What is the setting for the Four Lights series?
The setting for the Four Lights series is Eastern Europe around 8500 years ago. It is a strange but beautiful time. The Neolithic is the last period before recorded history, but archaeological discoveries from both Anatolia and the Balkans mean that we have a wealth of concrete information about what life was like.
It is also the period when a catastrophic flood inundated the shores of the Black Sea, with a change in sea level of up to 300 feet, as the salt water of the Mediterranean swept into the freshwater lake.
Why did I start writing about the time before history?
My inspiration was a single phrase in Proto-Indo-European. It sounded something like dyewus peter. This word eventually became Jupiter in Latin, and the words literally mean “sky father”, or “father in heaven”. The connection for me was obvious: this is the same phrase used by Jesus Christ 4000 years later to refer to a creator. Where did this idea come from and what did it mean?
To imagine and explore the possible beliefs of an even earlier time, I tried to imagine a simpler language than Proto-Indo-European, which eventually became Méri, the language of the Sweet Sea. There is also a simpler cosmology, before anthropomorphic gods, of respect for Deya, the sky, and Deghóm, the earth and giver of food, beginning to be described as mother.
What is In the Day of the Flood about?
In the Day of the Flood is a mythic, archaeological fantasy set around the ancient Black Sea, 8500 years ago. It follows Deghóm, a visionary young woman whose natural empathy brings her into conflict with the religious world into which she is born. Forced into exile, she travels through a world in which society is still an experiment, but where the most stable communities are governed by women. The flood then bursts into her world, sparking a series of events and a future that she could never have imagined.
Background information:
Curious about the world behind the story? Learn about the Meri language, the Danube‑inspired symbols, the great events that took place around 8500 years ago and the cosmological ideas behind the Four Lights.
To meet the people who carry the story:
The Four Lights Cycle follows a small group of people whose choices reshape the world.
Deghóm — visionary, compassionate, morally courageous
Pérha — wise, steady, the emotional centre of the migrations
Láko — thoughtful, gentle, mathematically minded
Téra — wild, loyal, resourceful
Kúru — skilled young trader and mariner
Yára — respected trading leader from the south
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