"PARADIGM LOST: MANHOOD RITES AND JAMARI SHAMAN" by R. Roderick Rowe |
PARADIGM LOSTManhood Rites and Jamari Shaman
When Native American Mythology meets Celtic Druidism in a culture built around Gnostic Christianity, strange things come to life! Journey with Jamari as he discovers his world, his community and his culture.
In the world of 2115, nearly 100 years after the Pacific Rim erupted in a series of quakes, The Tribe remains the Pacific Northwest's best hope of survival. Promoting peace, harmony, and the sharing of resources, The Tribe yet maintains a ferocious ability to defend itself from outsiders and wildlings. The Elk Creek Tribe, located near the town of Yoncalla, is the strongest civilization remaining in the region that has been long-abandoned by the mega-corps who decided that the sparse lands weren't viable investments to rebuild roads and infrastructure to bring back into the fold. The Tribe has defied all reason and logic, building a culture and a community that not just survives, but thrives on, the isolation learning to live closer to the land, honoring the land and animals in return. The series, Paradigm Lost: Jamari and the Manhood Rites, in addition to developing the character Jamari, the Elk Creek Tribe, and human spirituality, also shares some new views about human sexuality. Into this mix comes Jamari, a young man of the Elk Creek Tribe who has decided to take on the challenges of The Manhood Rites: a series of mental, emotional, and physical challenges that he must pass before becoming a full citizen of The Tribe. The series starts with Part One, introducing Jamari as a young man just entering the trials of the Manhood Rites. His learning curve is also the learning curve of the reader and by the end of book 1, the tribal culture is mostly revealed. As he undergoes this rigorous training, Jamari also finds himself delving into a new world of self-discovery as his interactions with a mentor unlock passionate desires he never knew he had. Can Jamari learn to live by Tribal code and abide by the Rule of Attachment? Can he perform the Tribal duties for the betterment of The Tribe? The second book, Jamari Shaman, takes Jamari on an adventure through the tribal lands and down to the coast where he meets new peoples and learns new and unexpected shamanistic skills. In the upcoming third book, Jamari and the Founder's Sons, the reader gets to super-explore human spirituality and what a human-God interaction COULD look like without the misguided interference of the modern Christian Churches. Though The Founder's Sons concludes the first trilogy about the Tribe, there is plenty more to explore, both in their past and future. Check them out at: http://www.rwcollinspublishing.com/home.html In Part II, Jamari and friends are tasked with an expedition to the coast where The Tribe hopes to process salt from the ocean waters. There he encounters other peoples who live outside the Tribal influence, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Step in and explore this bold new world through the eyes of a young man encountering life's challenges and triumphs with courage, tenacity, and a tiny bit of fear as the world becomes a much bigger and more powerful force in his life. Watch him grow into his role, even as that role shifts before his very eyes when he develops skills and talents that tell his leaders that he may be a powerful shaman. Can he accept his fate and transform into the respected spiritual leader he is destined to become? Even more important, will he survive the process? |