Book excerpt: Our story takes place a thousand years after a global cataclysm. Earth has been remade into a lush, thriving ecosystem, but with a new dominant species: the machines. These massive, animal-like robots fill the lands, oceans, and skies, serving as the guardians and enforcers of the revived natural order. New generations of humans formed into pre-industrial tribes, without knowledge of the doomed civilization that preceded them, that of the “Old Ones” – us. Little did they know that threats from the ancient world persisted, the greatest of which was HADES, a mysterious A.I. bent on wiping out all organic life. Bolstered by an army of misguided zealots and corrupted machines, it launched a massive assault on humanity’s largest tribe. After a desperate battle, HADES was defeated by Aloy, the greatest machine hunter of her age, and a coalition of faithful allies at the city of Meridian. Now Talanah, one of Aloy’s closest confidantes and the newly appointed Sunhawk of the Hunters Lodge, seeks a moment of respite after the epic struggle.