The Exaltation of Fowl is Deirdre’s debut novel. Estimated publishing date is 2025

The Exaltation of Fowl

The Exaltation of Fowl is Deirdre’s debut novel, first in a series. It is targeted at precocious middle graders, YA and adult readers who love the fantasy genre. Deirdre’s rule for world-building was that everything had to either be real or theoretically possible. As a world traveler and a student of biology, astrophysics, astronomy, global history and cultures, geo-politics and theology, Deirdre knew that real life was freaky, astonishing, horrifying and wondrous enough to inspire her fiction. Though The Exaltation of Fowl may seem as if it were recently written as a topical commentary on present day USA, Deirdre had been writing the book for about eight years, in between other endeavors. She saw what was coming and sought a format that allowed nuanced and incisive exploration. In her opinion, the best fantasies are about serious, complex human issues, presented in such a way that one reader can be blithely unaware of the deeper aspects of the story and another reader will experience epiphanies about themselves and the world. The Exaltation of Fowl strikes that balance:

Kidnapped from Earth by a giant hawk called a Zeel, biracial siblings Awen (13) and Shakti (10) are taken to the land of Meri Maat on Planet Arta at a time of confusion and turmoil. A devastating plague leads the Zeels to jettison their ancient ways and instead place their trust in a fundamentalist, despotic ruler bent upon converting and conquering Meri Maaters who are struggling to peacefully preserve their egalitarian, harmonious way of life in the face of the Zeels’ onslaught. 

Jagr, the kidnapping Zeel, loses Awen and Shakti during transport. Alone in Meri Maat, they soon befriend a young autistic scientist, Wiles, and a budding diplomat, Impsolan, who risk their lives to hide Awen and Shakti from the Zeels and Meri Maaters who seek to quarantine them. Wiles resembles a large wolverine and Impsolan, a green, many-armed monkey. The four travelers, Wiles, Impsolan, Awen and Shakti make their way through fantastic forest and savannah populated by extraordinary beings, to a mercurial, gender-fluid, orphaned prince (12) who may be able to return them home. Prince Avimukta’s parents were secretly kidnapped from Meri Maat by the Zeels, leaving the people adrift and susceptible to conspiracies and strife. Prince Avimukta is humanoid with black iridescent skin, a tall, slender body and kaleidoscope eyes. 

Awen, a sensitive and curious empath who’s planning to become an astronaut, comes to love Meri Maat like a second home. He wants his parents to know he and Shakti are safe but he desires to stay on Arta and help reconcile the Zeels with the other Meri Maat peoples. Shakti, a fiery musical theater buff with a terrible singing voice, wants to return home to her family, friends and future career as a super star. 

Snatched from the prince’s palace by Zeels who finally discover their whereabouts, Awen and Shakti are brought to their ruler, Procellus. Awen and Shakti learn that Zeels believe them to be the Wing and the Claw, manifestations of a prophecy of the Lore (Zeel mythology). They are a critical part of Procellus’ plan to transform Meri Maat into a police state theocracy. Procellus forces Awen to imbibe herbs that put him in an altered state where he journeys to a land of the dead to retrieve an evil spirit that Procellus believes will help him conquer Meri Maat. 

Awen and Shakti’s only hope of escape is if Shakti can turn Jagr, the Zeel who first stole them, against Procellus. Yet Jagr has already forsaken his Beloved to follow Procellus’ Lore so how can Shakti overcome Jagr’s blind devotion? Will Awen and Shakti survive to escape their prison tower in the bleak Zeel capital of Flight’s End? Will they find a way to reunite Zeels and the other Meri Maat peoples? Will they be able to return to Earth? 

Much depends upon Awen’s and Shakti’s overcoming their deep differences and honing the powers they’ve discovered they possess, powers that work best in tandem. As they traverse bizarre and beleaguered lands, singing and surfing to connect with the people, their biggest challenge may be to connect with each other. A world may depend upon whether they succeed.