“Dark Ascendance,” a-new dramatic audio series from Michael James Wright, follows a marine returning from the Iraq war. He is being plagued by vicious nightmares in which he and his friends are killed at an archaeological site in Washington State related to one he found in Iraq, and he finds himself resurrected thousands of years in the future. Earth is gone and mankind has spread amongst the stars, and he discovers that he is now immortal, can see glimpses of the future and the past. Eventually he discovers a prophecy that he must unite mankind and prevent an ancient Babylonian god from erasing the universe.

The universe of “Dark Ascendance” has been in development for over ten years, but it took Wright roughly two years to write the final chapter, bringing the story to completion in March of this year. Wright set out to look for the kind of medium that could do the story justice and decided on podcasting because of its ability to reach a wider audience than hard copies and the struggle with publishing houses and literary agents could give it. And, given the success of authors such as Corey Doctorow, Scott Sigler and JC Hutchins, Michael realized it would be foolish for him not to do the same.

The full production of “Dark Ascendance” will be released December 25, 2007, but, thanks to Michael, we have an exclusive ‘first-listen’ for our fans. This early draft of the entire first chapter is an interesting look into what looks to be another exciting dramatic sci-fi podcast that is bound to set all listener’s imaginations ablaze.

Sit back and enjoy this preview of Chapter One of “Dark Ascendance,” from Michael James Wright.