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Promised Land
The Moon has broken.
In a not too distant dystopian future, humanity clings to survival. The world, burned as it is, now belongs to monsters. The remaining people have scattered, forming small pockets where the best they can do is survive.
Hidden away in a valley sits the small The Sanctuary, where people have denounced technology and turned to religion and faith for guidance. Blaming the sin of man for the moon cracking and its eerie green light unleashing hell on earth. Yet, their compound is at its limit, exhausted.
Dying.
Unknown to the people at large, Father Lenihan, the leader of the Sanctuary, is at a loss for what to do, until a traveller—a heretic who was cast from the Sanctuary as a teen—returns with tales of a green land, near untouched by the ravages of this new world. Can the Promised Land he’d spent a lifetime preaching about really be true? Can the heretic truly be trusted?
A small group leaves the Sanctuary to find out before it's too late.
In a not too distant dystopian future, humanity clings to survival. The world, burned as it is, now belongs to monsters. The remaining people have scattered, forming small pockets where the best they can do is survive.
Hidden away in a valley sits the small The Sanctuary, where people have denounced technology and turned to religion and faith for guidance. Blaming the sin of man for the moon cracking and its eerie green light unleashing hell on earth. Yet, their compound is at its limit, exhausted.
Dying.
Unknown to the people at large, Father Lenihan, the leader of the Sanctuary, is at a loss for what to do, until a traveller—a heretic who was cast from the Sanctuary as a teen—returns with tales of a green land, near untouched by the ravages of this new world. Can the Promised Land he’d spent a lifetime preaching about really be true? Can the heretic truly be trusted?
A small group leaves the Sanctuary to find out before it's too late.
140 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 31, 2021
2 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 20, 2022
An intriguing and well woven dystopian tale.
What can I say? I blew through most of this book in one sitting. It’s a quick read that will leave you feeling conflicted in the best ways. This is a tale of monsters and men, where often they are indistinguishable. Highly recommend.
What can I say? I blew through most of this book in one sitting. It’s a quick read that will leave you feeling conflicted in the best ways. This is a tale of monsters and men, where often they are indistinguishable. Highly recommend.
February 1, 2022
Promised Land by indie writer, Perry Wolfecastle, is a dystopian future fantasy work which, honestly, left me a little uncomfortable. And I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. Set in the near future, the moon has cracked and monsters plague the earth. Surviving humans carve out safe spaces for themselves where and however they can. One group, known as the Sanctuary, has all but depleted the resources where they live and must find a new home. The Sanctuary, an extremely religious group led by the zealous Father Lenihan, sends out scouting parties in search of resources and potential places to inhabit. More and more frequently, scouting parties aren’t returning. When a cast-out apostate returns, telling Lenihan of a green, monster-free place, he seizes upon her as their deliverer and the place she found as the Promised Land. His sermons to the Sanctuary’s inhabitants teach them that the wickedness of men in the “before” is the cause of their current plight. These few must hold fast to their faith in God, never questioning Lenihan’s teachings, in order to ensure survival and salvation. The Promised Land proves to be both more and less than the community had hoped for. Some wonder if they have simply exchanged one monster for another. Take a chance on the Promised Land and Wolfecastle’s new religion.
January 13, 2022
A page turner with a character driven story, that left me wanting to read more about the world the author has crafted.
January 20, 2024
More of a Puzzle than Horror
Excellently entertaining to read and hard to put down, this story was never what I expected when I turned the page!
I went in bracing for this to be a jump scare story and instead it crossed somewhere between I Am Legend (the book) and an M. Night Shyamalan script. Action scenes are graphic but not gory for the sake of gore, characters are well fleshed out, and the actual story is a well thought out lesson on whether the greater good is worth the sacrifice, and how nuanced those decisions can be. And no, you will not come away any more sure of the answer!
Excellently entertaining to read and hard to put down, this story was never what I expected when I turned the page!
I went in bracing for this to be a jump scare story and instead it crossed somewhere between I Am Legend (the book) and an M. Night Shyamalan script. Action scenes are graphic but not gory for the sake of gore, characters are well fleshed out, and the actual story is a well thought out lesson on whether the greater good is worth the sacrifice, and how nuanced those decisions can be. And no, you will not come away any more sure of the answer!
March 18, 2024
A incredibly well-paced novella with the perfect amount of tension.
Promised Land is a short read but well worth it. Wolfecastle has a unique style that had me holding my breath to be silent along with the characters when danger loomed close.
The ending is broad and open, leaving the reader to imagine what happens next.
Promised Land is a short read but well worth it. Wolfecastle has a unique style that had me holding my breath to be silent along with the characters when danger loomed close.
The ending is broad and open, leaving the reader to imagine what happens next.
April 12, 2023
This is an excellent quick-read novella with a compelling cast of characters that plays well with the 'promised land' narrative. Definitely recommended!
July 2, 2022
Bit of a slow start (lots of waiting and talking, interspersed with brief bursts of action) but turns out this is one of those slow-burn hero’s journey types of tales; there’s a payoff in the finale. Impressive for a novella, as usually I think novellas have a novel in them.
At first too I thought this was going to be the same plot as Jay Kristoff’s the Empire of the Vampire - very similar universe; a natural event happens in which vampires have replaced humans as the earth’s apex predator, and the remaining humans cling to a religious order. But Promised Land offers a fresh take on vampires and it goes its own way.
Enjoyed this one, overall. Refreshing dark fantasy with deeper themes exposing the hypocrisy of religion. And you never know who to root for, which makes the characters interesting, which is why I read this genre.
At first too I thought this was going to be the same plot as Jay Kristoff’s the Empire of the Vampire - very similar universe; a natural event happens in which vampires have replaced humans as the earth’s apex predator, and the remaining humans cling to a religious order. But Promised Land offers a fresh take on vampires and it goes its own way.
Enjoyed this one, overall. Refreshing dark fantasy with deeper themes exposing the hypocrisy of religion. And you never know who to root for, which makes the characters interesting, which is why I read this genre.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews