Fly Out of the Darkness is a real world fantasy novel about the conflict between self-sustaining Marshland communities and a cabal of merchants and ministers determined to drain their lands. In this second volume of The Marshlanders Trilogy, the young heroes of The Marshlanders (iUniverse 2010) are relentlessly pursued by their enemies. Clare, now 17, finds herself pregnant and must give birth in the northern woodlands. William, at 21, barely escapes the dread Crocodile Militia and is imprisoned and tortured by his enemies. In despair over losing Clare, he decides the enter a monastery.

Annis Pratt taught at the University of Wisconsin until, after publishing three nonfiction books, she threw her professorship out the window to write fiction. Her sailing and kayaking adventures provide her exuberantly detailed natural settings. She lives in Michigan, kayaking the Betsie River and serving as a Rouge River Steward.

Her Marshlanders are joyously sensual, seek harmony with their watery landscape, and are creatively practical, always looking for new ideas about farming, irrigation, navigating, foraging, and weaving. Their enemies are sexually violent and seek to dominate nature; they pursue technology out of greed and govern by male domination and military force.

Annis Pratt's Fly Out of the Darkness has a fast plot and is a compelling read.

Read more about the Marshland Trilogy at www.marshlanders.com and about the author and her other writings at www.annisvpratt.com