May 10, 2025 Dr. Tim Shoemaker is a haunted man in a fallen world. A trailblazing engineer renowned for his lifesaving medical devices, he is tormented by a tragedy that engulfed his soul three years before. Meanwhile, he battles to stay afloat in a ravaged America trapped within the grip of the Triantarchy, a cabal of ruthless feudal lords consolidating their power in the wake of a catastrophic economic collapse and the horrors that ensued. One day, Tim’s world is jolted by a mysterious call for help from an old friend and colleague, followed in short order by a bequest of bizarre family artifacts from his ailing, bitterly estranged uncle. As Tim wrestles with the twin conundrums, he becomes ensnared by a web of mystifying dream visions, some drawing him into an eerie and otherworldly realm, others into a canvas of memory he has long shunned. Desperate for answers, he digs deeper, only to discover a shadowy family history long consigned to the mists of oblivion, alongside nightmarish omens of an inscrutable force. What does it all mean? And can Tim discover what links the unsettling riddles… before they overwhelm him and everyone in his midst?
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From the author:
Echoes of the Mystic Chords, Book One of The Leibniz Demon Trilogy, is a high-concept genre-crosser fusing a metaphysical thriller with a cosmic dark mystery – a synthesis of the fictional tapestries and enigmas explored by the likes of the Wachowski Brothers in The Matrix, H.P. Lovecraft, William Faulkner, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and the great philosophers and spiritual thinkers from antiquity to modern times. The novel blends thought-provoking and mind-teasing elements from speculative fiction (visionary fiction and sci-fi/horror), psychological thrillers, imaginative manga/anime, and magical realism. Ultimately, however, Echoes of the Mystic Chords and the trilogy which it has spawned represent a decade-long, passionate literary effort baptized in the fires of a harrowing personal trial and the insights and epiphanies that so often, somehow, crystallize with it.
Conceived while I was battling a devastating respiratory condition, Echoes sprouted from an intriguing line of metaphysical inquiry posed by Proust a century ago: What is the essence of this evolving time machine we call “memory,” how does it shape the reality around us, and what does it imply for life, love, consciousness, and civilization in this often messy and uncertain world? From this foundation, the book’s rigorous underlying mythology was forged from the vast treasury of ideas, many untapped, by timeless philosophers such as Teilhard de Chardin, Kant, Plato, Maimonides, St. Augustine, Newton, and Vernadsky. Above all, however, the novel owes a profound debt to Leibniz, guided by both his own groundbreaking discoveries and the fertile field of innovations that have sprung from his work – from the philosophy of mind to computer science to the mind-bending notions of digital physics.
All these inspirations were distilled into a highly personal story anchored in an unsettled world in the near future. The tale unfolds over the span of a single week that unearths puzzles stretching back through shadowy eons, plunging the protagonist into a frightening landscape that nonetheless teems with the haunting, gothic beauty of a dark mystery and menace lurking somewhere unseen. The many riddles and lush atmospherics that permeate Echoes gave rise to a unique iconography with a mystical feel, enshrined in the novel’s rich stock of artwork and visual allusions. I had the good fortune of working with a talented, dedicated team to realize this artistic vision, and render all facets of the work in accordance with the highest professional standards.
Echoes is the first book in a three-volume odyssey, and it would be my pleasure to take you along on the journey.
J. Wes Ulm is an author, doctor, and medical researcher based in Southern California. He is a Jeopardy! champion, having appeared on five consecutive nights and the show’s Tournament of Champions. Dedicating his winnings to medical school, he earned an MD/PhD from Harvard University and MIT under the auspices of the Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), publishing diversely in gene therapy and pharmacology. He was awarded a research prize for work in developing new therapies for neurofibromatosis, and his current investigations pursue the causes and treatments of inherited diseases. He has written for Democracy Journal, Utne Reader, and the Vision at Harvard essay anthology, whose 2003 edition he also edited. He graduated from Duke University and T. C. Williams High School in his hometown of Alexandria, Virginia, and enjoys playing tennis, acting, and songwriting. If he could tack on a couple extra hours to the day, he’d climb with his guitar to the top of Angel Falls and sing an album of sweet songs to the world below.
