Tale of the Thunderbolt

Table of Contents

 

 

“David Valentine is a true hero. . . . I found myself rooting for him on page one.” — SF Site

 

“A winner. If you're going to read only one more postapocalyptic novel, make it this one.”

— Fred Saberhagen, author of the
Berserker
series

 

“I have no doubt that E. E. Knight is going to be a household name in the genre.” — Silver Oak Book Reviews

 

“[If]
The Red Badge of Courage
had been written by H. P. ovecraft.” — Paul Witcover, author of
Waking Beauty

 

“E. E. Knight has managed to create a compelling new world out of the ruins of our existing one. It's a major undertaking for a new author. . . . He does it with style and grace, and I would highly recommend checking out the book as soon as you can.” — Creature Corner

 

“It was obvious to me within the first few pages that Knight knew how to write. . . . Valentine is a complex and interesting character, mixing innocence with a cold-hearted willingness to kill. . . . Knight brought the setting (a future, apocalyptic United States) to vivid life. . . . The setting drew me in. . . . His world is well-constructed and holds together in a believable fashion. . . . Compelling.” —
SFReader.com

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First published by Roc, an imprint of New American Library,
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First Printing, March 2005

Copyright © Eric Frisch, 2005

eISBN : 978-0-451-46018-9

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To John and Laura Anne, for getting me to the next level

Aspirants:
Teenagers, often sons and daughters of those in a particular caste, who travel with the Hunters and perform assorted camp functions.

Bears:
Hunters and the most fearsome of the Lifeweavers' human weapons; warriors who go into a battle-fury resembling that of the berserks of old. The Bears are proud to take on anything the Kurians can design.

Cats:
Trained by the Lifeweavers, these Hunters act as spies, saboteurs, and assassins in the Kurian Zone. Some work in disguises; others work openly.

Dau'wa:
“Forward-thinkers”; the minority of Lifeweavers (mostly concentrated on the planet Kur), who used vital aura to become immortal, i.e., vampires.

Dau'weem:
“Backwards-thinkers”; the majority of Lifeweavers, who eschewed use of vital aura to become immortal.

Golden Ones:
A Grog variant, more verbal and organized than the more common Gray Ones. Fawn-colored fur on their shoulders blends to white on their bellies.

Gray Ones:
The most common kind of Grog, an apish humanoid with thick plates of gray skin. Marginally intelligent, though quick to adapt to human tools and weapons.

Grogs:
Any of the multitude of creations the Kurians have designed or enhanced to help subjugate man. The term
grog
is in general use for introduced life-forms, but properly belongs just to the humanoid variants. Grogs come in many shapes and sizes; some are intelligent enough to use weapons.

Hunters:
Human beings who have been enhanced by the techno-magic of the Lifeweavers to cope with the spawn of Kur.

Interworld Tree:
An ancient network of portals between the stars, the doors of which allow instantaneous transportation across the light-years.

Kur:
One of the nine planets of the Interworld Tree. A great storehouse of touchstones was found here; it was a center of Lifeweaver science and learning. Later it became a renegade world when the Kurian Lifeweavers began to use vital aura to extend their lives, touching off a civil war that has spilled over to Earth.

Kurians:
Lifeweavers from the planet Kur who learned how to indefinitely lengthen their lives by absorbing vital aura. They are the true vampires of the New Order.

lifesign:
Energy given off by any living thing in proportion to its size and sentience. The Reapers use it, in addition to their normal senses, to track their human prey.

Lifeweavers:
The ancient race who discovered the old Pre-Entity Gates between the Nine Worlds.

Pre-Entities:
The Old Ones, a vampiric race that died out long before man walked the Earth. From their knowledge, the Kur learned how to become vampires by living off of vital aura.

Quislings:
Humans who assist the Kurians in running the New Order.

Ravies:
A virus the Kurians distributed to break up the social order of man, allowing them to take over more easily.

Reapers:
The Praetorian Guard of the New Order, they are in fact avatars animated by their Master Vampire. They permit the reclusive Kurians to interact with humans and others, and more important, absorb the vital aura through a psychic connection with the avatar without physical risk. Reapers live off the blood of the victim, while the aura sustains the Master Kurian. Also known colloquially as Capos, Governors, Hoods, Rigs, Skulls, Scowls, Tongue-Tong, Creeps, Hooded Ones, and Vampires.

Touchstones:
Record-keeping technology used by the Pre-Entities and discovered by the Lifeweavers. Touchstones hold anything from knowledge to memories; the data is accessible by a sentient being's touch. This can be dangerous for less-developed minds, such as humans'.

vital aura:
An energy field created by a living creature. Sadly, humans are rich in it.

Wolves:
The most numerous caste of the Hunters. Their patrols watch the no-man's-land between the Kurian Zone and the Free Territories, and they also act as guerrilla fighters, couriers, and scouts.

—
Thomas Paine, “The Liberty Tree”

—
Edward Lear,
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat