Vomica

by David Gerald King, Ahmed R. Shalaby (Cover Artist)

CW: plague, disease, pandemic, graphic violence, language

There are some who say this story is cursed. The scenes come from fevered dreams. As it was written, a plague struck the Earth and did not abate until all of it was written and all its own blood spilt. If you do read it, read quickly, lest the curse prove true and you welcome ruin upon us again.

In this tale, an older world is overrun with plague. The plague takes all peoples, dragging them slowly across fields of pain and filth, making them the very doom of their entire families, spreading contagion on all who would approach with a kind hand. While the people scramble to find what cures and palliatives they can, the authority of the church proclaims to know what this is: a curse sent by the heathen against the faithful. This tale follows two monks and a nun, sent on the holy mission to overrun heathen and heretic and cure the disease. But as they walk past the ill and pleading, telling them to remain faithful, and threatening any who would leave a church that offers no salvation from this torture, the questions of what is a truly righteous act raises itself in all minds.

Relating to many of the themes our world has just faced, perhaps timely, perhaps scarring, Vomica will drag you through the Hell of Earth and the Hell of the Mind to make you ask: "What is true?" Hopefully your answer can guide you forward.

151 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 2, 2021

About the author

I have always enjoyed writing, but I imagine there are innumerable people who can say the same. There is a singular joy in creating a world the way one does in science fiction or fantasy, and a single challenge in trying to maintain the rules you have set forth for that world.
Since middle school, I've been trying to write a coherent, long-form story. I succeeded in this only while I was on study abroad in Japan, when I was able to start and finish "Utsukushii Kuro." It was a combination of English writing practice to keep my skills up and a gift to a friend. Following that came "Licantropa Sogno," more in tune with my preferences of subject, and "La Zorra Ciega," which was my first attempt at writing action scenes.
I have now released another 3 novels of more varied subjects. "Vox," has just been released, as a science fiction, pirate fantasy. It is also a writing experiment, a challenge I issued myself to try writing a story in which no one can speak. "Mind Capture" looks at a future where medical science has gone through one great advance, allowing human minds to be downloaded into computers, but deals with the idea of running into something science can't explain. "Sabem" is my take on the zombie motif, and will hopefully become my first series work. I go back a bit to the older idea of zombies as specifically-raised servants to a "master" that controls them, and explore the idea of enslaved undead, and everything that can go seriously wrong with that.
I am grateful to anyone who takes the time to read, and all the more thrilled to read any review of my work, even negative ones, so long as they are constructive. If you are kind enough to leave a review here, I would humbly ask that you leave the same at the Amazon pages, though I understand if you might be busy. Thank you all, and enjoi.