War of the Lost Song

“Once more the lights quiver, then darkness rules us all.” After the cataclysmic Blanking, what remains of the population of the former United States enters a chaotic struggle for survival. Elements of the remnants migrate to a hostile wilderness area that offers scant resources. Social order has broken down, and every individual must fend for their own existence. Will humankind rise to the occasion and overcome their adversity, or is a darker scenario more likely? Mark A. Cornelius’ “stretch novel”, War of the Last Song, is a provocative tale that parallels the chronology of his trilogy, The Ruach Saga (The Singularity, The Book of Seconds, and Bronzeman). Within these pages, Cornelius paints an altogether different picture of End Times, writing from the mindset of those who struggle with perceiving any spiritual component at work in the calamity. Two separate camps are highlighted. Each is shaped by their different heritages and their perceptions of the new reality. A clan of men and a tribe of women form separately and are determined to overpower one another in a bid to dominate the harsh landscape. Ilona, daughter of a warrior queen, and Teagan, a novice politician from the District of Columbia, journal their perspective stories and detail the heightened strife between the genders. They ultimately confront one another, struggling through and adjusting to the complete shifting of social and physical norms. Their differing experiences within the stark reality of this social schism offer a powerful comparison to the shifting paradigms of our own times.