The Longevity Thesis

Welcome to The Longevity Thesis Podcast!

The Longevity Thesis is a dark fantasy novel written by Jennifer Rahn, and published by Dragon Moon Press.

Decription of the story:

Antronos knew nothing but the Desert. Full of sandstorms, hallucinogenic dust dreams and the strange undead, he would have gone insane if not for the magic of his mother that held the demons at bay. One day, his mother died. The underground civilization of the Temlochti State did not readily accept Antronos the surface creature from the Desert. Enduring constant derision, Antronos sometimes managed to find work along the docks of the underground river that made life rich and easy for the tunnel dwellers. After saving a university professor from drowning, he was granted a studentship in medicine. Thinking that understanding life and death might help him one day at least accept, if not understand, the strange way in which his mother had died, he decided to pursue a graduate degree after he became a medical doctor. His research topic: longevity. Unfortunately, his graduate supervisor's methodology is less than ethical, and he hates Antronos with a passion. Antronos is tricked into committing an act of murder. He is then blackmailed into doing Sen Vernus' dirty work as the old man grabs power: political power, psychic power, magical power, with the aim of taking over the minds and bodies of the most powerful and rich people in the state. He may die, but Antronos has decided to rebel.

Reviews:

"This beautifully written, action-packed story is full of mystery, suspense and pathos. Jennifer Rahn weaves an intricate tale about a young boy who is an outsider. He loses his mother at an early age and this profound loss shapes his entire destiny, by leading him into the field of medicine where he becomes fascinated with prolonging life.

Our protagonist faces much adversity and many obstacles in his quest for answers to the search for immortality and longevity. A classic tale of good versus evil that keeps us on the edge of our seat, rooting for Antronos to succeed."

Sigrid Macdonald Author of D'Amour Road

"Who knew that the hallowed halls of academia were actually dark tunnels rife with intrigue, racism, murder and magic? The Longevity Thesis is Approved and Dr. Rahn graduates summa cum laude as the new face on the speculative fiction's Dean's List."

Timothy Reynolds Author of Stand Up & Succeed

"In the desert, magic swirls through reality, as death spirals through life. Antronos is desert-born, transformed by it from human to a half-reptilian outcast. After his mother's death, he seeks the vast underground human community, free of the desert's uncanny influence. Despite his pariah status, he rises through the university, becoming the high prince Jait's personal physician and an associate of Sen Vernus, lead researcher in causes of mortality. Danger lurks behind such knowledge. In the deep pit of power and intrigue, friends turn enemies, and enemies become allies, some reverting, others not, through twists and turns of intrigue and terror. Antronos must come to terms with the desert he escaped if he is to understand the true meaning of longevity.

The Longevity Thesis is a curious tale, told in smoothly flowing prose. Often moody, sometimes touched with affectionate tolerance, Ms. Rahn's prose shifts easily between poetic expression and down-to-earth characterization. Like Peter Beagle's work, the story carries you along in a river of thought, only to let you emerge wondering how you got there. On occasion, I felt disoriented, wondering if the entire story was an extended metaphor that I didn't quite grasp. It probably is. But as with Beagle's work, one can read for surface story or for deeper meaning and be satisfied with either.

I found The Longevity Thesis to be both intriguing and unsettling. Fantasy novels often do not require great thought of a reader, one simply goes along with the ride. For Thesis, however, a reader can't just ride the waves of a story. Instead, you dip your feet into philosophy and moral thinking without quite realizing you've done it until afterwards, when your mind doesn't quite settle down again.

If you enjoy intrigue and magic, as well as delving into the delicious terror between life and death, you'll quite probably enjoy this book as much as I did."

Jeanette Cottrell Author of The Shadebinder's Oath

"The Longevity Thesis is at turns darkly primeval and disconcertingly modern, grimly macabre and life-afirming: compounded together, these ingredients create a powerful and unsettling tale. The Temlochti State University is the centre of scholarship in an underground land, where the inhabitants have so long avoided the desert above them that many now regard the stories of its magic as mere superstition. Antronos, who has been touched by that magic, knows better. But even he does not suspect what ancient and unnatural beings are at work within the University itself, until his desire to study longevity places him in their power. Jennifer Rahn is a daring new voice in dark fantasy, and I hope that she will give readers a chance to explore this world further."

Jennifer Kennedy Author of Dominion

"This book sucks. The villian was too hard done by."

Sen Vernus Professor Emeritus of Surgery, Temlochti University