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I Knitted Together The World
Long Leg: Book II centers around a Gifted burrowing owl who is tasked with delivering the earth elemental Okaraxta’s desperate message to the Guardian Spirit. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I drew inspiration from one of the stories in my first book, Stories, Legends, and Truths from the Blighted Earth. In that collection of stories, I knitted together the world of the Blighted Earth, covering everything from origin stories to the Blighted Earth’s ‘rules’ and operating concepts to character hierarchies, abilities, and roles. In ‘Last Bastian,’ I tell the story of a Praestean snowshoe hare who serves the Tree Spirit, Quoia; an Earth Elemental whose protectorate encompasses the giant redwood forests in the Sierra Nevada range. In addition to telling Bastian’s story, the purpose was also to educate readers on the Keeper animal’s role and responsibilities as well as the species’ history and lore. I loved writing that story and wanted to ensure one of the series’ main story arcs involved a Praestean as the main character. I wanted to pair this idea with the drama of an unlikely hero being pressed into unconventional service with the fate of the Natural Order on their shoulders. The setting of a second ‘Dust Bowl’ was a no-brainer. In real life, much of the region where Long Leg takes place has been suffering from extended drought and water mismanagement. Furious winds amplified and directed by Corrupted sentients easily turned an environment on the precipice into an ecological catastrophe. With Okaraxta inexorably connected to his meta-environment, he would suffer as the lands and all its life suffer.
Regarding how I arrived at a burrowing owl for Okaraxta’s Praestean, you are probably thinking: Why not a raptor or a wolf? The final choice was the product of both a Keeper ‘selection criteria’ and where the story was taking place. A Keeper must be a native species of the region encompassing the master elemental’s meta’en. Okaraxta presides over the prairies and high plains of the Midwest. Since the purpose of the Keeper animal is to return their elemental’s spirit essence to the Lifestream in the event of their death, they must be a faster species with excellent evasion skills. Finally, since much of the Long Leg story takes place underground, I also wanted an interesting ‘burrowing’ species, and a burrowing owl fit the part perfectly. In fact, the underground aspects of the story also drove the species types of Long Leg’s companions: Khúta, a prairie dog, and Augee, a mole.
How much of the ecological crisis depicted in the book was inspired by real-world environmental challenges?
Sadly, all of it. I have and continue to conduct a lot of research on the impacts of climate change, including the effects of human mismanagement and overconsumption of natural resources. Additionally, I have done quite a bit of research on underlying factors, such as human communities and agricultural practices which are unsustainable and lead to natural habitat loss. Examples include building large metropolitan populations in deserts or growing water-intensive crops in areas prone to extended droughts. The Guardian Spirit, Ithilbor Moonfist, and his struggles with the ravenous wildfires driven by Sentient Wind and Fire in the West illustrate how these real-world challenges are incorporated into the story. That region has been experiencing forest mismanagement and water overconsumption for decades. When you combine that with extended drought and more powerful storms induced by climate change, it is essentially a giant tinder waiting for a match. This is why wildfires are growing bigger, hotter, and more destructive each year while the resources to fight them are dwindling. When I add the Corrupted Formless of wind and fire into the volatile mix, the ecological catastrophe is as inevitable as it is unstoppable.
This level of understanding is an imperative for my writing, because environmental challenges and their impacts are far more than just a backdrop in a world where the Earth is a sentient being and all living things—all Her children—are connected.
Which aspect of the novel was the most difficult to write?
I would have to say the touchpoints on the series’ throughline story arcs were the toughest. These would include Eros and the Mothmen as their role continues to build toward the epic conclusion of the series. There are a ton of technical details that must be thought through and fleshed out when writing about a race of godlike, planet-consuming aliens who exist in the Dark Matter Realm. Also included among these check-ins is Arden, Parim, and STEM’s arc; all of whom are destined to play important roles in the books yet to come. The ‘Interlogue’ chapter, entitled “The Quakening,” was particularly emotional and difficult to write. It ended up being a reflective literary construct for me to process my feelings about the unconscionable things going on in the world: the needless conflicts leading to unnecessary suffering and loss of life; the growing incivility and division in our society; the spread of violent extremism and political violence; etc.
