| A Mystical Journey to Restore the Natural Order as Hope Guides the Way In the lush wilderness of the Rio Grande Valley, a centuries-old prophecy is about to be fulfilled. The jaguars, once the revered rulers of the animal kingdom, have vanished—until a brave jaguar named Oracle begins a journey to summon the scattered tribes and restore their rightful place. A captivating quest and an unforgettable journey home. His quest intersects with young Paco and his extraordinary animal companions—a wise horse named Plod, a storytelling toad called Bog, and a clever raccoon named Patch—as they navigate the mystical landscapes of the Texas-Mexico borderlands and Brazos River bottomlands, a quest that weaves through ancient forests, mysterious towers, and sacred sanctuaries. Guided by ancient wisdom and the enduring loyalty of his animal friends, Oracle’s epic journey leads him through a world on the brink of upheaval. As greedy developers encroach on the land and threaten the delicate balance of nature, Oracle must navigate a tangled web of human greed, betrayal, and violence to find the missing jaguarundi tribe and unite the warring factions of the animal realm. |  |
The fate of the Valley rests on Oracle recovering lost memories and rediscovering the original harmony between man and beast. From vast Texan ranches to ancient palm forests, from well-ordered zoos to untamed wilderness, The Way Back to Eden weaves together a rich tapestry of cultures, legends, and the immutable power of the natural world.
Blending elements of magical realism, environmental advocacy, and pulse-pounding adventure, this sweeping tale transports readers into a vibrant, unforgettable world where Oracle’s quest is to preserve the ancient balance and the interconnectedness of all living things.
The Way Back to Eden, a deeply satisfying and thought-provoking fantasy epic, is the second installment in the six-volume Jaguar Oracle series. Discover the magic that awaits where ancient wildlife sanctuaries hold secrets, where ghosts and tree house hermits guide lost souls home, and where the path back to Eden might just be hidden in plain sight.
Follow the trail. Find the tree. Change the world.
Blending elements of magical realism, environmental advocacy, and pulse-pounding adventure, this sweeping tale transports readers into a vibrant, unforgettable world where Oracle’s quest is to preserve the ancient balance and the interconnectedness of all living things.
The Way Back to Eden, a deeply satisfying and thought-provoking fantasy epic, is the second installment in the six-volume Jaguar Oracle series. Discover the magic that awaits where ancient wildlife sanctuaries hold secrets, where ghosts and tree house hermits guide lost souls home, and where the path back to Eden might just be hidden in plain sight.
Follow the trail. Find the tree. Change the world.
Genre: Magical Realism
Release date: February 28, 2025
Release date: February 28, 2025
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Interview with Kurt
1. What was the inspiration for this book?
The idea for The Way Back to Eden and the whole Jaguar Oracle series came from a black-and-white photo and a question.
The photo, dated January 1946, is of farmers and ranchers displaying what they believed to be the last jaguar in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, which they had hunted down and killed. I saw it in a book called El Valle: The Rio Grande River Delta by Seth Patterson.
A few hours after seeing this photo, during a time of prayer about some troublesome matter I no longer remember, the question dropped into me: “What if a jaguar returned to the Rio Grande Valley?”
In The Way Back to Eden, in the chapter called “The Photo,” a main human character sees the photo in that book, and, as a result, is inspired in a dream that night.
The idea for The Way Back to Eden and the whole Jaguar Oracle series came from a black-and-white photo and a question.
The photo, dated January 1946, is of farmers and ranchers displaying what they believed to be the last jaguar in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, which they had hunted down and killed. I saw it in a book called El Valle: The Rio Grande River Delta by Seth Patterson.
A few hours after seeing this photo, during a time of prayer about some troublesome matter I no longer remember, the question dropped into me: “What if a jaguar returned to the Rio Grande Valley?”
In The Way Back to Eden, in the chapter called “The Photo,” a main human character sees the photo in that book, and, as a result, is inspired in a dream that night.
2. What drew you to write in this particular genre?
Telling parables in Afghanistan caused me to discover how humans, as God’s image bearers, are “wired for stories” by the hand of our Creator. This led to reading George MacDonald’s Christian fantasy in order to experience the same encouragement his writings gave Lewis and Tolkien in their journey of becoming Christian fantasy authors, and it did indeed inspire me. This included books like The Golden Key and At the Back of the North Wind. I also returned to the roots of Christian poetry with an exploration of John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Poetic fiction, when done well, contains prophetic insight for the individual whose heart is open to their Creator. Each one is on a journey from trusting Him as Creator to obeying Him as Savior. Fiction, when submitted to the tradition of the parables that our Lord employed, gives the reader the opportunity to decide whether his heart is hungry or hardened. What is more, the work of fiction is to render an offering of life-giving beauty to the reader, such that, in a way different from lectures and how-to-manuals, he experiences joy-giving sorrow, healing of the heart, course-correction in one’s mindset, and prophetic insight into one’s calling.
