It is about Horth Nersal, who, as a language-impaired child, learns to compensate for his shortcomings with an inborn "talent" ... which turns out not to be only useful in achieving his personal conquests but also for settling family disagreements - often with fatal results. In Horth’s world, bio-engineered humans (Sevolites) dominate the rest of humanity in a curiously neo-feudal socio-political system. Horth’s genius for combat and reality skimming dog-fights (called "shake-ups") are only surpassed by his unique talents on the dueling floor (and dueling is surprisingly important under Sword Law where it is used by Sevolites to settle disputes without damaging rare and valuable possessions ... such as planets.) Horth finds it difficult to understand his family's conflicts over power and religion and in the end his "skills" force him to make some very difficult decisions, including those in which his loved ones must die!
Lynda Williams has been creating the Okal Rel Universe through three degrees and at least as many careers. Now the books of the ten novel saga are rolling out from Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy one a year (Part 7: Healer's Sword forthcoming in Nov 2011). Works by both Lynda and other writers captivated by the story-potential of the ORU, are published by Edge's sister-press called Absolute X-Press. Lynda taught and worked in educational innovation at the University of Northern B.C. for fifteen years, and now works as Learning Management System Analyst for SFU. She holds two masters degrees (M.L.S. and M.Sc. Computation) and a B.A. in Liberal Studies with emphasis in Chemistry and Creative Writing. "All my life," Lynda explains her eclectic education and life experience, "I had questions that no single discipline could answer without help from others."
Fully-realized characters living the drama and humor of culture clash surrounding power, sexual mores and social values are the hallmark of the Okal Rel experience: dramatizing questions about what it means to be human. Enthusiastic readers range from precocious pre-teens to senior citizens, and include thinking people from PhDs to high school dropouts. The gentle, beautiful, vanilla-scented Amel Dem'Vrel, title character of Part 1: The Courtesan Prince, provides a focus for the series as his life plays out the age-old story of the prince raised as a pauper combined with the notion of the prostitute with a heart of gold, despite being male. But Amel's slow recovery from a traumatic youth and rise to power as his people's leader is only the backdrop for the lives and passions of a cast of characters who seize the stage for as long as a book (e.g. Horth Nersal in Part 2: Righteous Anger) or weave their own bright threads through the ten-novel saga (e.g. reluctant rebel Perry D'Aur, the intense and brooding Di Mon, or trickster, warrior, poet Eler Nersal).
