I want to welcome M.R. Leonard to Books R Us. Mr. Leonard is the Author of Pilgrims- A Sci-Fi Novel. The author has provided my readers with an interview about the book and the author. Do not forget to enter the giveaway below and thanks for stopping by.
Book Title: PILGRIMS by M.R. Leonard
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 412 pages
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Blue Castle Press
Release date: November 2024
Content Rating: PG-13. There is death in my book. There are also religious profanities “God damn”. There are also a few swears (not many but some “F” bombs said by the villain at the end). There is no description of sex but my protagonist follows an online creator who does adult content (her content is never described at all other than to say it exists). The main thing is the violence in my book. It is not gory but it does involve children dying.
Latin was a dead language—until the aliens arrived.
Out-of-work Latin teacher and borderline alcoholic Austin DeSantis is determined to spend his final days in the arms of a prostitute—that is if the aliens don’t exterminate humanity first.
But when the aliens land at the Vatican, begin speaking Latin, and reveal themselves to be Catholic, the world turns upside down.
Pressed into service as a translator and thrust into the center of humanity's first contact with a cryptic alien race, Austin must uncover their true intentions before religious turmoil rips the planet apart. But with Austin caught between the Catholic Church, the US military, and an enigmatic alien AI, he'll have to decide where his loyalties lie as the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.
PILGRIMS is a sci-fi retelling of Augustine's Confessions, mixing a high-concept premise à la Children of Time with the ceaseless pacing and rich characterization of Red Rising.
In your book you have the classic trope where aliens hover above world cities. But in this case the aliens are . . . Catholic. How did you come up with that idea?
I love first contact stories. The Day the Earth Stood Still, ET, Arrival, Close Encounters of the Third Kind . . . They capture the imagination and make us look at our current society in a whole new way.
Those stories have a problem though. The reason the aliens come to Earth is usually weak. For example, the aliens in Independence Day come to Earth because they want our "resources" even though space is filled with all sorts of awesome resources that they don’t have to fight pesky Earthlings for. That doesn’t make sense!
So I wanted to create a first contact sci-fi story where the aliens' motivation for coming to Earth is airtight. And, as outlandish as it sounds, aliens that are devout believers of an Earth religion (in my novel—Catholicism) have a very compelling reason to travel all the way to Earth. It's such a good motivation in fact, that I was shocked to see no other writer had ever addressed it before . . . until now.
Is your book just for Catholics?
Yes. It is only for Catholics. In fact, it is only for the Pope. If anyone else reads it, God will smite them!
All kidding aside, I’m a lifelong sci-fi fan but a recent revert to Catholicism. I wrote a book for sci-fi fans—full stop. Most of my readers don’t know the first thing about Catholicism. They just enjoy an original first contact story done well. And the Catholic readers appreciate that I wrote something that doesn’t take cheap shots at their faith. A win-win.
Which was the hardest character to write? The easiest?
The hardest character to write was my protagonist—Austin. When we meet Austin, he’s in a pretty dark place. Aliens are on their way to Earth, due to arrive in a few days, but no one knows why they’re coming. A lot of people think this is the end of the world, including Austin. And with the world ending so soon he does some pretty dark things. Making him likable despite his failings was no easy task.
The easiest to write was the alien robot—Virgil. He is just so good, and he gets placed into these impossible situations but isn’t broken by them. He’s most reader’s favorite character.
Your book is billed as a sci-fi retelling of Augustine’s Confessions. Does a reader need any familiarity with the Confessions to understand your book?
No. Not at all. What I’ve found is that readers who are familiar with that iconic piece of Western literature (published around 400AD) LOVE the Easter Eggs. And the readers who have no idea what the Confessions is don’t miss a thing. But many of them go on to get themselves a copy of the Confessions to see what all the fuss is about when they’re done with my book.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
Austin's story is not over. The book concludes about fifty days after Catholic aliens arrive on Earth. What happens to society ten years after such a momentous event? Fifty years? There is still so much story to tell. And the sequels will be coming out over the next few years.
Besides writing, any big plans in the future?
Yeah. Even though I’m a sci-fi author, I’m not really into space. I like things on Earth just fine. But I do want to go to the Moon one day. I think tourism to the Moon will likely start in the late 2030’s so I consider this a real possibility. And I want to raise money to start a monastery on the Moon. That’s why my Instagram handle is @Monksonthe_Moon. It’s about time we had monks on the Moon, isn’t it?
What can I say, I like to have modest goals . . .
connect with the author: website ~ X ~ instagram ~ goodreads
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