Telling parables in Afghanistan caused me to discover how humans, as God’s image bearers, are “wired for stories” by the hand of our Creator. This led to reading George MacDonald’s Christian fantasy in order to experience the same encouragement his writings gave Lewis and Tolkien in their journey of becoming Christian fantasy authors, and it did indeed inspire me. This included books like The Golden Key and At the Back of the North Wind. I also returned to the roots of Christian poetry with an exploration of John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Poetic fiction, when done well, contains prophetic insight for the individual whose heart is open to their Creator. Each one is on a journey from trusting Him as Creator to obeying Him as Savior. Fiction, when submitted to the tradition of the parables that our Lord employed, gives the reader the opportunity to decide whether his heart is hungry or hardened. What is more, the work of fiction is to render an offering of life-giving beauty to the reader, such that, in a way different from lectures and how-to-manuals, he experiences joy-giving sorrow, healing of the heart, course-correction in one’s mindset, and prophetic insight into one’s calling.
3. Do you have a favorite character(s) in this book?
Patch the raccoon. He is the first friend Oracle the jaguar makes when he arrives in South Texas. He is cautious and unpretentious, but he is also clever and inspired to acts self-giving love for the band of new friends he and the jaguar become the core of. In the audiobook version, Nashville actor Zach Lazar Hoffman renders his voice after his favorite actor, Tom Hanks.
I expect that many readers will identify with his longing for close friends and a supreme purpose that pairs with his struggle to be courageous in Patch the raccoon.
Patch the raccoon. He is the first friend Oracle the jaguar makes when he arrives in South Texas. He is cautious and unpretentious, but he is also clever and inspired to acts self-giving love for the band of new friends he and the jaguar become the core of. In the audiobook version, Nashville actor Zach Lazar Hoffman renders his voice after his favorite actor, Tom Hanks.
I expect that many readers will identify with his longing for close friends and a supreme purpose that pairs with his struggle to be courageous in Patch the raccoon.
4. What do you hope your readers will take away with them when they read this book?
Courage for their calling. My hope is that the parables, prayers, poetry, proverbs, and prophecies filling this tale will do just that. A silver plow breaking up the soil of our hearts for the seed God plants there.
Courage for their calling. My hope is that the parables, prayers, poetry, proverbs, and prophecies filling this tale will do just that. A silver plow breaking up the soil of our hearts for the seed God plants there.
5. Share with us a thought, Bible verse, whatever is on your mind/heart.
‘Calling’ is not for clergy alone. It means living as your original self, the one God thought of when He said, “Let there be…” Or, in the words of the animals in the story, calling means to “remember your name.” For them, this is the “word” (the poem, parable, proverb, or prophecy) Adam spoke when he named them. In our case, it is the word our Lord spoke. Our destinies are found in the first things our Creator told us long ago in childhood and before. That is where we will most likely find courage for our calling.
Calling is something deeper than your job description. It is someone you can be within the present limitations of life, whether you’re a paraplegic, on parole, or a single parent with two jobs. It is something constant. Something that remains. Something no person or circumstance can remove from you. But you have to drink the cup, and there is no turning back once you do.
‘Calling’ is not for clergy alone. It means living as your original self, the one God thought of when He said, “Let there be…” Or, in the words of the animals in the story, calling means to “remember your name.” For them, this is the “word” (the poem, parable, proverb, or prophecy) Adam spoke when he named them. In our case, it is the word our Lord spoke. Our destinies are found in the first things our Creator told us long ago in childhood and before. That is where we will most likely find courage for our calling.
Calling is something deeper than your job description. It is someone you can be within the present limitations of life, whether you’re a paraplegic, on parole, or a single parent with two jobs. It is something constant. Something that remains. Something no person or circumstance can remove from you. But you have to drink the cup, and there is no turning back once you do.
More from Kurt
The Way Back to Eden expands the Jaguar Oracle epic into a full-fledged human drama alongside the animal one. Who among the animals do you enjoy? Who among the humans do you identify with? A clue to courage for your calling lies in that intersection.
Brazos Ben is based on a relative who built a three-story treehouse with running water and electricity. Just like we find in the story, he did so on sixty acres of bottomland beside a river, where he let most of his property go wild. It contained an old pecan orchard and an abandoned cabin.
Papá Eli, a member of the old-school “gentleman mafia” of Mexico, is based on the actor Cesar Romero.
