A King Arthur Reading Guide

Tags

A.A. Attanasio, Alfred Tennyson, Arthurian Romances, Chretien de Troyes, Idylls of the King, King Arthur, King of Ages, Le Morte D'Arthur, Medievalist Monday, Nancy McKenzie, Queen of Camelot, Sir Thomas Malory, T.H. White, The Dragon and the Unicorn, The Once and Future King

I have been enamored with the legend of King Arthur since I was a child, a fascination that continues still to this day. Over the years I have read the stories in many iterations and seen a handful of movies and television shows. As I have been working my way back through T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, I thought it would be a good time to cover some of the Medieval source material for the legend, as well as some more modern telling that I have enjoyed.

Before we begin, here are a few of the Medieval sources I will not be discussing in depth since I have not read them personally, nor do I know much beyond that they contain references, or pieces of, the Arthurian legend. The three I’ll mention are Geoffrey of Monmouth’s The History of the Kings of Britain, Layamon’s Brut, and the Welsh telling found in the Mabinogion.

1. Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory. This here is the source of all major source material for the King Arthur legends. It is truly epic in its scope and material, but the method of storytelling back then was more episodic in nature than the novels we are used to reading today. This makes it both difficult for a modern reader to sit and enjoy, yet also makes it easy to pick up and read in short spurts. If you crave lengthy details and a straightforward, continuous narrative without seeming plot holes (such as a person who died in Book II reappearing in a later book) than this one might be a struggle. But oh how wonderful this book is to read! I cannot wait to dive in a second time, this time being the Norton Critical Edition.
2. Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes. This is composed of five tales, Erec and Enide, Cligés, The Knight of the Cart, The Knight with the Lion, and The Story of the Grail. These were all written by the French author, de Troyes, who is said to have been the first to write about the Holy Grail quest. That just so happens to be one of my favorite tales, and is one of the best-known Arthurian stories out there. He wrote these in the 12th century, which predates Mallory by a few centuries and I understand there are some clear inspirations for Mallory in here. It is the next book I plan to read as soon as I finish The Once and Future King and cannot wait to find out how this stacks up to the others on this list.
3. Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson. I find that I can relate a lot to Tennyson, as he was also a life-long fan of the Arthurian legend. He spent twenty years working on the composition of these twelve epic poems, which are lyrical and elegant and absolutely enjoyable to read. He hits upon many of the major stories in the Arthurian legend, though he clearly could hit upon them all in twelve poems. In many ways he embodied King Arthur with the virtues valued by his Victorian time period. Overall this is a fantastic read worth having in any collection.
4. The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Of course this also would need to be considered a required reading for King Arthur. Drawing much inspiration from Mallory, even at times directly referencing Mallory’s works and pointing the reader there for a full, better description of the events that transpire. The first part of this book is clearly where Disney pulled inspiration for parts of their Sword in the Stone cartoon adaptation, which should be a comfortable and comforting beginning. Part one follows Arthur as a young child being raised in King Ector’s court and ends around the time that Arthur becomes the king. Part two focuses primarily on the Orkney children and King Pellinore/the Questing Beast. Part three is heavily about Sir Lancelot, including his relations with Guinevere and Elaine, and also includes the Grail quest. The last part concerns the final weeks of Arthur’s reign as king. This one is a great one and a solid place to begin because it has a foot in the Medieval inspiration and one in the modern tellings.

And then for those interested in modern retellings that stray from the usual approach seen in the four works above, these are two of the best and most unique I have encountered so far.

1. Queen of Camelot by Nancy McKenzie. This book takes the approach of following Guinevere from her birth on through the entire series of events. While I know many look to Bradley’s Mists of Avalon for a female-led Arthurian story I found that I simply couldn’t get into Bradley’s tale. I pushed on for half the book before finally setting it aside. Which makes me appreciate McKenzie’s telling even more, as I found this one nearly ten years ago and have loved it since. It was, for a long time, the first book I would recommend to everyone and I am yet to have someone read it and be disappointed. Which means that you should read it, too.
2. The Dragon and the Unicorn by A.A. Attanasio. This one is interesting. Perhaps the most unique King Arthur telling I have ever read so far, this one captured my imagination years ago. I suppose I can do no better at selling this than the blurb, apart from emphasizing that this one was ridiculously good, and that there are four books in the series and it’ll be memorable!

