Birth of an Age

Lore & Background

Birth of an Age begins after the China-India-Pakistan War, with the world still grieving. Christopher Goodman, the Alternate member of the UN Security Council for the European States, assumes Primary membership. The UN provides aid to survivors. Two leaders of the Koum Damar Patar cult, Saul Cohen and John Roberts, prophesy plagues; only Christopher and his advisors Decker Hawthorne and Robert Milner acknowledge them. The plagues arrive, and Cohen and Roberts become despised as harbingers of destruction.

Reader's Guide

The novel depicts three asteroids: one is partially deflected but causes massive damage from Alaska to Brazil, siphoning ozone and causing famine; a second strikes the Philippine Basin, turning the Pacific red with rust; a third is obliterated, spreading arsenic that poisons water supplies. Locust-like creatures then appear, injecting a painful neurotoxin for five months. Christopher Goodman, discovering he has healing powers, soothes victims and becomes popular, eventually nominated for UN Secretary General. He is assassinated by Tom Donafin during his acceptance speech. Three days later, at his funeral, Robert Milner touches the coffin and Christopher is resurrected, claiming to have gained the full memory of Jesus Christ. He explains that Yahweh is a member of an evolved species called Theatans, and that humanity is on the brink of a similar evolutionary step into spirit. Yahweh, unwilling to lose human worship, has sent the plagues. Christopher, Milner, and Decker travel to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, kill Cohen and John, desecrate the altar, and throw the Ark of the Covenant's contents from the roof. Christopher proclaims himself the Second Coming of Christ, the Jewish Messiah, and Muhammad al-Mahdi, among other prophesied figures. Light beings surround the temple, and Christopher leaps from the roof, suspended in mid-air, proclaiming 'Behold the Hosts of Heaven.'

Did You Know?

• The novel uses footnotes from the Bible and other sources to ensure scientific accuracy in depicting fictional events.
• The first asteroid's passage siphons off a huge amount of ozone, allowing ultraviolet rays to destroy crops and cause worldwide famine.
• Christopher Goodman is resurrected three days after his assassination, at his own funeral.
• The novel reinterprets Yahweh as a member of a species called Theatans who took a final evolutionary step to become a Godhead.

The Plague Sequence and Cosmic Catastrophe

The book's central narrative engine is the unfolding of the Trumpet Judgements foretold in the Book of Revelation, interwoven with prophetic material drawn from the Book of Daniel. Following the devastation of the China-India-Pakistan War, the world confronts three asteroid threats in rapid succession. The UN's decision to launch nuclear missiles at the first asteroid inadvertently shifts the other two onto collision trajectories. The first skims Earth's atmosphere almost parallel to the ground, carving a path of destruction from Northern Alaska in a southeastern curve through Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Brazil, while siphoning vast quantities of ozone to trigger worldwide famine. The second strikes the Philippine Basin, sending iron dust throughout the Pacific and turning the ocean red with rust. The third is obliterated by the missiles, but its arsenic-laden dust poisons Earth's water supply. These cosmic plagues are followed by swarms of locust-like creatures injecting a painful neurotoxin, and then a homicidal madness sweeping from the Euphrates through the Middle East, southern Russia, Asia, eastern Africa, and southeastern Europe.

The Theatan Revelation and Evolutionary Theology

One of the book's most distinctive elements is its reimagining of the divine through an evolutionary lens. After his resurrection, Christopher Goodman reveals that Yahweh is not a god in the traditional sense but a member of a species called the Theatans. Four billion years ago, these beings existed at the same evolutionary level as humans do today. Their progress had stagnated until they discovered that the next step, the final step, was a voluntary one taken by the species as a whole. The people of Theata made this collective choice, evolving into spiritual beings capable of wonders previously only dreamed of. Eventually, one Theatan discovered a further evolutionary step, a state achievable by only a single being. This individual, named Yahweh, took that step and became a Godhead. Now, as humanity approaches its own analogous evolutionary threshold into spirit, Yahweh resists, believing that evolved humans would stand on equal footing and no longer serve him. The plagues of asteroids, locusts, and madness are thus reframed as a deliberate strategy to suppress human evolution, with worse plagues planned as time goes on.

Political Drama and the Christ Clone's Arc

The narrative is anchored in a near-future geopolitical landscape where Christopher Goodman, the Christ clone, transitions from a grieving UN Security Council alternate to a global figure of healing and then martyrdom. His assumption of the primary European seat from Albert Moore, who was responsible for the war, sets the stage for a world still reeling from the China-India-Pakistan conflict. When the plagues arrive, only Goodman and his close advisors Decker Hawthorne and Robert Milner recognize their prophetic significance, while the KDP cult leaders Saul Cohen and John the Apostle become despised harbingers blamed for the destruction. Goodman's discovery of supernatural healing powers elevates him to a UN Secretary-General nomination, but he is assassinated by Tom Donafin, Decker's old friend, during his acceptance speech. Three days later, at his funeral, Milner approaches the coffin and lays his hands on it, resurrecting Goodman and granting him the entire memory of Jesus Christ up to his death. This transformation turns him from political actor into messianic figure, culminating in his dramatic confrontation at the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, where he proclaims himself the Second Coming, the Jewish Messiah, and Muhammad al-Mahdi simultaneously.

Research Rigor and Critical Reception

What distinguishes BeauSeigneur's approach to apocalyptic fiction is his commitment to scientific and textual grounding. The book employs extensive footnotes drawing from the Bible as well as from research and analysis conducted specifically to ensure scientific accuracy in depicting fictional events such as asteroid impacts, atmospheric ozone depletion, iron dust dispersion in ocean waters, and arsenic contamination of water supplies. This methodological rigor lends a documentary weight to the fantastical, making the plagues feel plausible within their speculative framework. The critical response has recognized this intellectual ambition. Kirkus Reviews described the novel as "Astoundingly intelligent," a characterization that aligns with the book's layered approach to prophecy, evolutionary theology, and geopolitical consequence. The trilogy's consistent use of sourced footnotes across all three volumes signals an author who treats speculative fiction as a space for serious inquiry rather than mere spectacle, grounding even the most extraordinary events in verifiable scientific principles.