The First Eternity’s Empire Box Set is Available Now!

When I released the fifth book in the Eternity’s Empire series, I realized the series was getting quite long. And the longer a series is, the harder it is to keep track of whether or not you’ve read the books. I remember flipping through my favorite authors’ books in my youth, making comparative lists to ensure I had every installment in the proper series.

Wikipedia and Amazon make this process a lot easier these days. But I still don’t want new readers drowning in the number of links they need to keep track of to enjoy the series. So I gathered the first four installments into a bundle so they’ll be easy to acquire with a single click. This makes sense since I have eight books planned for the series. So it will be nice and easy to repeat this process when the second half of the series is finished.

One of my readers also requested a physical book bundle. She adores the Eternity’s Empire series, but eight books is a lot of space to carve out of a bookshelf. So for the first time, not only is this bundle digital – its physical as well!

I’ve talked a lot about the characters in this series and the mythological research that inspired them. But one thing I haven’t really talked a lot about is the influences that inspired me to bring this story to life.

I’ve made no attempt to hide my inspirations for Eternity’s Empire. In fact they’re sprawled across the base of every book’s blurb on Amazon! Fans of Sailor Moon and Stargate will enjoy this clever mythological mashup. Today, I want to focus on the first influence – Sailor Moon!

Each character has a not-so-secret connection

People might not know that each of the individual characters in the Eternity’s Empire universe were actually inspired by a Sailor Moon character. The goddesses I picked were all at least slightly influenced by the various sailor soldiers from the show, which was a favorite in my youth.

It probably isn’t too difficult to guess that Aeternitas was inspired by Sailor Moon. They’re both princesses of intergalactic empires. They both summon magical powers from a crystal focus. And they both have long blonde pig tails. There, however, the resemblance ends. Aeternitas is an ancient Roman incarnation of Eternity. And though her mother is the ruler of a vast empire including many planets, she is not particularly revered. Nor is Aeternitas specifically her heir.

But Aeternitas does travel in the company of four guardians, each sworn to protect her.

Ganga, who serves as the group’s healer, was inspired by Sailor Mercury. At least, that’s the reason I chose to include a water goddess. But it’s also what inspired Ganga’s geeky, inquisitive nature. You may have noticed that she has the strongest grasp of imperial (and human) technology.

But Ganga’s resemblance to Sailor Mercury is mostly superficial. And in this case, Ganga’s appearance was inspired by the goddess who gives her her name. Many of Ganga’s abilities, and all of her story, are deeply rooted in Hindu mythology. The Ganges river – Ganga’s river – is heavily associated both with healing properties and funerary rights. (And Sailor Mercury doesn’t actually do much healing in the early seasons of the show.)

Even the direct connections are somewhat hidden

Amaterasu was inspired by Sailor Mars. This might be a bit more obvious because, although Amaterasu is an archer, she never actually flings fire arrows in myth, despite being the goddess of the sun. This is where Amaterasu gets her status as a priest, and her odd connection with the web that runs beneath the universe. But I have worked to make sure that each of these abilities are also heavily rooted in my research into the Shinto religion. Because the ultimate goal of this story was to retell the tales real world myths.

Amaterasu does not share the strong bond with Aeternitas that Sailor Mars does with Sailor Moon. But she does share a strong connection with the character inspired by Sailor Venus.

Aphrodite being inspired by Venus is probably the most obvious of my influences showing. But as I’ve mentioned before, I didn’t want all the characters included in the story to have elemental abilities. And it made sense that Aphrodite, goddess of love, could potentially manipulate the emotions of others.

That leaves Sailor Jupiter as the inspiration for Thora. And that is the main reason I settled on a gender-bent Thor. (Aside from wanting to write a lady Loki.) There are a lot of interesting Norse goddesses who would have made great characters. But all of them provided a little too much crossover with territory covered by other character choices. And I couldn’t ignore that Thor shares a lot of character traits I always loved in Sailor Jupiter. They are both physically strong but emotionally oblivious.

Some connections are more subtle than others

What about Gaea’s guardians, you ask? Well to a lesser extent, each was inspired by one of the outer sailor soldiers. Skadi and Nuit are somewhat obviously inspired by Sailors Uranus and Neptune. Although their elements don’t correspond much. And Lady Muerte was inspired by Sailor Pluto. The lone guardian of a lonely realm and far more powerful than she really wants to be.

Though it probably seems a bit backwards, Chronos was inspired by Sailor Saturn, for reasons that cannot yet be discussed.

Even Gaea, to some small extent was inspired by Sailor Moon. After all, in the manga, Prince Endymion (Tuxedo Mask), manifests a golden crystal that allows him to enhance Sailor Moon’s abilities. (Despite often being depicted in the anime as incapable of doing more than tossing a rose.)

Much of the first season of Sailor Moon deals with the past lives of Sailor Moon (Princess Serenity) and Tuxedo Mask (Prince Endymion). It turns out that the love growing between the two of them led to friction between their two kingdoms and, ultimately, war. Rather than letting them die over the conflict, Princess Serenity’s mother sacrificed herself to send the two of them into the future, granting them a second chance at life.

Of course the relationship between Aeternitas’s kingdom and Gaea’s is far more complex. But it seems the budding relationship between the two young women has, indeed, driven both their civilizations to the brink of war. But if you want to learn more – you’ll have to read the books!

Part One of Eternity’s Empire is Available Now!

The war is centuries old, its tangle impossibly complex.

Erica’s life is in shambles. Her university has put her on conduct probation and her parents will disown her the second the school kicks her out. The special archaeological dig in Antarctica offers a path to redemption, a chance to hit the cosmic reset button.

And it’s where she meets Shima. Kind-hearted and tough as nails, Shima lights Erica’s way through the darkness. She wants nothing more than to explore the potential in their relationship.

Until Erica breaks the expedition’s most valuable artifact.

Now she and her friends are haunted by strange visions and hunted by mythological creatures. Their only defense lies in the power of five ancient goddess infused in artifacts scattered throughout the dig.

But the more the girls wield these powers, the more they unlock hidden memories long since lost to time. Their discoveries suggest the entire world might be in danger if they do not act. For the war that drove these ancient powers to Earth is about to consume the entire planet.

Can Erica and her friends uncover the secrets of their powers in time to avert the war and prevent the looming disaster?

Fans of Sailor Moon and Stargate will enjoy this clever mythological mashup. Grab your copy today!