The Zedland Chronicles

Book excerpt: Zed, a bright but troubled fifteen-year-old orphan subject to disturbing but revealing dream-visions, along with a small group of dissident families, must contend with the oppressive, prophecy-driven ways of their clan, as they attempt to overcome long odds to achieve his murdered parents' dream: a world without cruelty, ignorance, or greed. The three-part saga tracks multidimensional characters as they navigate their primitive environment, searching for the twelve magnificent emeralds needed to fulfill the prophecy at the heart of the clan's ritual-bound culture. At the helm is Lunix, the cunning shaman, and Lerk, the headman, a woman-hater who jumps at Lunixs command. Zed's enemies also include Atur, a deeply disturbed man, who is the leader of Lunixs goon squad, and Atok, Aturs son, a bully who walks with anger rather than pride because he fathered a female child. Buela, the medicine woman, is at the center of the progressive group that began with Zeds parents, along with Sani, Buelas daughter and medicine woman-in-training, who possesses sharp wit and astounding sensory acuity. Paramount among Zed's supporters is Zhiaban, an altruistic yet enigmatic, music-loving tree-goddess, whose magical powers come to his aid, as he and his friends first must flee and then find a way to return to their homeland and share their new ways with the clan. Rife with adventure, intrigue, magic, love, humor, triumph, revelation, and disappointment, THE ZEDLAND CHRONICLES/ORPHAN RUNNING examines, with no apologies, controversial subjects such as faith, patricide, parenting, and altered consciousness.