Imagine flying dragons circling overhead and wooly mammoths and giant sloths crossing a glacier-laden, prehistoric landscape they share with elves, goblins and other mythical beings – all with the Organ Mountains as a backdrop.
With a love of fantasy and a background in science, that is exactly what author and former Las Cruces resident Steve Richardson has created in his new novel, “Magic of the Ice Age: Journey to America’s Lost Faerie World.”
Co-written with Kristin Johnson, the 386-page book features artwork by renowned artist Justin Gerard, including color maps of the kingdoms of the Ogres, the Sivarenth and Lakshadaweep Elves, Blackborg Orgs, Ice Goblins, Hill Giants, Mawdra Dwarves and Lahontan Witches.
The “magic journey” extends back in time nearly 20,000 years, after a Las Cruces High School student and her younger brother discover a “mysterious door” to the past and unimaginable adventure in a hidden cave in Dripping Springs Natural Area in the Organ Mountains.
“I wanted people to just really imagine what it was like,” said Richardson, who grew up in Las Cruces and now lives in Albuquerque.
He wants readers to be completely absorbed in the book, “like in a movie,” Richardson said. “You have to be evocative – take people into your brain and let them see what you’re seeing.”
“Magic of the Ice Age” combines hard science with fantasy, as Richardson made extensive use of the geology degree he earned from New Mexico State University in his research and writing.
“I made a real effort to keep it pretty accurate,” said Richardson, who studied U.S. Geological Survey maps of the Western Hemisphere as he wrote the book, and visited many of the places he writes about. He also did of lot of hiking in the Organ Mountains as a kid with his father, the late NMSU chemistry professor Albert E. Richardson.
In fact, the book is dedicated to – among other family members, friends and teachers – Richardson’s father and his mother, Shirley, who was a counselor at NMSU. His sister, Anne Richardson, is well known to Las Cruces audiences for her many past performances in NMSU theatre productions.
With his love of science, and having “read a lot of fantasy as a kid” – J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” and the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis are among his favorites – “I slowly melded the two together,” Richardson said, and “Magic of the Ice Age” was born.
In the book, “Feleena Ochoa, a teenage cowgirl and amateur scientist, and her fantasy-loving younger brother, Jack … find themselves on a high-stakes quest to halt a war and discover a way to return home to their own time,” according to the book’s back cover.
Gerard, based in Atlanta, Ga., has provided illustrations for Disney, DreamWorks, Warner Brothers and multiple book publishers, according to ArtStation.com. Johnson, who lives in Palm Springs, Calif., is an author, screenwriter, editor and ghostwriter, according to KristinJohnson.net.
“Magic of the Ice Age” is Richardson’s seventh book. His retelling of Clement Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas” features animals as all the characters in the book, including a polar bear Santa Claus. Richardson has also written “Alexander Trout’s Amazing Adventure,” “Lavender Blue and the Faeries of Galtee Wood,” “Paisley Rabbit and the Treehouse Contest,” “Billy’s Mountain” and “Canlandia.”
His books, each including original artwork, are available at COAS Bookstores in Las Cruces and on amazon.com and SteveRichardsonAuthor.com. The books are published by Richardson’s Impossible Dreams Publishing Company in Albuquerque.
