Tullahoma, TN – NASA estimates the meteor that slammed into Russia last week was around 15 meters in diameter and weighted about 10,000 tons, making it the largest space object to impact the Earth in over a century. The meteor exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, on February 15, with a 500-kiloton blast that injured more than 1,200 people, shattered windows and scared the bejeebers out of everyone in the region. The meteor strike came just hours before asteroid 2012 DA14, a chuck of space rock three times the meteor’s size, passed within 17,200 miles of the Earth.
Thankfully, asteroid 2012 DA14 missed, but scientists are keeping a close eye on asteroid 2011 AG5, which is about 140 meters wide. It has a 1 to 625 chance of hitting in the Earth in 2040.
Imagine the damage an even larger hunk of space debris could do if it crashed into the earth. That is the premise of The Scavengers, the highly anticipated debut novel from popular actor, author and playwright, Mike Parker.
Far from being just another disaster novel, Parker imagines such an event as a civilization killer, requiring centuries before mankind is able to recover. He explores ambition, pride, love and political intrigue in a future-ancient world that has quite literally been bombed back to the Stone Age. Rising from the ashes of the cataclysm known only as The Great Burning, a remnant of mankind survives to rebuild. Devoid of technology, a new Dark Age holds sway for more than a millennium, but at last government and religion reassert themselves.
The nation once known as the United States of America is reborn as a loose confederation of city-states. The tie that binds these once warring factions together is the tribal memory of the great nation that once existed, and the faith of their fathers – the worship of the God of the United States; the God of Five Faces whose name is Liberty. Power is shared between the Adam, the First Man of the Faith, and the President, the head of civil government. But as in nature, anything with two heads is a freak. In the end, there can be only one.
The delicate balance of power is tipped by the discovery of a fragment of an ancient manuscript which is written in archaic Ancient American. This manuscript may confirm the existence of the mythical Tyrfingr, an artifact of unspeakable power. To the Scavenger, Alwyn, falls the task of obtaining and translating this ancient manuscript. In the balance hangs the specter of bloody civil war.
The Scavengers: Book I of the Tyrfingr Chronicles has garnered praise from respected authors and reviewers in both the United States and the U.K.
“This is an amazing novel. From the outset it is gripping and tense. I cannot imagine an America after such an apocalyptic event – this book tells me just that. If you like suspense, action, and thrills then this is for you. The best book I have read in years.” — GP Taylor, New York Times Best-Selling Author of Mariah Mundi – The Midas Box
“The Scavengers is a fast-paced, fantasy thriller with real life characters and an epic story of good and evil. Mike Parker’s first book of fiction is not to be missed.” — Chris Coppernoll, author of Providence: Once Upon a Second Chance
“With characters so well described I could visualize the bottoms of their boots, Parker has created his own realm. It is full of mythology, destruction and deconstruction. Dialogue flows easily and with each twist and turn I found myself wanting more and more.” — Paige Crutcher, Examiner.com