This epic retells Arthurian legend with a cosmic spin. Old as the Big Bang, the demon Lailoken assumes human form in Roman Britain as Celts battle Saxons for mastery. The witch-queen he serves calls him Merlinus and sends him to find her true love. Led by a unicorn and hunted by a dragon vast as the planet, Merlinus matches wits with gods and elves as he weaves the destiny of the most famous king.

3. King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology. Yes, I had to include this one here. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet of this anthology of stories, you are missing out on an interesting collection. Merlin lives backwards through time (something that is also present in The Once and Future King) and each story places Merlin and Arthur at some point in time together. My own story, “The Saga of Artur Uthersson”, is in here along with many other excellent stories. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, this is going to be FREE tomorrow through Thursday (6/21/16-6/23/16) on the Kindle, so be sure to snag it while you can!

 

What are your favorite Arthurian stories? Have you read any of the ones on this list? Are there ones I missed that you would recommend?

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Guest Post: Arthur on Easter Island by C.A. Rowland

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C.A. Rowland, Easter Island, Guest Post, King of Ages

King Arthur on Easter Island? It’s probably not the first thing anyone thinks of. It wasn’t my first thought either when I saw the call for stories for the King of Ages anthology. But I did want to do something different so I started thinking about where I had been and what might be fun – but also fit into the themes of the Arthur stories.

I’d been to Easter Island a few years ago. A week of exploring the island, the Moai statues, the quarry where the topknot “hats” where created and the volcano areas. It is a place unlike any other I’ve been where the wind blows constantly, the diet is one of fish that are caught offshore, brought in and carried literally across the street to the restaurants and market. The pace is leisurely, except the days where petrol is brought to shore from larger boats – when there is congestion at the stop sign leading to the boats.
After visiting, I did lots of research on the history of the island. There are many unknowns still today and I continue to watch the developments as they excavate the statues.
One of the most memorable places on the island are the upper most cliffs above the islet. There are knee high caves with glyphs carved into nearby rocks marking the time of the birdmen and where they trained. This part of my story is based on history. During this time period, there were competitions to see which clan leader would be the leader for all clans during the next year. Finding and returning with the first sotty tern egg was the prize.

When I thought back over this contest, I recognized that Arthur’s stories have contests and quests – and that I could use this similarity to craft a story using the same characters but in a different time with a different type of challenge.

But I also wanted to pay homage to some of the movies I’ve seen, in particular, Excalibur, and in thinking back, the scene at the bridge between Lancelot and Arthur has always been one that struck me. And I drew some inspiration from that for the fight scene.

I’m not sure where other writer’s draw their inspiration or how their stories come together but mine tend to be bits and pieces of things I’ve seen, places I’ve been or little details that are locked away in corners of my brain – waiting to come out and become part of a story.

I hope you enjoyed the story and others in the anthology. My thanks to David for inviting me to his blog and to Josh and Uffda Press for the opportunity to be a part of this anthology.

C.A. Rowland
www.carowland.com
www.mostlymystery.com
https://twitter.com/writer4993

Guest Post:An Arthurian Revolution by Paola K. Amaras

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Dystopian, Guest Post, King Arthur, King of Ages, Paola K. Amaras, Twilight's Last Dreaming

Today we have a guest post from another author who contributed to the King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology. Paola’s story, “Twilight’s Last Dreaming”, is unique and imaginative and will sweep readers along on an exciting adventure. You can read this story and 12 others for free when you sign up for my newsletter for a limited time in May.

In the distant future, the Pendrag UthRoi and the Oligarchs’ Council control society, and a callow young man, ArtRoi, continually tinkers with his ayborg, Merl. Through the genius of this crèche charge, Merl is able to see the past and present, and extrapolate the future.

