New Release
Refugium
In the last surviving forest of a shattered world, three ancient hominids stand against brutal invaders.
74,000 BCE. The Toba super-eruption has plunged Southeast Asia into a volcanic winter. In this apocalyptic wasteland, survival lies only in rare, sheltered pockets of land—refugia.
A young primitive man and the remnants of his clan find one such haven: a mist-shrouded forest shielded from the ash-choked world beyond. He is known as Last—the smallest, weakest, an outcast among his people. His sole mission: protect his eight-year-old brother, the only family he has left.
But when a more advanced human species invades, slaughtering the clan and enslaving the women and children, Last must form a desperate alliance with two dangerous forest hominids—one dwarflike, the other monstrous—to rescue the boy he loves.
Refugium is a fact-based prehistoric thriller set against one of Earth’s deadliest extinction events. It boldly pushes the limits of hope, human endurance, and the most extraordinary interspecies alliance ever forged.
What Readers Are Saying
“A visceral, genre-defying story set in a shattered prehistoric world … Vivid, violent, and full of unexpected grace.”
BookLife (Publishers Weekly)
“A powerful and immersive tale of survival set against the backdrop of a prehistoric apocalypse … Nicholas explores timeless questions about humanity’s capacity for both tremendous cruelty and remarkable compassion … A read that will linger in the mind long after the final page.”
Staci Layne Wilson, bestselling author of Rock & Roll Nightmares
“A brutal, thrilling novel about what it takes to become an apex predator.”
Foreword Clarion Reviews
“The author paints a vividly bleak portrait of the ‘ceaseless brutality’ of this lawless world … Thrillingly original.”
Kirkus Reviews
“Refugium succeeds as both a gripping survival narrative and a profound meditation on human consciousness. Nicholas has created something rare: a prehistorical novel that feels both authentic to its period and relevant to contemporary conversations about human nature, environmental catastrophe, and the roots of social organization … A remarkable achievement.”
IndieReader
“One of the most intriguing prehistory novels since Jean Auel’s Clan of the Cave Bear. It’s a thrilling, gut-wrenching story about what it means to be human in a harsh landscape … Will make readers think as well as captivate them to the very end.”
US Review of Books