G.W. Langdon

I live in Ashburton in the middle of the South Island of New Zealand. The borders of the district of Mid-Canterbury are the Rangitata and Rakaia rivers to the south and north, the Pacific Ocean to the east, and the Southern Alps to the west.

As a life-long learner, I have a wide range of interests, especially anything to do with the natural world, technology, consciousness, psychology, and philosophy.
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I first began thinking about writing science fiction over 20 years ago. The Apostle series came together over roughly a 7-year period. Although the first book went through many drafts and titles before I settled on The Vanity of Hope, the ending of the series is still the same after all these years.

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The Vanity of Hope

Science Fiction

1499 A.D. Thomas Ryder is a medieval gamekeeper with a lot on his mind. Where does he belong in the world of Nature? What hope for a lasting peace? When will the aliens make their final move?

Abducted from Alice Holt Forest, along with his fiancée, Sarra Chambers, he is taken to the planet of Heyre and trained by superior beings to be their great king against an undefeated destroyer of worlds.

As his knowledge grows beyond that of any human who has ever lived, his inner world becomes increasingly chaotic. The hyper-technologies of artificial intelligence, bio-machine integration, genetic engineering, and virtual reality present unsettling choices and force him to question his true nature. Risking his humanity, he must navigate ancient deceits and embrace the bewitching ways of his new world, or lose Sarra forever.

Inferior to all around him, he is fêted as a savior king by deed of his mysterious connection to a supernatural creature whose background influence points to a greater, more ancient war.

Can Thomas Ryder survive the Great War of mortals and fulfill his destiny as a true king in the apocalyptic war for the Light of the universe?

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