Ember of a New World

Ember of a New World #1

by Ishtar Watson

7500 years ago, at the dawn of the western European Neolithic...




Ember of the Great River people is a free-spirited woman living in a small tribe in prehistoric Germany when a sign from the gods sends her on an epic quest to the end of the world, where the Sun sets. With only her wits and her father's obsidian blade, she faces the vast, untamed wilds of prehistoric Europe. But these wild lands are far from empty... One can find love, death, and adventure in the dark forests of tribal Europe, where only the Mesolithic forest people dare to tread.




Well-researched and highly descriptive, Ember of a New World is an inspiring coming-of-age story featuring a non-binary protagonist. Clothing, weapons, rituals, and daily life are described in detail as the reader is transported to the Linear Pottery Culture of the early western European Neolithic.




LGBTQIA+, Action, Female Protagonist, Adventure, Non-binary Protagonist, Survival, Prehistory, Neurodivergence, Light Romance, Coming-of-Age

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Prehistoric

499 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 15, 2014

About the author

Ishtar Watson ⚧ lives in the state of Virginia, USA with their super smart wife and three cats, Neko chan, Drizzt and Mu. Professionally, Ishtar is a computer programmer and systems analyst whose software is used around the world. When not at work, Ishtar spends much of the time in his home laboratory working on fun and exciting physics experiments involving gamma rays, lasers, and other such science.


Ishtar's fields of interest are quite varied, but include the following:

LGBTQ+ ⚧ Advocation
Programming (Java, JavaScript, C++, C, HTML, XHTML, CSS, VRML, x86ASM)
Nuclear Physics, primarily Gamma Spectrometry
Computational Physics
Geology, especially the study of radioactive minerals
Ancient European Cultures
Sci-fi and Fantasy
Quantum Entanglement of high energy photons
Fantasy Writing
Anime

Currently, Ishtar is working on a new SciFi book and a six book fantasy series both involving Elves. Not much more can be disclosed, but the books are due to be ready within a few months time.

Reviews

[Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not (yet) finished every word of the book, which I received via the Goodreads contest. I like the description of the setting; the relative lack of 'character development' is not a problem for me. I really enjoy the chapter intros regarding the prehistorical and geographical setting create a background/context for each chapter of the novel - it's helpful, and not a gimmick.

[A. Mickey Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I've written a book review longer than two or three lines. Let's see if I remember how to do this. First off, I sadly did not receive this book via Goodreads first reads as intended. Instead I received it and the sequel from my mom for Christmas.

I would like to start by saying that this book is freaking fantastic. It's freaking fantastic. Moving on.

Ember of a New World is about Ember, a girl coming of age in her tribe in prehistoric Europe. Her task is to travel to the West, to the end of the world, no small feat for a lone woman in her day. The trials she faces are gripping, and pretty much constant. Like three things total go right for her. And it's fantastic to read.

I love the information and context at the beginning of each chapter. A lot would have been lost on me without it, and I left the book with a fairly good view of the Neolithic period. It's all fascinating and so well written.

I've seen some writers who get annoyed if their work is compared to something else, but this book gave me some serious Moana vibes. Obviously this book focuses on a different culture and it was published long before Moana was released, but the same concept of "Tribal girl goes on a quest across the world in a boat" theme reminds me of the other. Anyway, I highly recommend both.

MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW. APPROACH WITH CAUTION.


Okay, specifics. First off, I love the illustrations. There's only two, but they're so cool.
Second, I love that when Ember is given her quest because of the comet, she immediately grabs the booze and starts drinking. That's what I would have done. Smart girl.
I love that the soundness-of-mind of the elder who gave Ember the task is called into question. That's so funny to read. "Yeah, she's probably crazy, but there's not much we can do before she dies without causing a civil war." (Not a real quote, obviously, but that's the idea.)

Ember's mom East is, to put it plainly, a badass. She watched her husband die and proceeded to raise her daughter like normal. Yeah, she hurts, but she stays strong. Not the kind of strong that represses everything that isn't anger and confidence, but the real kind of strength. The strength that recognizes weakness as part of itself and learns to live anyway. Can I also just add how refreshing it is that Ember has just a mom instead of just a dad as is so common in this type of book? It's always nice to see a trope flipped around. And I love that both the reader and East herself are given closure for her at the end of the story. She was so relieved at the vision of her daughter. It's honestly so much better than just leaving her wondering.

Okay, on to my favorite scene. Ember is kidnapped by three hunters in the woods after she sets off on her journey to the West. She is determined to escape, so she poisons their food with rabbit guts and makes one of them sick, the cuts the ropes off her hands with a bit of flint and makes a break for it. She pauses to grab her dagger, but it takes too long, because the oldest of the hunters, an attempted rapist, comes back and finds her untied. He's obviously pissed. But instead of just running, Ember stays and fights. AND SHE CUTS HIS DICK OFF. YEAH, YOU GO GIRL. IF HE'S GONNA ACT LIKE THAT, HE SURE AS HELL DOESN'T NEED IT. And it gets better. After she escapes, the other two hunters have to cauterize the wound. They tie him to the ground and put hot rocks on his dick stub. (Rapists and molesters deserve to suffer, in my opinion.)

