Novel continues fantastic journey
After Camp Fire survivor Michael J. Orr (wordsmithmojo.com) and his family moved to southern Idaho, he began writing a series of novels under the name of T. J. Tao that have grown ever more fantastical. His first, “Burn Scar,” reimagined the fire as occurring in the town of Genna (Maltese, he writes, for “Paradise”).
Among the characters is recovering alcoholic James Augustine who, in “Stone Scar,” teams with Boise State University archaeologist Stuart Angeline as they find a portal in Idaho that leads to other parts of the world and to a monk named Adon, trying through the centuries to bring humanity to its senses.
With the apparent death of their antagonist, Gavin David (pronounced “dahveed”), James and Stuart are confronted in the third novel with his twin brother, Marcel, who has even grander ambitions: “He wants to become a god.” “The Vault Of Adon” ($13.99 in paperback from WordsmithMojo Publishing; also for Amazon Kindle) begins with an earthquake and ends with an existential threat to Islam and Catholicism.
Adon explains that the gods of mythology, such as Thor and Odin, were actually those who wielded sophisticated technology unknown to ordinary folk, but they all failed, and their weapons were buried deep in an Icelandic cavern, now revealed by the earthquake.
There, two locals, 17-year- old Ásdís Axelsson and her father Kristján, discover the vault; guarding it is a shield, which turns out to be the actual shield of Odin.
Marcel is following it all; his minions kidnap and torture Kristján in an effort to snare Ásdís, who has escaped with James. Does she have the key to opening the vault? Stuart is taken to the vault as well; with threats to his family he is charged with translating the strange symbols on the shield and vault entrance.
On the run, James finds Ásdís a quick study, accepting his bizarre story of ancient Travelers
(Ava, called “Mother,” is 11,000 years old) and godlike powers (through the strange metal Atlantium which tips Poseidon’s trident and the spear that pierced Jesus on the cross).
If the vault is opened, Marcel’s quest will be fulfilled. Humanity’s subjugation appears imminent, but the end, as they say, is not yet.