What can we look forward to seeing in the next installment of The Blighted Earth Series?
Oh, it’s going to be fun. The third installment of the series, entitled Fire Moon over the Blighted Earth, picks up where Long Leg left off with some unbelievable twists and turns adding to a suspenseful plot. Some great new protagonists and diabolical antagonists will be thrown into the mix with enduring characters. Readers will gain far more insight into the Corruption process and how nonhuman agents are created to fill the ranks of Chaos’s army. Additionally, there will be further development in the throughline arcs involving Arden, Parim, and STEM as well as those of Eros and the other Mothmen. I am also trying to enlist my twin brother, Vince, to assist with illustrating the novel. Teaming up to make it a family affair will add more visual depth and richness to the book that readers will certainly enjoy.
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Nilch’i, Chaos’s powerful wind sentient, has unleashed a new, more destructive incarnation of the 1930s Dust Bowl across the northern prairies. But the elemental Okaraxta holds a secret that could turn the tide back in favor of the Natural Order. Weakened by the desiccating conditions, Okaraxta reluctantly sends his Keeper animal, Long Leg, on a desperate mission to deliver this vital message to North America’s Guardian Spirit.
Book Two of the Blighted Earth series reshapes our understanding of existence, blending ancient myths and traditional lore with the voices of supernatural beings whose origins trace back to a sentient Earth. You’ll find yourself rooting for the underdog—prairie-born and feathered or furred—as they race to save the world.
In Long Leg by R.M. Tembreull, our world is reimagined as one where all life is connected and our immortal souls pass through many forms. As Earth’s fragile balance teeters on the edge, one creature’s journey reminds us of our place—and our duty—in the great biome of existence.
Long Leg: From the Blighted Earth: Book II
R.M. Tembreull’s Long Leg: From the Blighted Earth: Book II is an ambitious work of environmental fantasy that blends mythic adventure, eco-fiction, and climate fiction into a sweeping speculative tale. Set in a damaged world where the Natural Order struggles against Chaos and the Force Corrupted, the novel moves north into the Great Plains and centers its conflict on drought, water, ecological collapse, and the fragile bonds that connect all living things. It’s a book with large stakes, but its emotional pull comes from small, unlikely heroes carrying the fate of the world on their shoulders.
At the heart of the story is Long Leg, a Gifted burrowing owl whose loyalty to the earth elemental Okaraxta gives the novel both intimacy and purpose. Through Long Leg’s journey, Tembreull turns animals, elementals, fungi, water, wind, and land into active participants in an ongoing struggle for balance. The result is a richly imagined mythic fantasy world where the natural world isn’t just scenery; it’s alive, wounded, watchful, and capable of resistance. The book’s use of Lakota-inspired themes, especially the idea that all beings are related, gives the story a spiritual framework that feels central to its identity.
The novel’s strongest quality is its sense of scale. Tembreull writes with the scope of epic fantasy while grounding the story in recognizable environmental concerns: drought, wildfire, overuse of water, disappearing habitats, and humanity’s troubled relationship with the planet. Water becomes both a sacred presence and a force of renewal, which gives the adventure a clear emotional and thematic current. The prose is often expansive and philosophical, but that style suits a story designed to feel like a legend, a warning, and a quest all at once.
Readers who enjoyed Richard Adams’s Watership Down may find a familiar appeal here: animal protagonists move through a dangerous world shaped by forces larger than themselves, and their courage matters because they’re vulnerable. Tembreull’s book is more overtly supernatural and environmental in its focus, but it shares that sense of small creatures becoming central to a vast struggle. The journey also carries the feel of an eco-fantasy quest, where survival depends not on domination, but on cooperation, memory, sacrifice, and respect for the living world.
Long Leg is a thoughtful and imaginative speculative fiction novel for readers who appreciate mythic worldbuilding, animal-centered adventure, and environmental themes woven into epic fantasy. It’s not simply a story about a broken world; it’s a story about connection, responsibility, and the possibility of restoration. Tembreull delivers a distinctive continuation of the Blighted Earth series, one that invites readers to care deeply about the smallest beings and to see the natural world as a powerful, sacred community.
Pages: 338 | ASIN : B0GVPT5DMM
