Book Review: After Avalon

Tags

18th Wall Production, After Avalon, Anthology, Colin Fisher, david wiley, Fantasy, King Arthur, Nicole Petit, Short Stories, The May Hawk's Daughter

Title: After Avalon

Authors: Various, anthology of short stories curated by Nicole Petit

Published by: 18th Wall Productions (August 12, 2016)

Pages: 248 Pages (Paperback)

Blurb: King Arthur is dead. Camelot has fallen. Britain drowns in Saxons.

These are the stories of what came after.

Merlin’s prophecies begin such, in introduction:

“In the days when Arthur’s dream was dimmed, as grey embers under storm, actors from our reverie still acted. A boy ventures into decaying Broceliande with the May Hawk’s daughter, both in search of fathers. Sir Gawain, bereft of his nation, rides in search of my tomb—but finds a friend turned enemy. In the Britain’s hour of need, the round table will be restored to defend Logres in the sky, in the London Blitz.

“My tutor, Bleys, will take a fool’s horse, and two adventurers will trace my dying steps across the world. Sir Lionel’s remains will visit the remains of the Arthurian world, and the Victorians will strive to make a gentleman of Mordred. The Questing Beast will never cease to haunt Pellinore’s line, no matter how far north they trend. The old witch, Morgan, will seek forgiveness. The holy lance will appear once more. And a queen who is no longer a queen will meet a knight who is no longer a knight, and both will marvel at the grave of the greatest king who served his country.

“These may be read, in full, inside.

“But I am tired now, and Nimue calls for me…”

An all-new anthology from the award-winning curator Nicole Petit, featuring stories by Colin Fisher, Leigh Ann Cowan, Amy Wolf, Thomas Olivieri, Jon Black, Patricia S. Bowne, Claudia Quint, David Wiley, Christian Bone, Patrick S. Baker, and Elizabeth Zuckerman.

My Thoughts: This collection is among the greatest in any anthology I have ever picked up. It starts out by delivering a strong story with “The May Hawk’s Daughter” by Colin Fisher which is, arguably, itself worth the price of the anthology. There are many other gems within these pages, with some that will hold strong appeal for certain readers while others may fall flat. This is the problem with any anthology: even the best set of stories will have ones that fall flat for a reader. Yet the diversity in an anthology is one of the most exciting things about it.

The stories in this collection are all bound by a loose thread: they are taking some aspect of Arthurian lore and imagining what happened to it after Arthur’s death. In some stories it follows the characters from the story shortly after Arthur’s death. Others follow objects, such as the holy lance, as they travel into new places in history. They are as diverse in approach and subject matter as the authors themselves, making for a solid collection that will hold appeal to a multitude of readers.

If you are a fan of King Arthur, you will not be disappointed by the treatment of the material by these writers. If you are looking for modern writers to discover, this would be an excellent investment. I have already made note of a few from this collection that I will be following closely, looking back at what they have published and looking ahead to their future publications and contributions. All in all, this is a beautiful book for your shelf filled with a variety of wonderful stories that will whisk you along to various eras and follow along various characters that you are familiar with from the Arthurian legend. You will not regret purchasing a copy of this anthology.

Advertisement

Release for After Avalon

Tags

18th Wall Production, After Avalon, Anthology, King Arthur, Questing Beast, The Saga of Freydis Beastsbane

It released on Friday, but here is the official announcement for the release of After Avalon. This anthology was put together by 18th Wall Productions and is one I am excited to read. You can get a copy on your Kindle now, and there is plans to have a paperback available in the near future.

Here is the synopsis for the anthology:

King Arthur is dead. Camelot has fallen. Britain drowns in Saxons.

These are the stories of what came after.

Merlin’s prophecies begin such, in introduction:

“In the days when Arthur’s dream was dimmed, as grey embers under storm, actors from our reverie still acted. A boy ventures into decaying Broceliande with the May Hawk’s daughter, both in search of fathers. Sir Gawain, bereft of his nation, rides in search of my tomb—but finds a friend turned enemy. In the Britain’s hour of need, the round table will be restored to defend Logres in the sky, in the London Blitz.

“My tutor, Bleys, will take a fool’s horse, and two adventurers will trace my dying steps across the world. Sir Lionel’s remains will visit the remains of the Arthurian world, and the Victorians will strive to make a gentleman of Mordred. The Questing Beast will never cease to haunt Pellinore’s line, no matter how far north they trend. The old witch, Morgan, will seek forgiveness. The holy lance will appear once more. And a queen who is no longer a queen will meet a knight who is no longer a knight, and both will marvel at the grave of the greatest king who served his country.

“These may be read, in full, inside.

“But I am tired now, and Nimue calls for me…”

An all-new anthology from the award-winning curator Nicole Petit, featuring stories by Colin Fisher, Leigh Ann Cowan, Amy Wolf, Thomas Olivieri, Jon Black, Patricia S. Bowne, Claudia Quint, David Wiley, Christian Bone, Patrick S. Baker, and Elizabeth Zuckerman.

Announcement: Upcoming Releases

Tags

18th Wall Production, After Avalon, Anthology, Bushmead Publishing, david wiley, Monsters, Our Write Side, Pearls, short story

There are times, as a writer, when nothing happens. You write stories, edit stories, reedit stories, submit stories, and get rejection after rejection. It can be a long and weary process to take things through traditional methods.

Last August I was lucky enough to have two things hit around the same time, a short story appearing in an issue of Mystic Signals and one appearing in the King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology. The fall of 2016 is going to prove to be even more exciting, with my writing appearing in three different anthologies that are going to be releasing!

1. After Avalon by 18th Wall Productions is planning to be released on August 12th, which is nearly a week away! I’m very excited about this one, which has stories based around this premise: King Arthur is dead. Camelot has fallen. Britain drowns in Saxons. These are the stories of what come after. My own story, “The Saga of Freydis Beastsbane”, is going to be a part of the anthology. You’ll enjoy the tale of Freydis, a young woman in Medieval Iceland who dreams of being a shieldmaiden, who embarks upon a quest to kill a frightful creature that has haunted her family for generations: the Questing Beast.
2. Monsters by Bushmead Publishing is planning to be released on October 25th. This one has the following premise: What is a monster?  Not all of them lurk under the bed. Some terrorize us conspicuously, in the light of day.  The tyrannical boss forcing unpaid overtime on a Friday night?  That debilitating anxiety holding you captive in your own room?  The haunting whisper of self-doubt?  Or perhaps it IS just a creature in the shadows, waiting to rend flesh from bone. This one has my long poem, “Taking Down Goliath”, which follows an unnamed female monster huntress as she wages war against two foes: one internal and one external.
3. Pearls by Our Write Side is planning to be released sometime in October. This one is a collection of stories from the staff and contributors at Our Write Side and should have an excellent assortment of entertaining tales within those pages. My story in there is a thrilling Sci-Fi story that follows a young man, Ezekiel, who is flying a taxi shuttle to pay his way through the Lunar Academy. But on his first day he gets a passenger whose actions raise Ezekiel’s suspicions and leads to a memorable fare.

So there you have it, three anthologies coming out in the next few months that you’ll want to get your hands on because I have no doubt the other stories selected are excellent as well. I’m pretty excited to have those hit the market, and will keep you posted as each one gets released and perhaps even preview the covers, etc. as the time gets closer.