Is it worse to deny a distressing truth or live with the terror of it? Exhausted and tormented, Kandorl sets out in desperation to find the only other person who will acknowledge the impending invasion.
The latest in a series of crimes sees Rianthan Pall finally claim a prize worth the effort. Murdering Petran, the lord of Blackford was the easy part. Escaping the wrath of the king’s Champion, Braster, who sought to prevent Petran’s death, sees Pall exceed his own treacherous limits.
With the threat of the invasion looming, Kandorl finds himself surrounded by those too entrenched in denial to acknowledge it beyond their whispers of ‘the storm’. With Blackford in chaos in the aftermath of the lord’s death, Kandorl gathers his bemused companions and abandons his lonely vigil to search for Braster, the man who set him the task to prepare for the invasion.
As their journey across a brutal land forces the companions to re-define their beliefs and morality, whilst seeking to overcome the traumas they encounter, Kandorl realises he is as desperate to find Braster for his own salvation as he is for his friends to find theirs.
Masquerading as Saul, Rianthan Pall resolves to infiltrate Kandorl’s group, with the party’s healer, Medral, and her ability to feed his addiction, as the greatest prize of all. With Kandorl fixated on his own obsession, it is the storm he never saw coming which threatens to sunder his world.
When I started to construct a story from the thoughts and opinions I had going to waste in my head, I started by creating archetypal characters, unique enough to be intriguing, but familiar enough to remind the reader of people in their own lives. I wanted to watch with a conflicting mix of remorse and pride as these characters dealt with relatable, real-world issues in their own, increasingly dangerous environment. I wanted to write a fast-paced, desperate search for an answer to a question which haunts us all. I wanted to write a thrilling story in a genre I personally enjoy, to explore themes familiar to us all – a story which describes the elevation from dealing with the seemingly futile nature of life to learning how to recognise the joy in every moment. I wanted to write about mages and heroes fighting against great evil, but to have them as simply products of their experiences and the great evil represent a very human trait to seek comfort in taking what we could from the world and people around us.
I believe I have managed to achieve that across the duology, with The Gloaming establishing the intrigue and the basis of the storyline which the following book, A Dawning, enhances and concludes.
The latest in a series of crimes sees Rianthan Pall finally claim a prize worth the effort. Murdering Petran, the lord of Blackford was the easy part. Escaping the wrath of the king’s Champion, Braster, who sought to prevent Petran’s death, sees Pall exceed his own treacherous limits.
With the threat of the invasion looming, Kandorl finds himself surrounded by those too entrenched in denial to acknowledge it beyond their whispers of ‘the storm’. With Blackford in chaos in the aftermath of the lord’s death, Kandorl gathers his bemused companions and abandons his lonely vigil to search for Braster, the man who set him the task to prepare for the invasion.
As their journey across a brutal land forces the companions to re-define their beliefs and morality, whilst seeking to overcome the traumas they encounter, Kandorl realises he is as desperate to find Braster for his own salvation as he is for his friends to find theirs.
Masquerading as Saul, Rianthan Pall resolves to infiltrate Kandorl’s group, with the party’s healer, Medral, and her ability to feed his addiction, as the greatest prize of all. With Kandorl fixated on his own obsession, it is the storm he never saw coming which threatens to sunder his world.
When I started to construct a story from the thoughts and opinions I had going to waste in my head, I started by creating archetypal characters, unique enough to be intriguing, but familiar enough to remind the reader of people in their own lives. I wanted to watch with a conflicting mix of remorse and pride as these characters dealt with relatable, real-world issues in their own, increasingly dangerous environment. I wanted to write a fast-paced, desperate search for an answer to a question which haunts us all. I wanted to write a thrilling story in a genre I personally enjoy, to explore themes familiar to us all – a story which describes the elevation from dealing with the seemingly futile nature of life to learning how to recognise the joy in every moment. I wanted to write about mages and heroes fighting against great evil, but to have them as simply products of their experiences and the great evil represent a very human trait to seek comfort in taking what we could from the world and people around us.
I believe I have managed to achieve that across the duology, with The Gloaming establishing the intrigue and the basis of the storyline which the following book, A Dawning, enhances and concludes.