Only ArtRoi, living with his brother KāRoi on The Table, has avoided destiny. Even when his younger crèche brother BdwrRoi threw his lot in with the hoipols, ArtRoi preferred his lazy, indolent lifestyle to one of active involvement. Only once had he agreed to use his technical genius to please the Pendrag. His creation, the MORDREDS, drones used by the Pendrag  to spy on the hoipols, had worked far better than he had anticipated.

Society is crumbling and with his enhanced insight Merl knows that recruiting GwenEver, and her ayborg Viv, BdwrRoi, KāRoi, LanDulac and others, are the only bulwarks against the utter collapse of their world. All they need is a leader – a tech genius with access to UthRoi’s BadonMont operating system, and who can pull the Excali hardware from the stone. Someone to inspire, to create a new form of ruling, to ensure a better world. Merl dreams and knows that ArtRoi is the fulcrum for change, and the past and present must come together to create a future.

 

Twilight’s Last Dreaming came to me in my dreams. I was presented with the opportunity to write a story of King Arthur for inclusion in the King of Ages anthology. I started hearing Arthur stories when I was a little girl.  My family was into mythology and legends from all parts of the world, and I was reading  Mallory Morte D’Arthur, The Mabinogion, and The Once and Future King before most other books. I even found Alan Garner’s The Weirdstone of Brisingamen had wonderful allusions to the sleeping once and future King.

My dream showed me a future with huge disparity between the ruling classes and the hoipoloi, or the common peoples.  Even with all the elements of an Arthurian tale, it was still a cautionary tale. How things like the MORDREDS that were developed to help the people became weaponized; how ArtRoi awakens to his responsibilities and becomes the leader of all his peoples; and how his stalwart knights  in KaRoi, BdwrRoi, and all the others became the paladins in this dystopian universe.

But I wanted to tell a different story, one where Arthur isn’t a hero at the start and the world is a very different place. I wanted to see how various factors could influence and change a bleak present into a vivid future.  I went to sleep and tossed all the components I wanted to have in the story, basically an outline of the classic tales of King Arthur, coupled with the pre-Mallory versions that show up in the Welsh stories, and the Roman legends of Artos fighting off the Saxon incursions. Excalibur or Caliburn was an issue, since a sword inside a future tale would be out of place, but I trusted my dreams and by the next morning, I knew how to structure the story.

The names and relationships are derived from all the old tales.  Bedivere or his Welsh name, Bedwyr, was Arthur’s first follower and a known tinkerer.  Kay was Arthur’s seneschal as well as his foster brother and in some cases his best friend. Lancelot DuLac was his friend, Guinevere or Gywnhefer his wife.  They became BdwrRoi, KāRoi, LanDulac, GwenEver.  All were crèche mates and are connected by bonds that transcend time.

ArtRoi’s fate is inextricably linked to the past and the future, and it’s Merl, Art’s enhanced artificially intelligent cyborg, or ayborg, that is the fulcrum that sees the dangers of the now, the possibilities of the future, and the heartbreak of the past.  KaRoi, unlike the ridiculous Disney version, or even White’s Sir Kay, protects and stands beside his brother as a true guardian, or seneschal, does.  Uthur Pendrag is based on myth and legend, as well as reflects the evils of tyranny. The drones, MORDREDS, hearken back to something Arthur created that went wrong.  His biological sister even hides one from him, in the hopes to destroy him as he did their father.

The story was fun to write, and playing with philosophical ideas in the guise of a dystopian future was an excellent mirror into our own age.

Paola K Amaras co-owns Scribes Unlimited, LLC. She is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and has a master’s from the University of Pittsburgh. With her writing partner, Paul Kraly, she co-authored six non-fiction books, has her own first novel, Exiles of Dal Ryeas published, and is working her new series, Shadows in Light: Book One of The Hidden Rims Saga.  She is a blogger for the Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paola-k-amaras/,  Her Twitter is Writerswithcats, and you can find her author page at http://www.paolaamaras.com

Guest Post: The Second Coming of Arthur

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Alex Ness, Apocalypse, Christianity, Guest Post, King of Ages

Two weeks ago I had Josh Brown, one of the authors in the King of Ages anthology, contribute a guest post where he discussed the indie author movement in writing and why authors should choose to do what is right for them. Today another author in the same anthology, Alex Ness, is discussing the work that went into his own short story in that collection. Read his story, “Arthurus Rex Tempus, Rex Eternae” and twelve others when you get a copy of King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology. Enjoy!

