by CharlesEMabe
A therapeutic literary action science-fantasy that explores healing from childhood trauma, societal ethics, & self-betterment in a captivating space-age afterlife Hook / Pitch When "Solemn" reincarnates in a space-age, semi-utopian afterlife as a child so they can heal from trauma, they must fight alongside their newfound family against activists who don’t believe in forgiveness and rehabilitation, who threaten to tear this afterlife and their family apart. Full Blurb The space-age, solar system afterlife of Heleia was built on a radical ideal: that everyone— no matter their past— deserves a second chance. This near-utopia is overseen by the compassionate, demigod social workers and peacekeepers known as the seraphs, who work with individuals to promote healing, redemption, and the pursuit of one’s dreams. Such ideals bring together three struggling souls: "Solemn", who after a tragic life becomes a tiny child, hoping to heal and finally find a loving family; their cool but cynical new cousin Jessi Vargas, who struggles to escape others' toxicity and her own; and their strong and motherly mentor Lu Montsely, haunted by a past she's spent a century trying to defy. But the swelling ranks of activist group KAPE don't believe in second chances. With increasing technological might, they work to burn the Helian system to the ground. Their first target: the seraphs who oversee and protect it. And their second: individuals such as Solemn's fragile— yet precious— newfound family. As the looming war stifles Solemn’s therapy and puts their family in peril, the seraphs answer Solemn’s cry with a promise and a gift— imbuing them with the wondrous powers of a seraph so they might save their family. And when Solemn becomes the last remaining seraph, they must fight alongside their family and Heleia’s new resistance— not only to become happier, kinder, and greater— but for the people and seraphs they've come to love, and for the fate of the entire Helian afterlife. Dedication For those who due to lack of love, found that they never grewFor those who tried to take them in, not knowing what to doFor those who’d sometimes given up on peace and love on EarthFor those who cry out every night to see their own rebirth I’ve taken childhood sadness, all my suffering and dreamsI’ve spent the last three decades weaving answers, worlds, and themesI hope that through this sharing of my vulnerable soulThat I can help heal others, and then help the world be whole
