Prophets of the Ghost Ants has been selected by Kirkus Reviews as A Best of 2011 for their end of the year edition. The novel is categorized in a number of genres including science fiction, fantasy, action-adventure, epic fiction and literary fantasy. The setting is Earth, hundreds of millions of years from now, when humans have evolved to the size of insects and live intertwined with their world.
As a child Mr. Carlton spent hours observing ants and their wars and considered the commonalities between human and ant behavior. His perceptions were reinforced with the readings of the works of Dr. Edward O. Wilson, the father of sociobiology and the foremost authority on ants.
Before starting his writing, Carlton did extensive reading about ants and other insects as well as human social systems, histories of warfare and world religions. He writes at his Amazon website that "The novel's plot was revealed to me like a streaming, Technicolor prophecy, on the sixth night of Burning Man when the effigy goes up in flames."
The producer of the film project, a trilogy, is Academy Award winner Lawrence Bender whose credits includes Good Will Hunting, Pulp Fiction, and Inglourious Basterds. Mr. Bender called the book "One of the most engrossing, powerful and original novels I have read in years." In his review of the novel, Perry Crowe of Kirkus called the book "Intensely memorable", "fascinating" and "a gripping read."
Publication of the novel was upheld due to conflicts over profit shares of the connected film projects, video games, graphic novel versions and other merchandising. With Mr. Bender's encouragement, Mr. Carlton made his novel available as a paperback through Create Space at Amazon and was able to regain all rights.