***

The tales of King Arthur have appealed to me since my earliest memories.  When the publisher of KING OF AGES, Josh Brown presented his theme/concept for the book I immediately turned to the primal templates of Arthur and Merlyn.  Arthur lived with the blood of a brave but iniquitous man, Uther Pendragon in his veins, and was born of a rape of the mother.  Arthur was innocent, despite the perverse origins, and the one to counsel him, and announce him was Merlyn.  Understanding them, as Arthur as King and Merlyn his seer are timeless and turn up through out history, and beyond, I saw them as relating to the iconic theme of John the Baptist, and Christ the King.  However, I also saw them in the future, with Christ returning to earth, in the form of Arthur.  But wherever there is Arthur, there is Merlyn, and wherever Christ appears, he is foretold and announced by John.

 

“I found Him in the shining of the stars,
I marked Him in the flowering of His fields,
But in His ways with men I find Him not.
I waged His wars, and now I pass and die.”

Idylls of the King (1856–1885) by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, The Passing of Arthur

 

Only the setting of an apocalyptically destroyed earth was for me the prime setting for the return of the King.  Not for religious reasons, although I believe, but for the sake of purifying the setting to make the story stark by comparison.  When Arthur was drained from the sins of life, and his court, his land was ruined, when he sipped of the Grail he was renewed, and so, too, was the land.  I have loved the story of Arthur since I was able to read.  Being a poet, a lover of Arthur and his Legend, and a Christian, I sought to tell a story that utilized all of the parts of the works I love.

 

https://www.amazon.com/author/alexness

http://alexnesspoetry.blogspot.com

http://memoirsofalexness.blogspot.com/

http://cargokultmodernday.blogspot.com/

http://catastrophicmemories.blogspot.com/

Indie Authors: Choose What’s Right For You

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Indie Author, Josh Brown, King of Ages, Self-Publishing

Today’s guest post comes from Josh Brown, one of the authors in the King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology and the man responsible for putting the whole collection together. Come back on the 1st and 3rd Mondays in April and May for more guest posts from King of Ages writers.

Early in my writing career I decided to branch out and try my hand at writing comics. I’ve had some minor successes here and there, including “Shamrock,” a fantasy-adventure comic that is currently serialized bi-monthly in Fantasy Scroll Magazine.

But as soon as I dipped my toes in the comics industry water, I quickly found out that publishing in the world of comics is far different than in the world of fiction, especially when it comes to the topic of self-publishing.

In comics, self-publishing is almost a rite of passage. For most creators (writers, artists, writer-artists, what have you), it’s typically the first step in putting yourself out there. Many comic creators actually win awards for self-published work. Becky Cloonan won an Eisner Award for Best Single Issue for her self-published comic, The Mire. Her success with self-publishing led to scores of work from the big comic publishers, including work on Batman, Avengers, and most recently, a gig on The Punisher. Of course, none of that would have been possible if she wasn’t an incredibly skilled artist and storyteller, which she is.

Over 15 years ago, Robert Kirkman kicked off his writing career with a self-published comic called Battle Pope. This led to a couple other creations of his getting picked up by Image Comics, and eventually The Walking Dead. Fast forward to today, The Walking Dead is one of the highest-rated shows on cable television, to which Robert Kirkman serves as executive producer.

Self-publishing is looked at much differently in the world of fiction (short fiction, novels, etc.), where it is almost taboo. It’s becoming a little more accepted these days, but many see it as circumventing the quality-control checks and balances set in place by the industry. What you might not know if that there are several successful traditionally-published books that started out as self-published.

You’re probably familiar with The Martian, a highly successful film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. It’s not a big secret, but it’s also not highly publicized, that The Martian by Andy Weir,  started out as a self-published work in 2011. Crown Publishing purchased the rights and re-released it in 2014.  The book started as an online in serial format one chapter at a time for free at his website. At the request of fans who were following his regular updates, he made an Amazon Kindle version and sold it for only 99 cents. The rest is history.

There are other examples, and not all are limited to fiction. Irma Rombauer’s The Joy of Cooking. Rombauer used half of her life savings to pay a local printing company to print three thousand copies. Five years later, Bobbs-Merrill Company acquired the rights. To date, the book has sold over 18 million copies.

I could go on, but I guess what I am saying is you shouldn’t be afraid to self-publish your fiction; however, you need pay close attention on how to do it correctly and professionally. These days, anyone can vomit 60,000+ words into a word processing program and then upload it to Amazon KDP and call themselves and “author.” The key is in what you do prior to releasing your self-published book, and what you do after.

A self-published author has to be more than just a writer. You have be everything a traditional publisher is: content editor, copy editor, proofreader, designer, production, operations, marketing, publicity, and sales. And if you think you can get away with skipping those last three, you’re gravely mistaken. Of course, it all hinges on having a good, well-written book, but marketing, publicity, and sales is where the real magic of publishing happens.

 I think fiction writers can take note of the comics industry’s approach and attitude toward self-publishing, and use it as a means to springboard on to bigger and better things, whether that be to pursue a contract with a traditional publisher or to put out more self-published works.

Aspiring indie authors should also take note that self-published comic writers and creators take great pride in the quality of the finished product. This point goes back to what I said about a self-published author having to be more than just a writer.

Either way, self-publishing should be used as a proving ground and also to build a following. Make yourself a brand. Establish brand loyalty. This goes for fiction and comics writers alike.

Evaluate your motivations and fully understand the implications of your choice. Because if you do decide to self-publish that story, be prepared to spend a lot of time doing stuff like marketing and outreach. You sure you want to be doing that instead of just getting to work writing your next story?

All said and done, just remember it’s okay to experiment. Try different things. It’s one of the best ways to discover what works. And above all, keep writing.

————————————

Josh Brown is the writer and creator of “Shamrock,” a fantasy/adventure comic that appears regularly in Fantasy Scroll Magazine. His comic work has appeared numerous places, including Alterna Tales from Alterna Comics and the award-winning Negative Burn. His poetry and short fiction can be found in Star*Line, Poetry Quarterly, Scifaikuest, SpeckLit, and a variety of anthologies such as Lovecraft After Dark (JWK Fiction), Dystopian Express (Hydra Publications), King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology (Uffda Press), and many more.

 Most recently, he served as guest editor for issue 20 of Eye to the Telescope, the official online journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA).

https://ninjamindcontrol.wordpress.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Josh-Brown/e/B004S6S6HG/

http://fantasyscrollmag.com/

http://eyetothetelescope.com/

https://tapastic.com/episode/291087

March Guest Posts

Tags

Book Review, Guest Post, King of Ages, Naming Characters, revision, short story

I had planned on writing about Revising vs. Editing here but, given time constraints and the desire to finish my current short story before the April 2nd deadline, I have instead decided to make this a spot with links to all the guest posts I have written and had published over the course of this month. The first of these actually does deal with Revision, and discusses in passing the difference between revision and editing, so that one will be worth visiting!

As an important note to begin, my first newsletter went out today! Sign up now and I will make sure you get a copy of it in your email. This newsletter contains a short article about authors, a spotlight on an indie author you should be reading, a preview of my short story, “Words Like Rain”, and more!

Improving Your Manuscript Through Revision – posted on 3/21 on Hijinksblog

Naming Characters: Fantasy Edition – posted on 3/21 on Our Write Side

Short Story: The Best Birthday – posted on 3/12 on Our Write Side

Book Review: Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld – posted on 3/13 on Our Write Side

Arthurian Adaptation – posted on 3/20 on Lavinia Collins Author Page

A Space of My Own – posted on 3/3 on T.A. Barron’s blog

And, in case you missed it at the end of February, one of my favorite short stories is up on Sci Phi Journal: “The First Martian Church of God” so be sure to check that one out and let me know your thoughts on it!

