Sometimes, we're forced into situations for which we’re not ready. Sometimes, we have to take on responsibilities we want no part of. Sometimes, our world comes crashing down all around us and we have decisions to make, but few clear options for what to do or whom to trust. It’s in those moments when we truly discover who we are.

In The Lineage, that’s what faces Wes Aettian, a young man who suddenly finds himself succeeding his father as King of a once-free but now conquered people and leader of an underground resistance. He must overcome his insecurities and make decisions he’s not prepared to make, ordering people into danger and putting lives at risk. He has to deal with a stinging betrayal that puts him and the resistance in terrible danger. Worse, he’s faced with more than overwhelming odds, but an evil he never imagined possible, even in his worst nightmares. 

To defeat this frightening enemy and lead his people back to freedom, he must learn that above skill, courage, and strategy, the key to victory is faith.

The Lineage is a unique tale in that it combines the hallmarks of a military-based science fiction thriller with elements of fantasy and religious faith, and while the setting is alien it is reflective of our own world and our own battles.

Wes Aettian never wanted, nor expected, to be King of Cassia. Not once in his 19 years had he even thought about it; that duty always fell to the firstborn son. Or so he thought.

Of course, he also never expected his country to be invaded, his family to be forced into hiding for a year, or his father to die before he could explain all the secrets he had kept from his son – plans for resistance made even before the war began, the origin of his family's bloodline, and the role it plays in the universal battle between good and evil. The only thing his father left him was a simple metal ring too large for his thumb: a constant reminder of how big were the shoes he had to fill and how small it made him feel.

Cassia's conquerors – the Naborn – are a people who've been tempted and swayed countless times throughout history by various promises of power, always leading to their ruin. This time, they are led by Kyrit Sha'ad, a man possessing powers Wes never even imagined possible. Inhuman powers. Worse, unlike any who came before him, Sha'ad knows the source of Aettian blood and will gladly kill everyone on the planet as long as it meant the end of that bloodline.

In the end, The Lineage is a story about the enlightening power of unreserved faith when faced with even the blackest of darkness. With stakes as high as the fate of an entire planet in the balance with consequences that could reach across galaxies, Wes must quickly grow into the man he's not ready to be. Because King he is, unprepared, unsure, and suddenly in command of a web of resistance cells and thousands of soldiers looking to him to lead the way back to freedom.

If only he knew how. 

Dale Martin is a copywriter by trade and has owned his own creative advertising agency since 1989. After 30+ years of writing thousands of brochures, print ads, web articles, and radio and TV commercials, Dale has turned to his true passion — writing and telling stories. His goal now is to approach the business of novel writing with the same enthusiasm that led him to start his own agency at the ripe old age of just 27. He wants to tell stories that entertain people, excite them along the way, make them think, and hopefully — in the end — inspire them, if even just a little.

Dale currently lives in a suburb of St. Louis, MO with his wife. They have one adult son who shares his father's passion for writing and is striving to be a published author himself.