The village she finds (I forget the name) is great. I love Kis'tra. That was honestly wonderful, seeing things work out for her with no catches. When they reached the trade village (again, I forget the name), I wasn't expecting what happened. Sure, the spontaneous deaths were weird, and I expected the murderer to be caught (probably by Ember), but the whole Wrath of the Gods, Human Sacrifice thing was completely unexpected.

OK. Brig'dha. Brig'dha and Ember. I don't know for sure if they're the endgame couple, but gosh I hope so. They're so cute together. In the final boat ride to the End of the World, they sleep with their heads in each other's laps and when they reach the beach they fall asleep holding hands. It's so cute. I swear, if this couple loses out to that EmberxPak nonsense, I will be so mad.

I found this book as a Goodreads giveaway listed as LGBT (because those are the only giveaways I enter, because gay stuff is just better, signed, a gay person.) So my main question going in was "Just how gay is it?" And while I am told it gets gayer in the sequel, book one was not without its charms. Never in my life have I seen a main character think so much about pretty girls. It's great. Just pretty girls and complaining about her period. It's like seeing my own inner monologue laid out on paper.

And, to finish this off, as I often laugh a lot at my own jokes, a quote from my notes:
"'Why must we all find a man and squeeze out children?' It's ok, Ember, with any luck you'll find a woman and adopt."

[K Rutherford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Different aspect on a life. Very creatively written and easy to follow. Look forward to additional stories by this author!

[seireitou_zero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book (first of a series!) serves plenty of needs. It's a coming-of-age story of a strong female protagonist with a possible touch of ADD. It's LGBT-friendly, and Ember fights against misogyny and wrong-doing. It's set in Neolithic times and a lot of research has gone into making it accurate to give you a real feel for just what life would be like for Ember and the people she meets. There's a lot to praise here. Tom definitely set a foundation for an interesting series with this book, and I look forwards to reading their future works (as of writing this, up to the third book has been released).

The book's contents could use another coat of polish, but it doesn't detract from the story in the least. The biggest fault is the occasional homonym in place of the correct word, but it's easy to understand what was meant. In the often-messy world of indie publishing, this is still a great book!

[Natalya Redding · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love ancient history, and I couldn't put Ember down. We had our nightly rendezvous, and I spent many a night awake not able to put the book down, sharing Ember's fears and successes as my own. We are soul sistes in many ways; Tom sort of told my own life without knowing me. I love strong women, especially when they use both their male and their female side to survive. So do I, and have done for my whole life. I am going to read all of Ember's books, they are fascinating and teaching ancient history much better and easier to remember than just reading facts. Thank you, Tom, for your idea, your incredible effort and your brilliant writing.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for a book that was set in the “Pre-History Period,” 3500 BC at the latest. This book is set in about 5500 BC. I wanted to learn about this time period outside of the Bible and specifically from a work of fiction. This book was perfect. Each chapter opened with some speculations about life during the time, and those speculations were then incorporated into the story line. Although I don’t share the author’s worldview, at least as far as the formation of man is concerned, it was a good story - a young girl coming of age through a dangerous journey that she is sent on based on a sign from the gods. There was good information, and I really enjoyed the character of Ember. Stylistically, the book is in great need of an editor. There were many mechanical errors; the author seemed to forget the setting at times, writing in a way that didn’t fit the time or using anachronistic comparisons; and sometimes the author even seemed to forget about something he had written earlier in the story. These issues didn’t keep me from enjoying the book, but I would have enjoyed it much more without them.

[Mary Mccormick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the story and the main character. She's afraid but willing to stand up to anything. This is a really good book for women because the character feels and thinks before she acts. You really get a sense of why she chooses what she does instead of just watching her do it.

I really didn't know that the neolithic era was quite like this. There really isn't much prehistoric fiction that isn't like those old claymation movies from the 60's. When you do fine prehsitoric fiction, it's normally either cave people or something more recent like the Babylonians.

For the money, this was a really good book for the weekend.

[Rhiannon Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not many people write novels about queer characters in prehistoric Europe - in fact, as far as I know there's me and Ishtar! It's no surprise that I really enjoyed this book. I found the early sections slightly slow for my taste but soon got into it and I liked following Ember through her explorations of Mesolithic/Neolithic Europe. Among other things, it's a coming of age story for this nonbinary character as she learns about who she is and how she can relate to different groups she meets. Ishtar also includes more of the modern background and research details so if those interest you in my novels, you might like to read this too.

[Suzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The occasional informational sections added into the story narrative both annoys and interests. It is an enjoyable book despite to insertion of historical explanations which perhaps would have been better as footnotes, something which I happen to love. However the detail of the times, some of which necessarily has to be speculative but based on modern knowledge of anthropology is very interesting. The transformation of the naive happy go lucky Ember into fierce warrior and saviour kept me wanting to know what happens next.

[Melinda Weprin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit of a new author I think needs some editing

[Ciaran McLarnon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author seemed much more concerned with including his research than telling a story.

[Pablo De · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible reading

I could not put this book down, read it in two days, I hope there will be a sequel to this book.