tiltowait. Take that, geometry!
Born and raised in the midwest, US of A, LJ Rice has a lovely wife and two beautiful daughters, the names and birthdays of whom he remembers most of the time. Plus, two dogs, an unknown number of chickens (always in flux with predators and other natural causes), and a gosling he assumes will someday be a goose who lays non-golden eggs... stupid goose anyhow.
