Virtual Book Blast for Balance of Nature by Jacqui Murray

A black banner showing the silhouette of a woman holding an arrow and small picture of the front cover of the book Balance of Nature by Jacqui Murray. There are also pictures of a wolf and a fire. In the middle it says, “Balance of Nature Book Launch”.

Today, I am delighted to welcome the very talented author, Jacqui Murray, with her latest novel in the Savage Land Book series, Balance of Nature.

When I was a teenager, I read a few of Jean M. Auels novels about pre-historic humans.  I loved them and I saw the movie. Now I am reading Jacqui Murray’s novels about pre-historic humans. Jacqui Murray’s books are even more fascinating and very realistic and well researched. This post is part of a Book Launch series for Balance of Nature held February 2-13, 2026. There is more information here.

This is black square picture showing the silhouette of a woman holding an arrow. There is text that says, “Balance of Nature Book Launch”. In addition, it says “Written by Jacqui Murray, February 2-13, 2026, Articles, Interviews, Meet new writers.”

Summary

A tribe haunted by the past. Lies that threaten the future. A reason to find the truth.

Savage Land is the third trilogy about prehistoric man in the series, Man. Vs. Nature. Savage Land explores how two bands of humans survived one of the worst natural disasters in Earth’s history, when volcanic eruptions darkened the sky, massive tsunamis crossed the ocean in crushing waves, and raging fires burned the land. Viral tribes of Neanderthals and early man considered themselves apex predators, but that crown belonged to Nature and she was intent on washing the two-legged blight from her lands.

In Balance of Nature, Book Three of the trilogy, Yu’ung’s Neanderthal tribe hopes to settle at Gibraltar but instead find unexpected threats and lethal challenges.

Follow the courageous Yu’ung, the determined Kazeb, the mystical Shanadar, and the pawed-and-clawed Canis as they navigate a perilous world of tribal conflict, unexplained visions, and shifting loyalties. Their journey is a testament to the resilience and strength of true leadership in a sweeping saga that ultimately leads to who we are today.

Book information:

Genre: Prehistoric fiction

Editor: Anneli Purchase

  • To purchase the kindle version of the book, click here
  • To purchase the paperback version of the book, click here
The front cover shows a huge coastal mountain in the background. There are also people (Neanderthals) with spears and wild seacoast with large waves. The author’s name Jacqui Murray and the title Balance of Nature is shown in large text. There is additional text stating “A Tribe Haunted by the past. Lies that threaten the future. A reason to find the truth. Savage Land ... Book 3”.
Front cover of Balance of Nature by Jacqui Murray. Click here, or click on the picture to visit the Amazon page for the paperback version of the book.

Balance of Nature trailer

Excerpt: Chapter 1

75,000 years ago

The area we now call Gibraltar

Shouts woke the brothers from their sleep.

“A boat—on the Endless Sea! Headed toward us!”

At night? How is that possible? But Kazeb didn’t ask because it didn’t matter. What mattered was that it was there.

He and Turk had waited long for this news, Kazeb with excitement, Turk with dread. Without discussion, they raced across the grassland, leapt over crevices, the width familiar even in the dark, and then scrambled up Big Rock’s knobby flank, grabbing tiny ledges with their fingers and toes with a speed mountain goats would envy. The behemoth’s height dwarfed all hills on the peninsula save the distant, towering range that separated it from others.

The brothers summited the crest and crouched behind a thick patch of scrub at the cliff’s edge. The brisk breeze atop the promontory whipped Kazeb’s hair around. He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth so tightly he should have broken a tooth, and waited for the vague elongated shadow on the water’s inky surface to reveal its intentions.

Is it them? He glanced at his brother’s square face. Turk thinks it is.

Sun’s steady arrival slowly erased the dark, made the sea shimmer in shades of blue as waves crashed against the coastline. Just below the surface, under the foam, were sharp shoals. Any boat must tediously avoid these, better yet, continue down the shore where there was no risk, unless they knew of the sole safe mooring used by natives and those they shared the location with, like they did with the Tall Ones from long ago.

Turk hissed, “It’s them, Liis.”

