Apocalypse Now
In the science fiction fantasy, Earthweeds,Shane and Sam are brothers. Shane is in college and Sam is about to finish high school. Each summer the boys escape for a few weeks into the wilderness outside of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania to hunt and evade the hustle and bustle of the real world. This year, when the boys return from the mountains to their jeep they find a suicide victim with a note in his hand, “If anyone finds this, I saved another bullet in my pocket for you.”
Weird? Maybe. But Shane and Sam are about to encounter a new world dominated by fierce man-eating reptiles and huge spiders. Where are the people? That’s the boys’ first question. What caused the apocalypse and why was the infrastructure intact?
As the boys go into survival mode they meet other humans looking for answers. Eventually a small tribe is formed as the group, led by Shane and Sam, take refuge in a mountain resort.
The young humans uncover two nearby bands of survivalists. The first is led by an evil genius scientist named Dexter who hates George, the leader of the less scary group of scientists searching for the reasons why lizards mutated from Earth’s human population. Dexter will stop at nothing to retrieve a mysterious box that George refuses to turn over to him.
Sam, we soon discover, has a super power. He can create electrical energy in his hands and control it. Another young man, Bohai, who is the lone survivor of a plane crash, has the unique talent of being able to communicate with animals. Perhaps these two are humanity’s final hope?
Author Rod Little has developed a well thought out apocalypse scenario that is plausible and scary. Little does a superb job of writing an exciting plot, well- developed characters with scenes readers can easily visualize.
Earthweeds is the first of four books in the Sons of Neptune series, consisting of Revenge of the Spiders, The Last Starbase, and The Boneyards of Nebula. With just the first book read, this reviewer can predict a thrilling ride.
About the Author
Rod Little has written for a plethora of science fiction, fantasy, and horror magazines for the past twenty years. He also has five published novels to his credit. Though he travels the world with an emphasis on Southeast Asia, Little would prefer intergalactic travel. As would be expected after reading one of his books, he is a devout fan of monster movies and films with post-apocalyptic themes.
Interesting premise that we can mutate back to lizards.