Brief

Calexio is condemned to the city prison of Sacramento, where a Roman-inspired death cult, cannibal Vikings, and a paranoid mafia syndicate vie for dominance. Partnering with a lethal, capable female assassin, Calexio must unite the factions in order to bring about an end to the ongoing, bloody conflict.

What We Liked

What stands out about this work is the vivid and terrifying world. Not only is it visually memorable and interesting, but it provides an opportune sandbox for its diverse characters to battle it out. Thanks to this world-building, this work has potential to rival Game of Thrones for its visceral bloodshed and high stakes.

Film: This would be viable for adaptation to film given the high-stakes, unforgettable imagery, and center-focus conflicts that fill its pages. There will be no shortage of popcorn moments, and the epic scale will lend itself well to the big screen.

TV: This would be a good adaptation for TV as the longer format would provide ample room to fully develop and showcase the location of the Ward. In fact, this is a work with many characters and intricate interpersonal dynamics that would almost require this longer-term format to fully breathe.

Key points:
1. The location-- A well-built-out and visually memorable world.
2. Calexio-- Memorable for his complex psychology and sympathy.
3. Vioson-- A lethal, capable, and equally sympathetic spirit.
4. The Leviathan-- An absolutely towering and terrifying villain.
5. The Breedless-- Presenting many opportunities for action and thrills.

Synopsis

Malnourished prisoner TANGO PRIMARY FIVE is escorted across a frigid wasteland by a troop of militaristic figures, led by the callous Half-Jaw. The American Empire has long been fallen, and what remains is an ashen wasteland under watch of a new regime. Half-Jaw abuses Tango, pushing him to the bring of suicide. However, they soon reach their destination-- The Ward, the remnants of the city-state of Sacramento that has been converted into an enormous prison. Tango is thrown in and left for dead. He weakly wanders into a posse's camp at night, and they beat him mercilessly for it. Tango curses the name of the "Heaven Queen," and he is soon assisted by the friendly priest, FATHER CAVAN, who takes him to a large church to recover. Before long, a small gang, led by the sneering THOMAS, comes to collect dues from the church. Thomas sizes Tango up, curious about the newcomer, and invites him to visit the "Avalon Company." Tango heads to a club to visit the Avalon Company, intercepted by the formidable company leader GODFATHER ADELMO. After some prying into Tango's past, Adelmo admits him into the Company. Time passes, and Tango finds himself on a trek to link up with an allied military leader named JORDI. Avalon Company is at war with a coven called the BREEDLESS, more dead than alive. Soon, an onslaught emerges and attacks the men, and a bloody battle unfolds. Soon, Tango and the surviving men must flee, throwing molotov cocktails behind them. To Tango's utter delight, he is pulled away from the troop and tasked with a courier job. Tango soon heads into the wasteland alone, set to link up with a messenger. However, when he arrives, he finds himself surrounded by troops that have aligned with the ferocious Breedless. Tango struggles to escape before he is kicked and incapacitated.

We meet a manic, female, child-like figure called THE ANGEL OF DEATH as she witnesses frantic deliberations of a religious-minded congress. Soon, Tango snaps awake in an infirmary with Jordi at his side. Jordi updates him on what must have transpired and gives him an undesirable assignment. Soon enough, though, Tango is called into action with Avalon Company, following a battalion of flamethrower troops led by Jordi. A chaotic battle ensues with the Breedless and Tango's troop-- an insane blaze surrounding Tango in the battle. The Angel of Death ventures out and crosses paths with Tango in the battle. She pleads with him, calling him by his true name CALEXIO and making known her true name VIOSON. They have a past together, evidently, from before the Ward. As the battle's structure continues to devolve, she leads him to safety, away from the battle. Alone, the two recover, with Vioson noting why Calexio was hunted and condemned to the Ward by the oppressive overlord government. Vioson introduces Calexio to her secret society, THE NIGHTINGALES, a group of lethal, female assassins operating under a formidable, authoritarian called the MATRIARCH, 50s. Jordi is in cahoots with this union, too, which exists, seemingly to bring about an end to the raging conflicts within the Ward. Calexio is defiant and disagreeable in his first encounters, but Vioson has plans for him...