The Clan called him Liis, but he preferred “Kazeb,” the name awarded him when he agreed to guide the Tall One Fierce to the sea’s end. That was far beyond anywhere he had ever traveled, but Fierce claimed Kazeb’s knowledge of the area was invaluable.

“We can’t tell who is onboard, Turk,” he said, though who else knew of the hidden cove?

Kazeb rose and scanned a full circle, hoping whoever came on that craft wasn’t looking up here.

“What are you doing, Liis?”

“I need to see if they’re alone, or do more come from other directions.”

Flat grassland bordered one flank of the promontory, water the rest. Sun’s earliest rays colored the sky in pinks and blues. Birds plummeted into the crystalline water. Fish with no desire to be food dove. Farther away, pigs rooted through the stubble and a herd of deer feasted on ever-abundant fresh young shoots, protected by the range of mountains from unexpected predators.

When we finish, that’s where we will go.

He turned back to the shoreless sea. Visible on clear days, a faint brown outline shadowed the horizon, what the Tall One Fierce had called home.

Turk said, “They knew enough to stay in the calm waterswhen darkness arrived, to avoid the underwater shoals.”

Sun broke above the horizon, telling the boat it was safe to continue. The craft nimbly skirted the shoals, aiming for the spot a similar vessel had beached long ago. Kazeb gripped his spear tighter. Fierce had promised to return once his exploration was completed. Kazeb trusted his word, but the more time passed, the more he wondered if he had been lied to.

“Liis!” Turk interrupted his reverie. “There is another boat, behind the first!”  

Now Kazeb saw it. Both prows plowed through the water, their shapes clear in the sunlight. Shivers ran through Kazeb.

These aren’t like Fierce’s craft … but we have seen no one from that direction either by sea or foot.

Kazeb studied the gaggle of Uprights, their bold stripes, the confident stance of the slender male in the bow of the front boat. All fit his recollections of the Tall One band. His gaze drifted to the back boat, a shorter stockier figure at the prow.

Is he Fierce’s guide? My replacement? But why would he be behind Fierce?

Legs wide for balance, sunlight glinting off flame-red hair, the sturdy figure scanned the Big Rock. To Kazeb’s surprise, his gaze paused at the clump of brush where the brothers hid. He couldn’t see them, of course. Both had mudded their skin and squinted to keep Sun’s glare off their eyes. Still, the figure shouted to One-who-might-be-Fierce and pointed.

Turk gurgled, “Are they looking for us? But why come back here, considering what they did?”

“We don’t know for sure—”

“Who else would it be?” Turk’s voice a strangled yelp.

They argued this question often. The Clan Healer originally thought the deadly illness had been caused by insects or a toxin in the air, but before he died, he admitted an individual could have poisoned the members’ food and water. Who could say?

Kazeb didn’t bother to reply, busy admiring the vessel’s sleek profile, so unlike the Clan’s flatter, smaller ones. The sailors effortlessly beached it at the base of the monstrous rock where the brothers hid.

Voice fiery, Turk hissed, “Our destiny has arrived, why we survive and the rest died.”

Author Bio

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature which explores seminal events in man’s evolution one trilogy at a time. She is also author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. Her non-fiction includes 100+ books on tech into education, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics.

Author’s Social Media Contacts

Click on the links below to visit the author’s media

What should I do about AI?

A woman on a red background says, “What should I do about AI”

This is a bonus section about AI provided by Jacqui Murray

In 2024, readers crave more than just a passive experience. Interactive storytelling has become a significant trend, allowing readers to actively participate in shaping the narrative. With the use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), stories are no longer confined to the pages of a book. Authors are experimenting with immersive experiences, creating narratives that respond to reader choices, making each journey through the story a unique adventure. Here are a few quick guidelines:

  • Use AI as an assistant, not as a replacement
  • Check everything AI does. It’s not perfect. Don’t expect it to be something it isn’t.
  • Be legal and ethical in your AI use. Confess to its use (like in your Kindle publications) when necessary. Don’t try to hide it.
  • Protect your privacy–don’t share personal information.
  • Assume AI-generated images can now be reverse-searched and tied back to you in some cases.
  • Voice cloning only needs 5–30 seconds of audio—don’t post long clear voice notes publicly if you’re worried about impersonation.

What are your tips?

