Category Archives: Genre – Fantasy Stories

Harbingers of Hope Now Available

Utterly Colossal Epic Fantasy

Another Independence Day and another milestone in indie publishing. The once-and-future epic tale is now back in its original form!

Harbingers of Hope now available on Amazon

Once, It Was a Single Story

What I thought to call Judgement’s Tale when I began chronicling in 2007 was a whopping big yarn. That much, I knew. But as I reeled out the story of Solemn, Treaman, Pol, Anteris, Gareth and many more I started to worry a little. How many pages could one book hold? I made the decision to split the tale into two still-hefty novels, published the first half of the story using the title Judgement’s Tale, and then began working on the conclusion.

That of course was The Eye of Kog. Without even trying, I found I had split the baby right down the middle, as each book is just about 200k words.

But it was always a single story. I wasn’t even fully comfortable calling the second book a sequel.

And now I don’t have to.

No Plan Survives Contact… with the Publisher

The utterly unsinkable Katharina Gerlach made me an offer I could hardly understand, much less refuse, back in 2012. She has guided my publication efforts since then and I have zero complaints. She excels in cover design and remarked from the beginning that the orange-toned original covers of JT and EoK were not fully satisfactory. I kind of liked them, but then I love any present I get. And I’ll always suspect that this newest project of hers came about at least partly because she just wanted to create a new cover.

See below- pretty snazzy, huh?

Oh, and a super-cool map as well! My original efforts done on Campaign Cartographer 2 software made me happy, but the full-color design doesn’t show up in print very well, so Kat came up with a painstaking hand-drawn copy in B&W. It was fine too, but lacking maybe a bit of that Tolkienesque style. But now:

THAT is a map of the Lands, I can tell you! And it should be in the current copy when it hits paperback.

This was always THE tale, the one I felt I had to tell. Judgement never let me alone until I finished it, and yes I DO know how that sounds but it’s the truth.

Take a look and I hope you enjoy. Audiobook fans, I’m hard at work recording this summer and will certainly let you know once it’s done. Maybe I’ll do one of those progress tracker deals…


Harbingers of Hope

After two millennia of peace the relentless war between Hope and Despair flares again. With the innocent in peril, can raw unproven heroes resist immortal foes?

Treaman lives for the thrill of adventure. Guiding a group of enterprising companions, he’d put his life on the line for any of them. But when the adventurers become lost in a land tainted by the growing curse of Despair, he fears his leader’s mission is destined to end in failure and death.

Solemn Judgement will never see his homeland again. Brought to unfamiliar shores, Solemn burns any chance of return along with his boat and his father’s body, before setting out to seek his purpose. But the determined young orphan has no idea that acquiring his education could unleash the ultimate evil.

As Treaman and Judgement separately trek to seemingly inevitable doom, a prince seeks to rescue an old alliance, a mysterious fighter in black slays monstrous foes with his bare hands, and a broad cast of characters unwittingly play their part. All are hanging onto a slim sliver of Hope for their future. But even their combined might may not be enough to stop the ruthless march of a powerful necromancer and his tide of undeath …

In a world that only dreams of heroes, can they rise up against oppressive forces and prevent the Lands of Hope from descending into foul darkness?

Harbingers of Hope is an epic fantasy novel that will leave you breathless. If you like expansive worldbuilding, fierce magical battles, and monstrous enemies, then you’ll love William L. Hahn’s sweeping tale.

Read Harbingers of Hope to stand up and fight today!

Audiobook Release by Annie Douglass Lima

N.b.: If you’ve been following my blog you will recognize the name behind this guest post. Annie and I met here in cyberspace years ago and I’ve always been happy to share space between our sites.
Then comes the weirdness.
I go off into narrating audiobooks and lose track with her awhile, then she sends me a message asking if I could host her… wait for it… with an audiobook she’s made! That would be a big “yes”.
And with no further ado, here she is with her terrific YA tale of slavery, yearning and gladiatorial combat, The Collar and the Cavvarach. Enjoy!

A GRIPPING YOUNG ADULT ADVENTURE!

 

About the Story:

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is desperate to see his little sister freed. But only victory in the Krillonian Empire’s most prestigious tournament will allow him to secretly arrange for Ellie’s escape. Dangerous people are closing in on her, however, and Bensin is running out of time. With his one hope fading quickly away, how can Bensin save Ellie from a life of slavery and abuse?


What is the Collar for, and What is a Cavvarach?

The story is set in a world very much like our own, with just a few major differences. One is that slavery is legal there. Slaves must wear metal collars that lock around their neck, making their enslaved status obvious to everyone. Any slave attempting to escape faces the dilemma of how and where to illegally get their collar removed (a crime punishable by enslavement for the remover).  

Another difference is the popularity of a martial art called cavvara shil. It is fought with a cavvarach (rhymes with “have a rack”), an unsharpened weapon similar to a sword but with a steel hook protruding from partway down its top edge. Competitors can strike at each other with their feet as well as with the blades. You win in one of two ways: disarming your opponent (hooking or knocking their cavvarach out of their hands) or pinning their shoulders to the mat for five seconds.

More About the Story


Set in a world alarmingly like our own, The Collar and the Cavvarach is the story of fourteen-year-old Bensin, a slave, whose status is made obvious to everyone by the steel collar locked around his neck. A martial artist who competes to win money for his owner, Bensin fights in tournaments with a cavvarach. But his greatest battle is the struggle to protect his little sister from the horrors of legalized slavery in a world where slaves have few rights. Desperate to keep her safe, Bensin struggles to find a means – legal or otherwise – to arrange for her freedom.

(For a fun introduction to the story’s setting and its culture, including an explanation of how cavvara shil works, click here.) 


Sound Like a Book you Might Enjoy? 


Click the play button below to listen to the first 15 minutes of the story as narrated by Joseph Baltz.

Click here to go to the audiobook on Audible.
Click here to go to the audiobook on Amazon.
(Either way, try listening to the free sample to see what you think!)


Like to Read Along While You Listen? 


The Collar and the Cavvarach ebook is available for FREE from July 14-18. Grab your copy now!

 

Enter the Giveaway to Win a Bundle of Action and Adventure eBooks!





About the Author

 

Annie Douglass Lima considers herself fortunate to have traveled in twenty different countries and lived in four of them. A fifth-grade teacher in her “other” life, she loves reading to her students and sparking their imaginations. Her books include science fiction, fantasy, YA action and adventure novels, a puppet script, anthologies of her students’ poetry, Bible verse coloring and activity books, and a fantasy-themed cookbook. When she isn’t teaching or writing, Annie can often be found sipping spiced chai or pomegranate green tea in exotic locations, some of which exist in this world.

 
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGoodreads
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