The Topographic Age
In the 30,000 years since the first migration from their ancestral homeland, the technologically advanced people known as Topographers have travelled to every part of the world and established great cities to house and protect their accumulated knowledge. But in that time they have become isolated, unwilling to share their skills with the thriving populations that have built up around them. In this world, lost topographers will lead a precarious existence while feral mercenaries and ancient gods struggle to survive in a world of extremes.
On this page you will find a guide to the science fiction and fantasy works of J C Rolls. These include one novel and two short stories, all of which take place during the Topographic Age. Below you will find links to the short stories and to a sample chapter from the novel.
The Bears
Of Abarask
The Living Goddess of Manastra
Click above to read a sample chapter from the novel, Jovi: The Lost Topographer
Jovi is the ten-year-old daughter of
the Chief Topographer of the city of Ezima, which, at the start of
the novel, is in the process of being sacked by the army of the
self-styled prophet Niseah. Wrenched from her sheltered
existence, Jovi finds refuge with the peoples that her own society
has left behind. Relentlessly pursued, exploited and
betrayed, the young Topographer must uncover the secrets of her
civilization in a conflict where she alone holds the key to its
ultimate survival or destruction.
This is a 92 thousand word adventure suitable for a Young Adult readership. Artwork by Sean Cocklin.
Click above to be taken to the short story, The Living Goddess of Manastra.
For Ochia, life as a sixteen-year-old girl in a remote mountain castle is hard enough, but being a living goddess whose feet must never be allowed to touch the ground can make things extremely complicated indeed.
Part light-hearted romance, part martial arts thriller, this short story is suitable for a young adult audience.