Unknown's avatar

Author: thomasstigwikman

My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.

97 thoughts on “Virtual Book Blast for Balance of Nature by Jacqui Murray”

  1. Apt comparison to Jean M. Auel, Thomas. I remember reading The Clan of the Cave Bear and The Mammoth Hunters. I’ve been trying to visit all of Jacqui’s stops on her blog tour. She’s stopping off at my blog next week.

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  3. Thomas, lovely to see Jacqui here on her tour! The except here is gripping and the video trailer is fantastic – the music a perfect match for the thrilling description of the book. As to AI tips hard to believe that 5 seconds audio is enough to clone a voice. Personally not worried but no wonder there is so much concern.

    Liked by 3 people

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      2. My husband and I just talked about answering the phone. He said don’t say “yes” to the person on the phone. They could use the “yes” illegally. I usualy say “speaking” if someone wants to talk to me.

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        1. I’ve read about the “yes” thing too. Saying “speaking” instead seems like a good response. I’ll try that if I need to answer someone. However, I avoid answering if I don’t recognize the number. If it is important they can leave a message.

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    2. Thank you so much Annika. I totally agree with you and the video trailer is fantastic like you say. I love the picture towards the end with the canine standing and looking at us and there’s reddish bright sky in the background. I agree about AI too. That 5 seconds of audio is enough to clone a voice is a bit scary. I’ve read that if someone totally unknown call you and asks you odd questions, don’t answer, don’t give them the opportunity to use your voice.

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  5. Jacqui Murray makes her Early Man characters seem like people we could easily relate to. Once we get past the idea that they are just “cavemen,” we are drawn into their relationships and their goals and problems just like in any other modern-day story, but their goals are much less trivial than ours. Often they face life and death decisions, drawing on strengths that we could never manage to achieve with our weak modern-day bodies. It all makes for fascinating reading.

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    2. That is a very good observation. Early man was of course feeling and thinking beings like we are and Jacqui is really able to make us relate to them, like you say. I have a lot of Neanderthal genes according 23AndMe (99 percentile) so I should try relate, I guess, and I really feel Jacqui’s books do that for me, as well as, with the prehistoric canines she typically feature in her books. I love dogs.

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        1. Yes you are right. The canines in Jacqui’s books are amazing and yet pretty realistic. Our Bronco was a protector, he saved our pugs life, he found and rescued runaway hamsters, he intimidated intruders, he smelled out an oncoming insulin seizure, etc. Dogs can do things like that.

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  14. Java Bean: “Ayyy, that sounds like good advice from Jacquie! Although since our Dada already wrote a six-part post about being in the hospital with an aneurysm, it’s probably too late for him not to share too much personal information.”Lulu: “He says that was different because it was a public service, whatever that means.”

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    2. I remember that Java Bean and Lulu. What a scary experience. It happened to my uncle and he died suddently while walking his dog. I feel so sorry for the dog, and him and his wife. Public service announcement mean that it is information that useful for many, and your Dada’s information is very important. We need to know about the danger.

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      1. It’s funny, I have met many people who have a relative or friend who had one and passed away, but a vanishingly small number of people who know someone who had one and survived. The odds of making it are roughly 50/50 (or I guess 60/40 these days with improved treatments) but obviously the impact of being on the wrong side of that split is much bigger …

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        1. Yes you are right. It is not just my uncle but we had a neighbor who passed away from an aneurysm too, but I don’t know anyone who survived. Perhaps people who survive don’t talk about it as much as surviving family members do when someone dies. I don’t know. But this is certainly something very dangerous that people should know about.

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    1. Thank you so much Jeff. I certainly agree with you. Jacqui is so productive and hard working. Leonbergers are related to Saint Bernards but less common. However, they are great family dogs who love to protect smaller dogs, and they have a very interesting but intense history. For example, they were used to pull cannons and ammunition carts in World War I, and almost went extinct (the Germans ran out of horses).

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  21. Hi Thomas,

    I love how you compared Jacqui’s books to Jean M. Auels novels about pre-historic humans and found and enjoyed them. You did a great job on Jacqui’s book and the neanderthals are so lovable. Thanks for sharing it with us! xx

    Liked by 3 people

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