Every plant, animal, moon phase, and constellation are the work of much research. I use an astronomy app called Starry Night Enthusiast 8, which I learned of from reading the profound scholarly work called The Great Christ Comet by Colin Nicholl, who used this app as a key aid in his attempt to determine the nature and trajectory of the Star of Bethlehem.
While the animal characters are on a journey to “remember their names”—what Adam spoke when he named them—the human characters are on a quest to get “back to Eden.” High-tech rancher Tripp is leveraging money. The hermit Brazos Ben is letting his land go wild. Papá Eli is creating a glass arboretum where he hopes to retire alongside the jaguar. Chase the zoologist is in touch with the omens of creation.
But the jaguar Oracle is on a deeper journey. He is trapped in a “mangarden” far from the Rio Grande Valley. He will need more than mere strength and skill to escape and return; he will need weakness and suffering. Can he drink the cup? Can he return to the Valley and restore the cats to their leadership (the ocelot, the bobcat, and the lost jaguarundi)? Can he bring the animal kingdom into a “final spring in their twilight days this side of Eden”?
Read and discover. Perhaps it will inspire you to drink the cup heaven has offered you, too. His grace is sufficient. His power rests in our weakness. His blood is enough. This is our way back to Eden.
Brazos Ben is based on a relative who built a three-story treehouse with running water and electricity. Just like we find in the story, he did so on sixty acres of bottomland beside a river, where he let most of his property go wild. It contained an old pecan orchard and an abandoned cabin.
Papá Eli, a member of the old-school “gentleman mafia” of Mexico, is based on the actor Cesar Romero.
Every plant, animal, moon phase, and constellation are the work of much research. I use an astronomy app called Starry Night Enthusiast 8, which I learned of from reading the profound scholarly work called The Great Christ Comet by Colin Nicholl, who used this app as a key aid in his attempt to determine the nature and trajectory of the Star of Bethlehem.
While the animal characters are on a journey to “remember their names”—what Adam spoke when he named them—the human characters are on a quest to get “back to Eden.” High-tech rancher Tripp is leveraging money. The hermit Brazos Ben is letting his land go wild. Papá Eli is creating a glass arboretum where he hopes to retire alongside the jaguar. Chase the zoologist is in touch with the omens of creation.
But the jaguar Oracle is on a deeper journey. He is trapped in a “mangarden” far from the Rio Grande Valley. He will need more than mere strength and skill to escape and return; he will need weakness and suffering. Can he drink the cup? Can he return to the Valley and restore the cats to their leadership (the ocelot, the bobcat, and the lost jaguarundi)? Can he bring the animal kingdom into a “final spring in their twilight days this side of Eden”?
Read and discover. Perhaps it will inspire you to drink the cup heaven has offered you, too. His grace is sufficient. His power rests in our weakness. His blood is enough. This is our way back to Eden.
 Kurt Mahler | Kurt writes in the prophetic and poetic tradition, inspired by the wonder of creation and the cultures of the nations. Guiding sources for his works include the Hebrew prophets, the Desert Fathers, Dante, Milton, George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien. Kurt and his wife, Karen, married since 1993, raised five children in Afghanistan and have spent more than twenty years in forty nations as encouragers in the Christian faith. Their travels led to the discovery of the beauty and wisdom of storytelling. Their roots include the Gulf Coast, Rio Grande Valley, and Heart of Texas. Kurt writes to give readers courage for their faith journeys, as he believes that no disappointment, however profound, should prevent you from completing it. |
It's Time For A Giveaway!
To celebrate his tour, Kurt is giving away the grand prize of a
$50 Amazon gift card, a high-resolution digital map of the entire six-book
tale, a high-resolution cover, and an audiobook copy of the book!!
$50 Amazon gift card, a high-resolution digital map of the entire six-book
tale, a high-resolution cover, and an audiobook copy of the book!!
Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!
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A Modern Day Fairy Tale, April 3 (Author Interview)
Simple Harvest Reads, March 22 (Author Interview)
For the Love of Literature, March 23 (Author Interview)
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 23
Fiction Book Lover, March 24 (Author Interview)
Texas Book-aholic, March 24
Tell Tale Book Reviews, March 25 (Author Interview)
Locks, Hooks and Books, March 26
Blossoms and Blessings, March 27 (Author Interview)
Artistic Nobody, March 28 (Author Interview)
Stories By Gina, March 29 (Author Interview)
Holly’s Book Corner, March 30
Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, March 31 (Author Interview)
A Reader’s Brain , April 1 (Author Interview)
Blogging with Carol, April 2
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, April 3 (Author Interview)
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