Towers of Hiva

NovelFutures presents, Towers of Hiva, the debut fiction novel by Darren Swanson

Wall Street and Easter Island come crashing together in this epic and cautionary story of two lost civilizations: one perilously lost in the present and the other tragically lost in the past, each on their journey to find peace, sustainability, and resilience.

Part fact, part fiction.

You will be amazed to discover which is which.

Rookie New York derivatives trader, Alec James, has a fateful encounter with Roshanak Amari, the most beautiful woman he has never seen, knowing only her eyes from behind the enigmatic veil of the Middle East. Young, ambitious, and in love, they find themselves on opposing sides of the dark financial market that conceals Alec’s world, a market so vast and misguided it brings the entire global economy to its knees.

A millennium earlier, King Hotu Matu’a, the Great Parent, settles one of the most isolated places on earth. For centuries his family gazes toward Hiva — the land beyond — and painstakingly erects hundreds of towering statues to lead generations in becoming one of the greatest island societies of all time. That is, until they are discovered by outsiders on Easter Sunday, 1722.

Their fates come crashing together when Alec discovers an ancient wooden tablet. The lost Rongorongo script of Easter Island has a warning for the future, if only it can be deciphered in time.

In stores April 9th

Darren Swanson is an author of fiction and non-fiction books and reports about sustainable development, disaster risk reduction, and community resilience. He is a strategic foresight and risk management expert, a professional engineer, and a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School and University of Saskatchewan. When Darren’s not busy writing or working, he’s somewhere learning and exploring. He lives in Winnipeg.

praise for towers of hiva

Praise from Dr. Günther Bachmann

A fast-paced story by an unusual author. Darren Swanson advises governments and organizations all over the world on sustainability and development. His professional life is all about science, data, strategies and stakeholder engagement. After decades of successful work, he is now devoting himself to a different genre. And it pays off. Knowledge and (narrative) art skillfully come together here. The reader can expect suspense and insight.

Darren Swanson tells of very different people on different continents, at different times and with different realities of life and fates. And yet, despite all the differences, Swanson tells the ONE story in the ONE world. It is the story about how it feels in people's concrete lives when their own actions and those of their society at large lead to the brink of disaster and possibly beyond. Unwillingly, but inevitably.

Almost inevitable, because the book does not leave us in a state of gloomy alarmism... Woven into the fates of his characters, Swanson allows the hope of better alternatives to emerge. He doesn't need superpowers or mega-powers for this, just the actions of people, individually and freely.

A book for anyone who wonders what the future holds for all of us on Mother Earth: How can we live this audacious hope? How can we remain courageous even though we are vulnerable? How can we show the uncompromising empathy that is so necessary and so difficult in the face of the ugly, exaggerated "always more“ and “ever higher"? How can creed for future win over present greed? What can we find beyond the edge of the plate?

Sometimes we climb towers in order to see both the distant future and the past and to match them. Sometimes the towers themselves are the misleading element. To find out which is which, I advise to learn about the 'Towers of Hiva'.

About Günther

Fellow of Conservation International.

Speaker and adviser.

Former Secretary General of the German Government’s Sustainability Council.

Book author of How to Successfully Encourage Sustainable Development Policy: Lessons from Germany (London: Routledge, 2022)

Praise from Professor Barry Dalal-Clayton

This wonderful and compelling book elegantly weaves together two captivating tales, one set in the past, the other in today’s world. Whilst the stories are very different, they are similar in many aspects. Both are essentially about risk and resilience, making this novel a powerful metaphor for the future. It shows how the challenges we face today mirror similar ones experienced in past centuries that are captured and given focus through the story of Easter Island.

The book is a potent reminder that we should learn from the lessons of the past when planning for a sustainable future.

About Barry

Author of the Mark Weston series of environmental thrillers and numerous academic books on sustainable development.

Where to get towers of hiva

retailers and Distribution Partners

Amazon

Kobo

Apple Books

IngramSpark, Ingram Content Group

Draft2Digital

Smashwords

Barns & Noble

Baker & Taylor

Indigo - Chapters

BorrowBox

Everand

Gardners

Odilo

Palace Marketplace

Tolino

Vivlio

NovelFutures, an imprint of Novel Futures Corporation, helps aspiring and established authors of realistic fiction connect with readers interested in the world's most vexing social issues, like sustainability & resilience, existential risk and polycrisis, and peace & freedom.

In the Spirit of Truth and Reconciliation

9 April 2025

NovelFutures is excited to announce that half of the proceeds received from the sale of Darren Swanson's debut fiction novel, Towers of Hiva, will go toward supporting Indigenous sustainability & resilience initiatives on Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and around the world. May the path to truth and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples everywhere, be travelled by all.