Vioson gifts Calexio a prized katana that suits Calexio's tastes. However, he finds himself a prisoner of sorts within the Nightingales' compound, unenthused to participate. Soon, Vioson pleads with him, encouraging him to open up and to more decisively align with her. She is operating on her own agenda, despite being aligned with the Nightingales herself. Before long, the Matriarch sends Calexio off to battle against the Legion alongside Avalon Company allies. It's incumbent upon Calexio to be an informer for the Matriarch and co., too. During the battle, Calexio and co. are addressed by Vioson, who appears to be fulfilling the role of the wife of a warlord called TALON. Calexio grows jealous that Talon might be sleeping with Vioson. She gives her adversaries many chances to surrender, but she is forced to engage them in battle before long. A vicious conflict ensues again, Molotov cocktails splashing all around. The Matriarch peppers him with questions when he returns to the Nightingales' dwellings, while his anxiety begins to overwhelm him. Vioson returns, and she and Calexio regroup. Calexio frets about Adelmo's growing influence and bloodthirst-- His tactics apparently veer more and more toward the Breedless' style. Meanwile, Vioson recovers from having to murder her own Nightingales while undercover with Talon, who was targeted by the assassins. The two become more wary about a possibility for peace and more desperate and inclined to cultivate an opportunity for it. Vioson proposes a plan to unite the "Unaffiliated Townships," with hopes that such a unity would yield the tribes of the Breedless, Legion, and Avalon Company to take them seriously.

Months pass, with Calexio laboring to unite the Unaffiliated Townships. All the while, violent conflict rages on between the different factions, with the Legion growing in strength. Soon, a head honcho is summoned as leader of the Legion-- THE LEVIATHAN, a 7-foot-tall being, more beast than man, described often with the pronoun "it." The Leviathan levels an attack on Vioson, making her choke and struggle to breathe. She flounders in the alleyways, desperate, when Calexio emerges, coming to her aid. However, Calexio is soon attacked by an assassin, drugged by a mysterious concoction. The assassin has no memory, and it becomes clear she was mobilized on behalf of others. Vioson frets for the future of her world, given that Calexio is writhing and may not survive the night. Days pass, and Calexio shows little improvement. Vioson is chastised by the Matriarch for her bond and fixation with Calexio. Begrudgingly, Vioson follows orders to approach Adelmo on behalf of the Nightingales, seeking to influence his decision-making as leader of Avalon Company. While she is not supposed to kill him, Vioson is overcome by her distaste for the foul, sex-minded man, and she tackles him out of the window of his office. They fall 10 stories, but they are saved by a net and a dumpster below. Adelmo is maimed but survives, while Vioson flees into the streets, dreaming of a future with Calexio outside of the Ward.

Soon, Calexio recovers and makes progress uniting the Unaffiliated Townships. Believe it or not, conflict has paused in the Ward, thanks to a shaky ceasefire. Ahead of a looming congress with the leaders of all of the different factions, Calexio and Vioson have a heart-to-heart, with Calexio thanking her for her unwavering support, crediting her with helping him persevere in the face of the suicidal thoughts that have plagued him. Soon, the inter-faction roundtable arrives, and the meeting begins, with the shared goal being to achieve peace in the Ward. Godfather Adelmo arrives late and graces the roundtable with his usual abrasiveness-- He and Avalon Company are the shakiest part of the ceasefire. However, soon the Leviathan enters the chamber, having assumed control of the legion from the late Liege Talon. The Leviathan vows war against Vioson and the Nightingales, committed to peaceful rule of a just few select factions by way of an intensive, bloody conflict. It proclaims a special interest in Calexio and storms right at him, seizing and incapacitating him. As Calexio's body is dragged away, Vioson engages the Leviathan in battle, but she is soon overwhelmed and separated in the chaos. As the chamber is devoured by flames, Vioson vows bloody retribution.

About The Author

Kyle Waller was born on September 24th, 1994 in Fairfield, California where he grew up in a world that was ever sun-drenched with occasional odd spells of rain and autumn winds. A survivor of severe depression and attempted suicide, Kyle, in time, realized that mental illness was something that could be overcome, but he was one man, and there's a whole world out there that has to contend with their own forms of mental illness. Others were struggling, and the possibility of freedom from mental illness shouldn't be something that was just for him. Kyle set about erasing the stigma and bringing awareness surrounding mental illness to the masses via the unorthodox method of vivid and engaging dystopian fiction. Kyle is also the recipient of the President's Call to Service Award from former President Obama and two awards from the 114th United States Congress for several years of National Service in response to major disasters such as Hurricanes Irma and Maria and the California Wildfires.