Author(s): Stephen L. Padley

Science Fiction

In the year 2015, the pressure was on to find faster and more efficient ways to reclaim and recycle our finite mineral resources. A professor documents the circumstances that are about lead to world catastrophe. About 150 years later, Abalus - In the Beginning looks back on the professor's notes detailing how American scientists adapted evolving biomechanical life forms and what happened in the aftermath. In this future bleak world, the sparse population in the United Kingdom has returned to a pre- industrial era, nature having reclaimed the cities. Fifteen-year-old Abalus has just witnessed the slaying of his father, and is incarcerated with his mother in a re-education centre. This is where his journey begins, searching for the truth about his ancestors. The nagging feeling that there is more to the world than he has been taught is fuelled by some secret, surviving books. Abalus escapes and embarks on a quest for forbidden knowledge. Spurred on by the discovery of the first of three notebooks written by the professor 150 years ago, his journey takes him to London, and then to Southampton, before he is captured and sent off for execution. Will Abalus survive, and why does the villain in the story, the Cardinal, want only his own Holy Writings to be the basis for re-education? About the Author: Stephen L. Padley is inspired by those who can overcome the odds stacked against them. He is fascinated by the battle between science and religion, creation and evolution, faith, belief and fact. Born in Hampshire, England, he now lives in Rockingham, West Australia, where he is working on the sequel. Publisher's website: http: //sbpra.com/StephenLPadley Author's website: http: //www.abalusthebeginning.com