This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Justin Newland will be awarding one signed copy of the paperback (US or International) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Hi LASR, many thanks for having me on board your site, on the Goddess Fish blog tour of my novel The Genes of Isis.
This genetic mix-up is alluded to in ancient texts such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, in which a fish-man was reputed to have emerged from the sea in the morning, only to return to the safety of the waves at night.
Here’s an image of a fish-man from the Temple of Hatshepsut near the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.
In the novel, a second cohort of angels – called the Solarii – is sent to sort out the mess caused by the first lot. After settling in the land of Egypt, the Solarii began their task by confining the Fallen Angels ‘beneath the valleys of the earth,’ according to the Book of Enoch. The Fallen Angels are still here; so, don’t dig too deep lest they are disturbed from their imprisonment.
This genetic mix-up eventually resulted in the killing waters of Noah’s Flood, which was sent to destroy the monsters and the hybrid creatures once and for all.
In this time of genetic mix-up, it was impossible for humans to procreate, because if they did, only monsters and hybrids would result. But today, genetics are stable, in that boy plus girl results in another human child, not one with a fish head. So, what happened to stabilize the genetics? That was the question I wanted to answer in fictional terms in the novel, The Genes of Isis.
When the Flood came, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, which is a lot of rain. Question is, how did all that water get up in the sky in the first place?
Perhaps days were longer because the planet spun slower, meaning that its gravitational pull was less than it is today. In turn, this meant that most of the waters of the earth circulated in the sky in clouds and streams – the Sky Waters. And when men walked on green grass, they also walked beneath a green sky. Because in those days, the sun was green, and the day was mostly twilight.
Because most of the waters of the earth were in the sky, the earth had shrunk like a dried prune, meaning that the distribution of the land mass on the surface of the earth was different to what it is today. When the waters came down again, they didn’t come down in an even, uniform way. They came down in huge water spouts, bringing with them the quantities of sand that had gone up there with it. This was how the deserts were formed, mostly all along the same planetary axes.
These are some of the ideas that I explored in The Genes of Isis, marrying ancient myth with speculative conjecture to create a compelling and original take on our genetic origins.
Akasha is a precocious young woman who lives in a world where oceans circulate in the aquamarine sky waters.
Before she was born, the Helios, a tribe of angels from the sun, came to Earth to deliver the Surge, the next step in the evolution of an embryonic human race. Instead, they left humanity on the brink of extinction and spawned a race of monstrous hybrids.
Horque is a Solarii, another tribe of angels, sent to Earth to rescue the genetic mix-up and release the Surge.
When Akasha has a premonition that a great flood is imminent and falls in love with Horque, her life becomes an instrument for apocalyptic change. But will it save the three races – humans, hybrids and Solarii – from the killing waters?
Enjoy an Excerpt
The moonlight flooded through the window but Issa was still awake. Once the street cats grew tired of fighting and the hyenas and foxes stopped scavenging, she roused herself and began her descent. Clutching a glow lamp in one hand and Fryme’s package in the other, she crept downstairs and stopped in the middle of a corridor, beside a section of wall that would have appeared unremarkable to anyone else. She knew otherwise.
A few words, an arcane utterance, followed by a shimmer of light and the astral curtain disappeared, revealing the secret door. She stepped through it, into the corridor beyond. She was going to the God Crucible, an occult chamber beneath her house. Its astral protections were such that no one, not even Cheiron, suspected its existence. Her breathing was shallow. This was the first point of no return.
Her glow-lamp threw long shadows down the narrow, sloping tunnel. Divided in two, it had steps on one side and a slanting ramp on the other. In front of her on the ground was a piece of white bandage, accidentally torn off the mummified body of her son, which she’d dragged down the ramp before Cheiron had arrived. How heavy he had been. They didn’t call it a dead weight for nothing. She could still smell the musty odour of the dust particles she’d dislodged.
At the bottom of the ramp, the tunnel gave way to a dome-shaped chamber, the God Crucible. Her son’s cadaver lay on a bench, and she ran her hand over the embalming bandages. Beside it was a second, vacant bench. There, she would lie during the ritual she was about to perform.
The Anubis embalmers had washed Horque’s body, encased it in natron salt, and mummified it according to all but one of the traditions of the Jackal-headed God – the exception being that they had not removed any of his organs. On his chest, she laid out a scarab pectoral and into his mouth, she placed a length of straw.
About the Author:
Justin Newland is an author of historical fantasy and secret history thrillers – that’s history with a supernatural twist. His stories feature known events and real people from history which are re-told and examined through the lens of the supernatural. He gives author talks and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio Bristol’s Thought for the Day. He lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.
His Books
The Genes of Isis is a tale of love, destruction and ephemeral power set under the skies of Ancient Egypt. A re-telling of the Biblical story of the flood, it reveals the mystery of the genes of Isis – or genesis – of mankind. ISBN 9781789014860.
“The novel is creative, sophisticated, and downright brilliant! I couldn’t ask more of an Egyptian-esque book!” – Lauren
, Books Beyond the Story.
The Old Dragon’s Head is a historical fantasy and supernatural thriller set during the Ming Dynasty and played out in the shadows the Great Wall of China. It explores the secret history of the influences that shaped the beginnings of modern times. ISBN 9781789015829.
‘The author is an excellent storyteller.” – British Fantasy Society.
Set during the Great Enlightenment, The Coronation reveals the secret history of the Industrial Revolution. ISBN 9781838591885.
“The novel explores the themes of belonging, outsiders… religion and war… filtered through the lens of the other-worldly.” – A. Deane, Page Farer Book Blog.
His latest, The Abdication (July, 2021), is a suspense thriller, a journey of destiny, wisdom and self-discovery. IS
BN 9781800463950.
“In Topeth, Tula confronts the truth, her faith in herself, faith in a higher purpose, and ultimately, what it means to abdicate that faith.”
Buy the book at Amazon.
Thanks for hosting!
Great, thanks for hosting this stop on the blog tour of The Genes of Isis.