Book Description

"BEST OF 2011. Innovative ... intensely memorable ... drama and intelligence ... fascinating ... a gripping read." - Perry Crowe, Kirkus Reviews "I'm fascinated by the world building in Clark Carlton's Prophets of the Ghost Ants." - Annalee Newitz, i09.com "One of the most engrossing, original and powerful novels I have read in years. A monumental cross-genre book, an allegory like Animal Farm as well as a thrilling adventure into a whole new world. Exciting, visionary, a tour de force." - Lawrence Bender, Oscar winning producer of Inglorious Basterds, Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, An Inconvenient Truth "An engaging piece of fiction built upon an imaginative idea. Even though everything takes place on a very small scale, the scope of the conflict remains epic and the nature of the conflict remains quintessentially human. The book has so much packed into it - from an exploration of class divisions, to the religious hypocrisy of the ruling and priestly classes, to the causes of religiously driven wars, to a coming-of-age story for Anand - that any reader will almost certainly find multiple levels of material in it to interest them." - Aaron Pounds, Dreaming of Other Worlds "An incredibly compelling novel ... highly original ... I am eager to see where the author goes with this series, a rewarding novel that is as remarkable for it's intensity as it's easy grace." - Antony Jones, SF Book Review Prophets of the Ghost Ants is in development as a film trilogy with Lawrence Bender Productions. The setting is Earth of the far-flung future, when all traces of our civilization have long vanished. The catastrophes of distant ages -- natural and man-made -- have passed into legend and mysticism. And yet ... the world is no utopia. Technology is unknown. The animal kingdom as we know it is extinct. Birds, reptiles, mammals -- all lost to endless, unforgiving cycles of planetary death and rebirth. Humankind has clung stubbornly to existence -- thanks to a perverse turn of Evolution. For as the weary planet became inexorably depleted, our species adapted by growing smaller with every passing eon, until at last we stood in parity with the only other "higher" species to survive -- insects. And just as our current society has domesticated animals to sustain ourselves, the human societies of this future have yoked insects to their service. Food, weapons, clothing, art -- even the most sacred religious beliefs -- are derived from Humankind's profound intertwining with the once-lowly insect world. In this savage landscape, men cannot hope to dominate. Ceaselessly and viciously, humans are stalked by Night Wasps, Lair Spiders, and Grass Roaches. And men are still men. Corrupt elites ruthlessly enforce a rigid caste system over a debased and ignorant populace. Duplicitous clergymen and power-mongering Royalty wage pointless wars for their own glory. Fantasies of a better life, a better world, serve only to torment those who dare to dream. One so cursed is a half-breed slave named Anand, a dung-collector of the midden caste who, against all possibility, rises above hopelessness to lead his people against a genocidal army of men who fight atop fearsome, translucent Ghost Ants. And to his horror, Anand finds that this merciless enemy is led by someone from his own family ... a religious zealot bent on the conversion of all non-believers ... or their extermination. For more info and concept art visit our web site: http://www.prophetsoftheghostants.com