In the age before the Great Flood 13,000 years ago, a new alliance between the nations of Lanth and Tolaria is threatened by the Amarrat Empire's war to conquer and enslave the world. Fourteen-year-old Arken Freeth is swept up in the conflict when his Lantish Military Academy training ship is attacked by pirates and runs ashore. He and six classmates are the only survivors of the shipwreck, and they struggle to live in a jungle filled with saber-tooth cats, dire wolves, mammoths, and mastodons. Neanderthal blood runs in Arken's veins. His lineage gives him strength and makes him a powerful warrior, a warrior who can keep his friends safe. But he must use his strength wisely and keep his heritage a secret because it means certain death under the laws of Lanth.
About the Author: About the Author Alex Paul lives in Portland, Oregon in the winter and on the Oregon coast in the summer with his wife Laura Ross-Paul. Their summer home is a small log cabin with a yurt for Laura's art studio. Trained as an Industrial Engineer at Oregon State University, he pursued a variety of careers before settling into real estate development. Alex has a great love of the outdoors, which has translated into a rich base of experience to draw on in writing the Arken Freeth novels. He began hunting when he was 20 in 1968. He hunts for deer and elk in Oregon and New Mexico. Hunting trips in years past have included elk hunts in Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Washington as well as antelope hunts in Wyoming. Alex's fishing career began when his family moved into a house on the North Santiam River when he was twelve years old. He found a fishing pole left in the garage and decided to learn how to fish, primarily by checking out books about fishing for trout from the school library. While his father was not interested in fishing, his mother faithfully accompanied him on trips to a special fishing hole on the river behind an abandoned wooden dam until she was confident he would not fall in and drown. Then he fished the river accompanied only by his two dogs. That early interest in trout fishing transformed into a passion for salmon fishing, and now Alex keeps a deep sea fishing boat, in Astoria, Oregon. Friends and children join him in the summer crossing the Columbia River Bar to fish the Pacific Ocean. When he is not hunting or fishing, Alex surfs the Oregon Coast, skis the Oregon Cascades, and hikes trails almost daily. He still has two dogs who are his loyal companions on most of his outdoor adventures. Additional activities such as archery, fencing, Tae Kwon Do, and horseback riding have also informed his writing.