Speculative Fiction-- Novels

“Author Deborah L. Rhodes has crafted fanciful, cinematic, and extremely poignant works that toy with your consciousness and your own ideas about the world as you read them, which was really refreshing and exciting to find in modern speculative novels. One of the most striking features for me was the description of Shona’s actions and her relationship with the physical world, which always carried this ethereal air about it, and a very abstract approach that intensified the metaphysical elements of storytelling. I loved the voyage of discovery that the novels deliver at a good, engrossing pace and the overall messages we glean about the world and our own journey to find our place within it.”

--Readers’ Favorite (5-Star Review) 

The books in the Injira series tell the story of a mysterious group of people (the Ocan) who have lived on an isolated abandoned island for over two centuries.  The Ocan people (of all races, ethnicities, and cultures) are comprised primarily of artists and scientists who have created a utopian community that is completely outside of the modern world. “Injira” is the Ocan belief system that guides the lives of the people and the purpose of their shadowy existence.

In their hidden isolation, the Ocan people protect the secret of a subterranean source of power that lies in a place called ‘the in-between’. This energy has genetically enhanced the Ocan people and it can also help rid the Earth of a deadly virus that has ravaged much of humankind. However, the Ocan people believe that only an Emissary can directly access the energy and the Ocan people have not yet found their Emissary.

Blending elements of speculative fiction (i.e., fantasy, science fiction, magical realism) and philosophical fiction, the first two books in the Injira series (A Crack in the World and The Emissary’s Catalyst) are available at  Amazon.com .

The third and final book in this series is forthcoming. 

 Shona was supposed to die at birth-- buried alive in an obscure grave in the mountains of her island home. The Ocan Elders, heeding the prophecies, decreed that it must be so. But Shona didn’t die. And now the Ocan people fear that their secret existence and the safety of the world are in jeopardy unless they can find her before anyone outside of their mysterious island discovers who and what she truly is. Although no one has been permitted to enter or leave the island in centuries, the healer-woman’s grandson, Taijaur, is sent to the mainland to track down and bring back the outcast Shona. Thus, a journey is set in motion with Taijaur and Shona not just seeking one another, but they also strive to find their purpose in the world as they unravel the ancient secrets that the Ocan people struggle to keep hidden. 

Click link to Buy on Amazon-- A Crack in the World 

The once peaceful villages of the mainland have become dangerous and unstable as Shona discovers that it is not safe for her to remain in her adopted country. Thus, she is reluctantly persuaded to go in search of Taijaur, so that they can both return to the Ocan island. But before Taijaur and Shona can go back to their isolated island home, they must first seek an ancient source of power that resides in the nether-realm of the in-between. With Taijaur standing guard, Shona must venture through an opening between worlds, risking her life, her sanity, and the future of all the Ocan in order to gain the wisdom and fortitude that will enable her to help heal the essence of humanity. 

Click link to Buy on Amazon- The Emissary’s Catalyst