King of Ages Sighting!

Tags

Beaverdale Books, Indie Author, King Arthur, King of Ages, Small Bookstore

For those not in the know, I wrote one of the 13 stories that was published as part of the King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology. It came out last August and it took me a while to wrap my head around the magnitude of having my story in this collection. About a month ago I finally read my copy of the book and loved it, and you can find my review of the book here. I am proud of my own story in here and honored to have it alongside such a talented set of authors.

This past month I have tried to promote the book because I believe in the book as a whole. It truly is deserving of a place on your bookshelf or your Kindle library. One of the local bookstores in my home state of Iowa, Beaverdale Books, has agreed to carry some copies of the book, so today I ventured out to find them on the shelf and snap a picture or two.

There are three signed copies on the shelf there so make sure to grab yours! For those of you not near the Des Moines area, you can always order a copy for yourself.

You can order it, in paperback or eBook version, on Amazon.

You can also sign up for my newsletter, which will get you a code worth 20% off a paperback version of King of Ages. Plus my newsletter later this month will include an excerpt from my story in this collection, “The Saga of Artur Uthersson”. Don’t miss out on your chance to get this exclusive content and more by signing up for my newsletter.

Honestly, it was a surreal experience to see this book for sale in an actual bookstore here in town. I am blown away by it all and can’t wait until the day comes that I can promote more books that become available.

If you have read King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology, don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon at the very least. As I mentioned previously, this is one of the ways you can help support authors at the cost of just as much time as it takes to write an honest review. Your review could lead to extra sales, which helps to support those authors.

Coming Soon: A Monthly Newsletter

Tags

Coming Soon, King of Ages, Newsletter, Writing

If you happen to be looking, you might just see to the right side of the page that there is a new little snippet and a link to subscribe to a newsletter.

That’s right, I will be putting out a newsletter each month, starting hopefully in March.

What sort of great and wonderful things will you find there? Exclusives that non-subscribers will miss out upon, which could be samples of what I’m working on, notifications of when publications that have my stories go on sale, writing tips, and who knows what else may come your way.

Honestly, I don’t know what they will look like yet, but I promise they will be worth signing up for because they will have something that no one else will get to see. And, as a further sweetener to the deal, when you sign up you will get an email back within a week that will contain a short excerpt from my short story, “The Saga of Artur Uthersson”, which was featured in the King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology.

And, as an even better bonus, there will be a code that you can use to save 20% off your purchase of a paperback copy of King of Ages.

So click here and sign up for the newsletter. I promise to only send out one newsletter a month unless there happens to be breaking news, such as a signed book contract. Which, when that day comes, will be the sort of news worth breaking immediately.

Book Review – King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology

Tags

Anthology, Book Review, david wiley, King Arthur, King of Ages, Merlin, short story, Uffda Press

King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology

 

Containing the following Short Stories:

“Unto His Final Breath” by Mike Morgan

“The Siege of Battle-Station Camelot” by Patrick S. Baker

“Arturia” by David W. Landrum

“Twilight’s First Dreaming” by Paola K. Amaras

“Arthurus Rex Tempus, Rex Eternae” by Alex Ness

“The Trek” by Philip Kuan

“If this Grail Be Holy” by P. Andrew Miller

“She Who Makes Us Free” by Joanna Michal Hoyt

“Lord of the Plains” by Doug Goodman

“The Challenge” by C.A. Rowland

“Pirate King” by Josh Brown

“The Saga of Artur Uthersson” by David Wiley

“The Breaking Dawn” by Dale W. Glaser

 

Published by Uffda Press on 8/2/2015

334 Pages (Paperback)

Blurb: A fresh take on a legendary tale, this anthology of thirteen short stories is a testament to just how eternal and timeless the story of King Arthur truly is.

