The Seedbearers was Peter Valentine Timlett’s first novel. The “About the Author” section at the back states that the book was “prompted by by his interest in the occult.” That much seems clear enough after a read through.
The story begins in a sort of proto-grim dark fashion. Timlett leaned into both the grim and the dark; very dark. But after that opening chapter, the tale shifts to world building, politics, intrigue, in-fighting, corruption, and murder. At the same time, Timlett’s occult interests appear clearly. He devotes vast swathes of the narrative to describing his cosmology, his “inner planes”, astral projection, carefully delineated ritual (and sexual) magic, philosophy, along with nods to the occult and Theosophy.
Ostensibly Seedbearers is an Atlantis novel. But it is a wholly original one. Timlett’s Atlantis is populated by Toltecs, Akkadians, and a cannibalistic African tribe of uncertain provenance. He carefully establishes the relations among the three, societal organization, history, and projected cataclysmic future.
The pace picks back up during the final act, returning somewhat to the grim dark beginning, at least in terms of sheer explicit violence. The reader is carried careening through the last fifty pages or so, like running downhill.
There is a definite 1970’s period feel to it. I can almost imagine Leonard Nimoy narrating parts of it as voiceover to an episode of “In Search Of.” If that sounds like criticism, it isn’t intended to be. The 70s vibe is a feature, not a bug. I like this one and appreciate the effort put into creating the cohesive vision.
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