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2026 Claymore Award Finalist Best Sci-Fi / Fantasy: The Watcher |
Driven to harness the mountain's secrets, a fire-hearted shepherdess ignites the heart of a god, unwittingly sparking a cosmic insurrection.
A mythic tale of tragic devastation sparked by one impossible love.
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At the dawn of civilization beneath the shadow of Mount Hermon, the fire-hearted healer Taliya longs for more than the provincial expectations placed upon her, drawn to the mysteries beyond her village. Samyaza, high chief of the immortal Watchers, grows increasingly isolated by the icy distance of his brethren, who do not share his burden to relieve mortal suffering, even if means bending the rules required of their sacred responsibility to preserve order within the mortal realm. Until he falls in love with one of them. When Taliya rouses him from his austere existence to the raw tenderness of the a beating human heart, he choses her fire over his cold stoic duty. As their romance intensifies, Samyaza’s colossal restraint crumbles until he abdicates his celestial post to bind himself to her. Unwittingly, he ignites a cosmic insurrection, unleashing carnage across the Copper Age Levant as bronze weaponry and savage giants—the fabled Nephilim—wreak havoc upon the earth. As unparalleled violence razes empires and corruption taints the fabric of order, Samyaza must confront the calamity his love has set in motion and the price of his choice that may cost him everything—including her. Click below to read excerpts from
The Watcher |
The Watcher: Inspired by the Levantine lore of the Dead Sea Scrolls
The Ancient Legend of the WatchersThe Watcher is a romantic, historical fantasy that reimagines the ancient legend of the Watchers from the esoteric Book of Enoch as a nuanced tale of star-crossed love, anchored in the perspective of the unnamed woman at the core of the story. This literary retelling of the Semitic text, which dates back to the 3rd century BCE, expounds upon the ancient account with complex characters and rich historical detail, drawing on the landscapes and customs of the Copper Age Levant to create an immersive work of grounded historical fantasy.
Told through the first-person voices of both immortals and mortals, the narrative invites readers to witness the humanity of celestial beings alongside the resilience and sacred vulnerability of mortals. Through these interwoven perspectives, the story draws readers into intimate struggles with forbidden desire, encroaching corruption, and the hope of redemptive love. |
"By command of the god, those who take an oath do so here." Greek inscription concerning oath-taking on the summit of Mount Hermon (Qasr Antar), 4th–5th century CE. Discovered by Sir Charles Warren; British Museum, BM 1903.0422.
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"And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied, that in those days were born to them beautiful and elegant daughters. And the Watchers, the sons of the heaven, beheld them, and they became enamored with them and were inflamed with love for them… And they were in all two hundred, who descended in the days of Jared upon the summit of Mount Hermon…
These are the names of their chiefs: Samyaza, who was their leader, Araqiel, Rameel, Kokabiel, Tamiel, Ramiel, Danel, Ezekeel, Barakiel, Azazyel, Armoni, Batariel, Ananiel, Zaqiel, Samsapeel, Satarēl, Turiel, Yomiel, Bezaliel, and Sariel."
~1 Enoch 6:1-2, 6-7
These are the names of their chiefs: Samyaza, who was their leader, Araqiel, Rameel, Kokabiel, Tamiel, Ramiel, Danel, Ezekeel, Barakiel, Azazyel, Armoni, Batariel, Ananiel, Zaqiel, Samsapeel, Satarēl, Turiel, Yomiel, Bezaliel, and Sariel."
~1 Enoch 6:1-2, 6-7