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Welcome to It's Raining Books. Which character from modern science fiction TV series has most captured your imagination?
I was utterly intrigued by the character of Mother in the series Raised by Wolves, which was produced by Ridley Scott, my husband’s all-time favourite director. (Let’s not talk about how many times we’ve watched Bladerunner!)
Mother is categorized as a necromancer – a type of military android, but she’s been repurposed to be a caregiver, with the responsibility to start a peaceful colony of human children on the planet Kepple- 22b.
Mother has an ability to fly, shapeshift and disintegrate any living thing with sound waves.
As someone who is keenly interested in the properties of sound, and how they can be used, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I recommend checking out the show, just to get to know this intriguing character.
What was the first book you remember making an indelible impression on you?
Definitely Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel. I’ve been reading and thinking about that book since I first came across it, probably around the age of ten. The story of Ayla is really inspirational for the girls and women of our time. It’s about a girl who is different, who learns how to use her unique skills, develops incredible survival skills through tenacity, focus and courage, and who also has a deep, intrinsic connection with the natural and spiritual realms; from her connection to nature and to animals, her protectors in the clan, to her totem animal and her own inner strength.
Caves also play a role in the world of Bitroux, don’t they? Tell us about that.
The story of Bitroux takes place on the planet of Ahm, on the continent of San Aurelle, made up of seven individual countries. They are all now independently governed; after having originally been a federated country.
Under the continent of San Aurelle’s power grid is a deep and extensive cave network, which extends eight levels down below falling away into a seemingly endless abyss. This cave network seems to have existed outside anyone’s awareness until recently.
In Bitroux: High Country, Merouac and his niece Evra are taking a beat, after stressful recovery operations from when Evra fell down a shaft in the caves. However, the fact that they ended up in this obscure part of the underground landscape gave Merouac his first glimpse at the spaces deep below the city. It is what inspired him to oversee the relocation of the Helara, a population of extraterrestrial energies, who needed refuge from their imploding planet.
What kind of readers will enjoy Bitroux: High Country?
This book is for readers who enjoy stories exploring different ways of being in the universe, with plot lines that cross dimensions and allow characters to explore new skills and capabilities that may be available to us as human beings.
I’ve used the book as a way to explore the idea of our body as a tool for sensory perception, an essential part of how we understand sentience and intelligence in the world around us.
So, I think readers who are interested in altered states of consciousness, and how people experience them, will enjoy the book. That is; if you are interested in the human experience beyond the five senses, and thinking about what capabilities are being uncovered as we learn to bypass conscious thought and go into deeper levels of knowing.
If Merouac ever thought his life’s work would culminate in leading the metal workshops of the Transcontinental Railroad Project, he was sorely mistaken.
Now, his true challenge lies in navigating the other-worldly abilities he’s only beginning to understand—abilities that allow him to tune metal to interdimensional frequencies.
While trying to be a guardian to his niece, Evra, he’s realising she may have more to teach him than he ever expected. At the same time, his decision to help an interdimensional race find refuge underground puts him at the centre of an even deeper mystery.
As reality reshapes itself around him, Merouac faces a growing realisation: the world of Ahm is on the brink of a profound transformation, and everything he thought he knew may soon be shattered.
Read an Excerpt
The two men were slow moving, graceful, each with a high mohawk of golden straw-like hair, and heavily decorated with neck jewels. The neck-ware was gnarled, twisted, fibrous, fragments of plant stems dried and interwoven with beads and fresh flowers, trussed with other leaves and organic material, and embedded with strange jewels that seemed to glow and fade, changing colours across a spectrum of blues to greens and then back to blues.
Tundra inclined his head, made a small gesture and a bow.
‘He greets you,’ Kii translated. ‘Tundra does not speak very much, and so I’ll translate for him.’
‘How do you know what he wants to say, then?’ Merouac asked.
‘I can see it, or sense it, in the atmosphere,’ Kii explained.
Merouac watched in surprise as the Tundra gestured again, imparting information through the aether which Kii seemed to easily recieve and decipher.
Tundra then eased himself into a crouching position and cleared a patch of grass. He shook his head and determined it would not suit, and looked for a sandy patch. He moved over to another, more suitable, patch of ground and beckoned the other two to join him. He went through the same process of clearing the ground, and then used his fingers to trace lines into the sand. He was silent as he did so, but then looked at Kii expectantly, and Kii nodded.
‘Tundra said you did the right thing with the race that was escaping their imploding planet. They are safe, and they will rest in the core of Ahm now. Tundra was just drawing a map for me, to show me where they are.’
Merouac felt a shock run through him. ‘How does Tundra know about the Helara?’ he asked Kii.
‘There are things that can be seen in the energetic environment. He is able to perceive the place where the Helara now rest. It is under the power grid, deep below Suron. There is a cave network, and catacombs with very deep canyons. Below those canyons, this is where you found a place for the Helara to enter the core of the planet. It was the right thing to do,’ Kii said, translating as he watched Tundra’s fingers work in the sand.
About the Author: Jordan Harcourt-Hughes is an abstract painter, writer and communications professional. She’s passionate about all aspects of creativity, life-long learning and personal wellbeing. Over the last fifteen years she’s led, coached and developed creative professionals across the Asia-Pacific region.
Jordan’s books, studio workshops, courses, coaching and resources are an invitation to explore the rich landscape of creative experiences open to all.
High Country is Jordan’s second novel set in the world of Bitroux.
Website:
https://jordanharcourthughes.com
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jordaninthestudio/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/jordaninthestudio
