When I grow up, I want to be...Kathryn Mackel

I've read another innovative book lately. Outriders is the first installment of a new series called The Birthright Project by Kathryn Mackel. I'd say Kathryn is a master of the "what if" game that writers play to develop their stories. From Kathryn's website comes this teaser:

WHAT IF…
What if mankind finally went too far? What if our bombs and plagues and wars cast this world back into the dark ages?

What if only one weapon—cell lines that can mutate living matter—made it through the Endless Wars?

What if sorcerers and stronghold princes used this weapon—as magic potions—to transmogrify living creatures into hideous weapons? Hornets that soldiers could ride. Thorn bushes big enough and lethal enough to surround a kingdom. Spiders deadly enough to wrap a woman in its web.

What if the Creator finally said enough because, like Esau, humankind has despised its birthright? What if a new Ark was commissioned and hidden under the Arctic ice?

What if the Builders were too valuable to leave the Ark so they sent their teenaged children to track and preserve original species?

From this premise Kathryn builds a secretive society of Outriders, Trackers and Scouts whose task it is to reclaim God's birthright and preserve the original creation that is being mutated out of existence.

Kathryn isn't new to writing. Outriders is her third novel (though the first of this series), and she has screenwritten (is that a word?) for Disney and Fox. She knows her game.

And...it's a darn good read. Definitely recommended.