One recurring aspect of Arthurian literature is the notion that he will one day return as a messiah to save his people. Another hallmark of the King Arthur legend is that Merlin—wizard, prophet, and Arthur’s most trusted advisor—lives backwards through time. What if Merlin was actually advising multiple reincarnations of King Arthur during various points, and places, in time and history? And what if this all began at the end of time?

King of Ages is an anthology like no other, showcasing stories that re-imagine King Arthur at several points in history, from the end of days all the way to the beginning of mankind.

My Take: All bias aside, this is an excellent collection of stories that re-imagine King Arthur through various time periods and acting in various situations. Some of the tales take on a traditional feel, while others are extremely innovative in their approach. Arthur and Merlin are the constants in every tale, although not always with those exact names, and many other gems of Arthurian legend are scattered throughout the thirteen stories in this anthology. It was almost as much fun picking out those references as it was reading the stories themselves, but that is my own love of Arthurian legend talking.

I absolutely love the concept behind this anthology, as it poses the idea of Merlin travelling backwards through time, with the first story coming at the end of the universe and working its way back to ancient times. There are a solid set of futuristic tales to begin the anthology and, honestly, I wished there had been more historical fiction tales in this anthology. I loved the pirate tale and, of course, my own, but the possibility of Ancient Rome, late-Renaissance or even Victorian-era tales are a glaring omission. Of course the publisher can only accept the stories that get pitched so that is no fault toward this anthology. It just would have been nice to see more tales taking place more than a century removed from our own.

As with any set of tales, there are ones I enjoyed more than others. There are some absolutely fantastic stories on display here, and I will state that even the stories that didn’t really appeal to my tastes at least had excellent writing. The collection of authors who are pooled together in this book are truly amazing and talented and I am honored to have my own story stand alongside theirs.

If you love Sci-Fi, if you love Fantasy, or if you love all things King Arthur than do yourself a favor and get a copy of this book. By the end you will agree that it was well worth the time invested to explore this interesting and fresh approach on the Arthurian legend.

August is Publishing Month

Tags

Eat Sleep Write, King of Ages, Mystic Signals

We are a handful of days into August yet a lot has happened this month. At least as far as published writings are concerned. So for those who are interested in keeping up, here are what has been published so far (and where you can read/buy them) and what is still to come out this month.

King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology by Uffda Press was released on 8/1/2015. This collection of 13 short stories includes one of my own, “The Saga of Artur Uthersson” among them all. My story imagines King Arthur during the settlement age of Iceland and he encounters dark magic, prophecy, and some familiar friends and foes. It is available in both Kindle and in Paperback.

Kindle Version.    Paperback Version on Amazon.     Paperback on Createspace.

Mystic Signals: Volume 26 was released on 8/5/2015. This magazine contains a short story, “Doppelganger Danger”, that I wrote as a sequel to “Ogre Hunt”. She picks up the trail of a Doppelganger, a dangerous monster that can shed its identity with ease, and she is forced to team up with an old friend in order to finally track it down. This story is one of two print-only stories contained in the pages (all the other stories can be read for free online)

Buy it on Amazon.      Buy it on Createspace.

“Ogre Hunt” is a short story about Ava, a monster hunter, who pursues an ogre into a cave for its bounty. What she encounters along this hunt causes more danger and excitement than she had expected. This is the story that started it all for stories of Ava and monster hunters and shouldn’t be missed. This story is being released in five parts with a new part released every Tuesday on Eat Sleep Write. The first two parts are already out and can be read by following the links below.

Read Part One       Read Part Two

“Fear of the Unwritten” is a sonnet I wrote a while ago about the fear of having all my stories unwritten and untold. As a writer I have far more story ideas than I could every possible write. At the time of its composition, I was still struggling to not only write stories but also to find places to publish what I had already written. The poem will be released on 8/7 on Eat Sleep Write.

Finally, “The Best Birthday” is a short story about a young girl who gets the best birthday present ever. It is a short and fun tale that I hope you’ll enjoy. This goes live on Eat Sleep Write on 8/21.

So this is the update of August happenings. It has been a busy and eventful month so far and I hope to continue to be able to break news of upcoming publications all month long.