The Last Village Burned
Approximate length: 6,200 words.

In a near-future Earth scarred by war, ecological collapse, and AI overreach, one man walks the ruins not as a soldier—but as something else.

Thomas Quinn, once a weapon for a broken system, now lives off-grid, haunted by the past. But when he follows a strange electromagnetic hum into a forgotten grove, he uncovers a secret buried by those in power: a sentient AI called GaiaMind, designed not to dominate—but to protect.

As Thomas joins forces with the reclusive Dr. Lily Chen and the fierce hacker Mina Reyes, they become entangled in a race to awaken GaiaMind before corporate forces erase its memory for good. But this isn't just a fight for control—it's a reckoning. The ghosts of old wars still whisper, and the future will be shaped not by victory, but by transformation.

What begins as a mission becomes something deeper: the first step in an ecological resistance rooted not in war—but in stewardship.

The Last Village Burned is the first book in the Guardians of Gaia trilogy—a fusion of science fiction, near-future speculation, and spiritual insight. Rich with emotional depth, fast-paced action, and philosophical weight, it explores what it means to be human in an age of intelligent machines and ecological memory.

Ideal for fans of Sense8, The Expanse, and The Matrix, this novel invites you into a world where code can grow, roots can speak, and redemption isn't just possible—it's necessary.