Agenda 22 copyright 2020 Octavio Claudio Salazar Rhodes
“As the world gets hits by catastrophe, these are the stories that help make sense of this whole confusion and save civilizations.”
"A new star-powered anthology series readers and critics have agreed as ‘Lord of the Rings’ meets ‘Wizard of Oz’ — meets ‘Dumb and Dumber.’"
"Wow- I can't think of anything that's timed more weird than your books! When we talked about them at R.R., I had been interpreting the apocalyptic setting in relation to the eco-apocalypse that might be right around the corner for us, but really, it was...." -- Annie V, Millbury Ma
Audio chapter samples for “Adventures in the Boring Realms” now available to listen to!!
Click here for more details.
A Note from the Author; April 2020 (click here)
What do you do when it feels like every time you try to think positively...two negative thoughts get in the way? When other people’s choices rob you of the ideal -- or when society doesn’t reward you economically with gifts you think the universe gave you…and the world’s about to end at the same time?
These are the questions that keep Dixie Dogg and Chilley-Sue Abnignale -- two ‘slackers’ cursed with dork names and dork prospects -- up at night in their homesteads in the Boring Realms. There in the city of Cankankerville they remain: preparing for a better future by studying and getting in massive indentured servitude as everyone pressures them to do the ‘right thing’. But trying to follow the social mores in a world gone mad isn’t easy. Soon they begin to feel the craziness themselves – until the puzzle pieces start to come together and they find out what is really going on – but nothing prepares them for the truth.
When the Mayan Cycles of Time become a threat in a way no one could have foreseen, Dixie and Chilley-Sue are thrown into a life of purpose that they always wished for -- but are they in over their heads?
Join Dixie and Chilley-Sue as they attempt to make sense of everything in Book I Adventurers in the Boring Realms – and in subsequent volumes: the truth behind what human potential is really all about.
Agenda 22 is an anthology series that follows their odyssey through the darkened worlds they encounter as they realize what’s pulling the strings behind all the wacked-out activity that’s ever effected the peaceful mundanity of the Boring Realms -- and learning that truth is only the tip of the iceberg. Soon things like superhuman ability, secret societies, and skydiving spiders do not seem so weird anymore – and solutions to the age-old problems of health, wellness, and real estate falls within grasp --- if they can only find a way to save the world from the time cycles. Are they heroes the general public could look up to? Or are they just slackers considered as such by a rat race ironically driving itself into oblivion?
Follow their adventures as well as those of their allies they befriend along the way in all the volumes of Agenda 22 where they take the ultimate test of stamina for a human being: trying to save a world that doesn't care about them at the same time...
My Bio and other notes..
I am a writer and (I guess) philosopher who appreciates epic fantasy, sci-fi, and other genres of literature. I started the draft for the first book (Adventures in the Boring Realms) a few years ago and as the story kept growing organically in my head I reformatted it into a continuous narrative that kept growing and growing -- until this monstrosity of an anthology series called Agenda 22 came to life on its own . Before organizing Agenda 22 I had written and published a companion book called The Boatyard which can be read and is available online here on this site and at www.theboatyardnovel.com.
I've also self-published a volume series of physics comic books and educational game material that blends gaming with learning STEM education with amazing results for students. In my spare time, I love creating innovative ways of simplifying the learning of these STEM subjects so that anyone from any walk of life has a fighting chance of enriching their life on this planet through mastery of physics.
What Agenda 22 is all about
Genre: is an existential opus of sci-fi fantasy-drama with a little dark comedy thrown in.
Ages: 16 and up.
Agenda 22 is best described as a profound epic offering escapist sci-fi fantasy while making sense of mysteries of life at the same time. Like a good tale that is brutally relatable, it also blends dark comedy and drama while it tackles the timeless quest of the hero's journey in most of us. It has a blend so unique it has been described by critics as a thinking person's novella that is a fusion of "Lord of the Rings' meets 'Wizard of Oz' meets 'Dumb and Dumber'.
Inspired by a world where the masses get conditioned by those in power to follow social mores that are based on half-truth and illusion -- well, that and watching the news too long -- I realized there's alot of therapeutic benefit in writing a story that analyzes how the world could go to pot in these confusing times. What first became a world-wearying burden by trying to keep up with current events became a restorative getaway by creating a beautiful series of worlds, circumstances, and hope from these trying times that is this swell narrative. With current events being what they are, it is a tale that explores what reality really is when the scales are removed out of the human eyes.
In short, it's a labor of love I've been working on since the Obama administration that I'm especially excited about.
Target Audience
Fans of alternative fiction/ existential sci-fi fantasy adventure (16 and up); anyone curious about how the mechanics of life works, anyone lost, or who just loves mindless good storytelling (if they skip the details
parts in the narratives) with lots of cool monsters, fantasies, explosions and special effects in the head. This
work is written for anyone who still want a sense of humor while tackling the metaphysical issues dealing
with waking life.
Favorite tag lines in the book:
"The exit out is not always linear. It goes diagonal sometimes -- or hyper-dimensional... getting ahead in life as solely being defined by a linear material direction is a human made construct… it’s an unending loop until one realizes the true direction is virtue…”
--‘Wise’ Rae Susan
Hype is cheap and so is talk
Is any of it good? Who cares what I think? Beta readers have loved the story. Critics too. Read it or if listen to someone you love read it aloud to you during special moments -- and together share in intimate and existential discussion on human consciousness, spirituality, and the limits of empirical methods of experimentation to describe reality. while following the blockhead adventures of Dixie and Chilley-Sue!
Whether you get out of it a cautionary tale of power run a muck in hyper-dimensional space or good ol' fashion doomsday fear-mongering genre-style comedy, you may get a kick out of the way it reads. As surreal as the story may be, it's got features that I realize might brand it as it's own style of literature that to be quite honest I'm kind of proud of:
1) 'Re-read' feature embedded in the literature: the secrets to the soul is in the details. I've always wanted to read bonus material on novels I've gotten into. So with that in mind, every book in Agenda 22 has the 'director's cut' feature: feel free to read the narrative accordingly by 'skipping ahead' -- or for those craving for more subplots, go deeper down the rabbit hole as you get more detail for your buck!
2) 'Choose your own fate' feature: could you do any better than our two protagonists as they try to save the world from time cycles? Pick the best choice. In the last three volumes, try to pick the best path possible to do this in within the matrix of the universe. The laws of physics allows it, why can't books?
Action! Adventure! Giants! Villains! Monsters! Disaster! Torture! Shot-Callers! Insanity! Felony! Fanaticism! Chases! Trauma! Hope! Victory! Stoicism! String-Theory! Get caught up in epic odyssey as hero's try to tame the sentient world from the the transgressions of the wayward and reprobate -- can they unlock the master-keys needed to restore history's timelines to harmony? Get your copies of all available volumes of Agenda 22 and other merchandise below!
Online Store
We're a small operation (1 man; just the author) and I check the store every 4 days, so please allow an extra 4 days for delivery times on top of COV 19 delay times straight from the manufacturer. In the meantime, say hi, introduce yourself and talk shop while you wait for your orders [see 'contact me' below]!
Contact Me