Children's & YA
2020
The After-Time Chronicles
One Small Spark
by Andy Woodage
In the footsteps of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series comes Andy Woodage's debut novel and our entrance into his bio-engineered fantasy world. The After-Time Chronicles: One Small Spark is a young-adult fantasy novel of good, evil, genetically engineered creatures, romance, blood, and the search for belonging. Imagine a world without oil, where metals are only available if they can be salvaged or recycled. Imagine if coal was running out. It’s a world where armies no longer build metal monsters, but biological horrors. A world where genetic engineering has become the art of war. This is 12-year-old Jothan’s world. Orphaned by a terrible accident, he dreams of leaving his uneventful life with his grandparents on the family’s griffin farm. However, when a catastrophic attack wipes out every homestead in The Zoological Zone, his world is turned upside down. He finds himself thrust into a story larger than he ever dreamed, embarking on a rough journey with a mysteriously appearing warrior to the fabled ‘Temple of Elohim’. Accompanied by his best friend, the griffin Gozell, Jothan sets off across a land ravaged by poverty and wild creatures. Battling his way across the dangerous landscape, his eyes are opened to an empire in the grip of war and unrest... with the ever increasing weight of his role in events to come. Will they make it to the Temple? Will they be welcomed when they arrive? Can Jothan unravel the secrets that seem to control the lives of everyone he meets, including his mysterious saviour?
