Ascension: Invocation

by Brian Rickman

In INVOCATION, the Earth bound Humans are the attack dogs of the universe. Feared throughout galaxies, we are an aggressor species, bred by our makers, specifically for war. Unaware of our destiny, we have been left to develop on Earth since our inception. We are now being called into service. So discovers Alicia Parker, a field reporter for a major news organization, sent to Alabama to cover a remarkable tear in dimensions appearing in the sky above a tiny, rural town. From the tear, a yellow fog is now enveloping the Earth and a voice on the radio is promising all Humans a grand enlightenment. A teenage girl, claiming to be a princess from another dimension, however, tells a different story. Princess Sariana, as she calls herself, relays to Alicia the history of all souls on Earth. It seems that the planet Lucifer, once located between our present Mars and Jupiter, was home to a civilization of ascended souls living peacefully in the third dimension. However, a great civil war erupted on the planet as a sect of Luciferians announced their intentions to ascend ultimately to the realm of God. As this is forbidden by universal law, the offending Luciferians were cast out from the planet to live in exile, in the far reaches of the universe. They returned, however, more powerful than before and now calling themselves “Humans”. They destroyed the planet Lucifer, took captive the surviving souls and finally did the unthinkable. The Humans created new, vicious souls in their image and bred them on Earth with the sole purpose of occupying the front lines of a large, inter-dimensional war. Today, the rings of Saturn are all that remain of the planet Lucifer and the Humans are poised for domination of all dimensions. They've come now to collect their disposable soldiers. Sariana maintains that she is Alicia's grand-daughter. She insists that it is Alicia's destiny to lead a revolt of Earth-bound souls and to become the Grand Queen of the Third Order of Lucifer. The ascension must be stopped, and the lost souls of Lucifer must be found in order to halt the Human aggression. While Alicia is quite certain that the girl is more than a bit troubled, something about her seems familiar. Her story seems to explain a lot including the Human preoccupation with war and the apparent isolation of Earth in a densely populated omniverse. Nevertheless, being a Luciferian Queen will surely have a negative impact on her career. While outraged pundits debate vigorously on television and merchandising runs rampant, the gravity of the situation eludes most of mankind. Alicia must decide her role in the coming rapture and, perhaps, the fate of all Earth-bound souls. On the upside, free commemorative glasses are available with the purchase of any value meal at participating fast food merchants.

464 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2014

About the author

Brian Rickman is a published playwright ("Tarantella", "When in Love with a Blind Man", "Danny, Kick a Hole in the Sky"), poet ("Blood That Moves The Body"), non-fiction author and Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy novelist (the Ascension series). He's represented by Word|Link Literary Agency.

Brian Rickman is also an on-air radio personality and has produced programs and oversaw radio stations throughout the United States. He is the former songwriter/guitarist for recording artists' Another Roadside Attraction.

The film rights for one of his novels has been sold and the story is presently in development.

Find more information about Brian at his website: www.brianrickman.com

You can also find him on Facebook: www.facebook.com/rickmanwrites
On YouTube: www.youtube.com/rickmanwrites
And on Twitter: www.twitter.com/brianrickman
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Reviews

[Trula Kellermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this, the first book of Brian Rickman's Ascension series, I felt treated to a fun, new concept (at least new to me) in the Fantasy genre. In this book, those of us on Earth have been groomed to become an elite group of souls, more violent and a capable of unspeakable atrocities beyond anything else in existence. I thought that this was an interesting spin on things. Instead of Earthlings fearing the "aliens", it is quite the opposite. The rest of the universe is afraid of us. Brian tackles this with good humor and Invocation actually has a number of very funny scenarios playing into the absurdity of the whole situation. We meet a number of intriguing characters along the way. A complaint might be that Rickman can sometimes veer off path and take his reader on unnecessary trips of exposition. While these bits of back-story are well written and generally entertaining, they don't feel needed nor do they really give his characters more depth. Rather, these bits just sort of take us away from an otherwise very fun story. I'd recommend this is to friends and I've added the next three books in the series to my list.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captivating Read

Very intriguing read, not like anything I've read before. It makes you question and think. I loved the story and the characters were very memorable. I found myself laughing at character's choice of words and phrases. I would recommend this book to read. I could not put it down. Now on to book 2!

[Toriana Zeyzus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating story

Ascension: Invocation is a fascinating alternate mythology/novel of our origin and fate, not religious, but sci-fi and just plain fun.

[Cherry Roxas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Rickman is a fun writer. I like his work and Invocation is a good primer for anyone new to him. It's a story about souls on Earth being the only souls capable of dispensing death to all other souls in the ominverse. It's hard to explain. If you're looking for an enjoyable read with a tinge of armchair metaphysics, you'll like this. It's not something that will blow your mind but it will keep you turning pages. Good stuff.