Here are a few elements that you might find interesting about this story…

-- The ironic twist where Native Americans now live free and everyone else is confined to a reservation.

-- The American Republic and capitalism are gone--replaced by full central government control of the economy. (The Reader can decide if that's good or bad.)

-- Almost every citizen lives out his or her life sealed inside their family's dome home, never emerging unless a couple meets online, weds via videoconference, and moves into an empty dome to start their own family.  This new reality in the year 2080 spawns a society very different from today, for example:

• homelessness, crime, and communicable disease are nonexistent
• the average work week is 9 hours
• money is no longer used by US citizens
• divorce is rare; the nuclear family is stable; mom, dad and kids never leave the home
• alcohol, tobacco, and firearms--and illicit drugs--are not a part of dome life
• border security is maintained by American Indian patrols with orders to shoot-to-kill

--The USA is a manufacturing giant once again thanks to automation of all industries via robotics, computers, and teleoperation (remote control) of factories, mills, farms, transportation, etc...

-- Social, political, and philosophical questions presented to stimulate debate include:

• Are humans supremely adaptable to their environment--even one completely cut off from Nature?
• Individualism vs. Collectivism--is one better than the other?--is one the natural state of Man?
• Is trading Freedom for Safety worth the cost?
• If humans are disconnected from Nature, would spirituality and artistic expression suffer?

Interesting questions aside, this is still an adventure novel about a young couple struggling to cope with a world alien to them, aided by newfound friends, all against the backdrop of a looming war (that will be fought with everything from horse cavalry to Predator drones and micro air vehicles).

 

Cast of Characters

The Family:

Tom Corant - US Army sergeant and content Domer

Jenny Salem - Tom's fiancé, and not-so-content Domer

Cynthia Corant - Matriarch of the Corant family dome--mother of Tom

Steven Corant - Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Web Police; older brother to Tom

Jonny Corant - 4th grade elementary school scholar, Tom's young brother

Frank Bellows - Grandpa Frank, father of Cynthia

Lucy and Linda Corant - Twin teenage sisters of Tom Corant

 

The Companions:

Roving Wolf - Comanche scout (Pecos District)

Sun Rain - Sister of Roving Wolf

Cloud Rider - Comanche scout

White Hawk - Lakota scout

Running Bear - Cherokee scout (Western Band--Oklahoma)

Little Deer - Cherokee scout (Eastern Band--North Carolina)

 

The Stronghold:

Gov. Lane Jeffers - Leader of the Phoenix stronghold

Bob Briggs - Chief of Staff to Gov. Lane Jeffers

Lindsey Stokes - Executive Assistant to Gov. Jeffers

Dr. Sara Saunders - Medical Director of Phoenix stronghold

Dan Jeffers - son of Lane

 

The Government:

Barbara Phillips - 58th President of the United States

Donald Sullivan - Vice President of the United States

Carter Mason - US Secretary of State

Belinda Ashmore - US Secretary of Defense

Anthony Covelli - US Director of National Intelligence

 

The Military:

Gen. Joshua Pruitt (US Army) - Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

Gen. Bruce Beckett (US Army) - Commander, USNORTHCOM (United States Northern Command)

Gen. Roy Hopkins (US Air Force) - Commander, USSTRATCOM (United States Strategic Command)

Lt. Gen. Mark Tanner (US Army) - Commander, US "Western" Army (Arizona Defense Force)

Lt. Gen. Kathleen Singer (US Army) - Commander, US "Eastern" Army (Texas Defense Force)

Col. Nathan Holland (US Army) - Commander, US "Outside" Special Forces

 

The Free:

Chachu - Apache scout

Wahkeyunshah (Red Thunder) - War Chief of the Lakota

Angry Dove - Grandmother of Roving Wolf and Sun Rain

Sam Yazzie - Navajo infantryman

Jim Bahe - Navajo infantryman

Minninnewah (Whirlwind) - War Chief of the Cheyenne

 

The Enemy:

Gen. Juan Mejias - President of Mexico

Lu Zhuàng - Chinese government minister

Gen. Victor Trujillo - Commander of Mexican flanking army (Phoenix Task Force)

Col. Fernando Gomez-Ruiz - Commander of Mexican armored force (Yuma Task Force)

Jorge Salazar - Mexican infantryman

Rosita - Barmaid at Mexican cantina:  Ricardo's Café Mexicana