Meet Sheila Deeth's guests and find out what Sheila's reading: Book reviews; Guest posts; Authors' musings; Publishers' ponderings...
Novels for a Brighter World
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Today I'm delighted to welcome author Steven L. Shrewsbury back to my blog with his new, action-packed heroic fantasy novel, Killer of Giants! I've been a reader and fan of myths and legends, swords and sorcery, and dark fantasy since childhood, so I know I will love exploring this first story of the Keltos warrior Rogan! But... is there light in the darkness? Over to you Steven
Novels for a Brighter World
By Steven L. Shrewsbury
I have in my bio that I seek after
brightness in this world wherever it may hide. I know what I meant when I said
it, but was asked recently what about this new book of mine, KILLER OF GIANTS
adds to the world’s brightness.
It’s a book, a story, a yarn that will
take you away from the mundane stuff of everyday life. One doesn’t need to look
at social media, wonder which spoiled Hollywood celeb is sleeping with who or
slapped who…or how many people are killing each other in Asia. All the arguments
over silly political nonsense that distracts people from how much the
government is screwing us can be quelled for a while by reading KILLER OF
GIANTS. How do I know?
All fiction should be a form of escapism,
and allow an escape from modern reality for a while within its pages. KILLER OF
GIANTS? It’s an adventure, a story full of action, hardnosed characters, antiheroes,
and a flawed main character one can’t help but root for. In Rogan, we see a
savage man, wronged by forces he signed on to fight for, out to glean revenge
on them and to save his family from slavery. The times, a pre-flood world is
full of crass individuals like today, but they are not snarky punks with no
guts on the internet. They are flesh & blood jerks who want to see you die
and our characters must fight them or fall victim to their desires.
What is bright about that? The desire to
strive on, the will to survive and take action while others cower…to explore
the natural instinct to react to horrid things, no matter how grandiose. It
isn’t a programed behavior exercise where sudden violence is shocking, but
perhaps the order of the day. It’s a story of courage in the face of terrible
odds and monsters, human and otherwise. Are the chimeras, demons, gorgons and mammoths
in KILLER OF GIANTS the scary ones or does that moniker belong to the people of
the tale? Perhaps one rivals the other.
This doesn’t sound like a bright picture,
does it? But it strips away the flesh of modern timidity or folk hiding behind keyboards
and a lack of courage to show you REAL valor, from men and women, to fight on
for retribution and the rest of their lives.
What am I after in this book? To
entertain, to tell you a story and to make you forget the world for a bit--Escapism,
the purist form of storytelling and what all have sought after for thousands of
years. Heroes, villains and monsters, devils, demons and all that…they will
make you forget who is sleeping with who and why memes are considered near to
scripture these days.
Take my hand and turn a page. Read a story
that takes you away from all of that. Amid the lines one might learn a bit
about legends and history, littered throughout the novel. Ancient
Shynar/Sumeria and its gods & demons, fabled cities and curses, basis for legends
and creatures, all wrapped up to entertain, and not insult your intelligence.
Read and garner a desire to look for more works,
not just my words, but tales from the past where these came. Breathe it in and
ignore the absurdity of a damaged, contemporary world, one that has not learned
from these tales of the past, from wars long ago...and times when one did what
had to be done, and may have been mistaken for a hero. This ideal alone, will
bring more brightness to the world, as one will look onward and upward to
greater things, and perhaps be reminded of a time when things were similar, yet
crass, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, If one bashes the walls out
a little, we can let the sunshine in, be it with sword or pen.
So, take a look into KILLER OF GIANTS and
escape for a little while. The way might seem a bit dark at first, but in time,
it will lead on up to light.
Thank you Steven. You answered my question wonderfully, and I do agree, the dark escapism of fiction can lead us up to light as it leads us out of the world battling in around us. I'm definitely looking forward to reading this.
About the author:
Award-winning author STEVEN L. SHREWSBURY lives and works in Central Illinois. He writes hardcore sword & sorcery, fantasy and horror novels. Twenty of his novels have been published, including KILLER OF GIANTS, BEYOND NIGHT, BORN OF SWORDS, WITHIN, OVERKILL, PHILISTINE, HELL BILLY, THRALL, BLOOD & STEEL, STRONGER THAN DEATH, HAWG, TORMENTOR and GODFORSAKEN. His horror/western series includes BAD MAGICK, LAST MAN SCREAMING, MOJO HAND and ALONG COME EVENING. He has collaborated with Brian Keene on the works KING OF THE BASTARDS, THRONE OF THE BASTARDS & CURSE OF THE BASTARDS and Peter Welmerink on the Viking saga BEDLAM UNLEASHED. A big fan of books, history, the occult, religion and sports, he tries to seek out brightness in the world, wherever it may hide.
In an antediluvian world, Keltos warrior Rogan emerges as the lone survivor of a battle. Slaying a Nephilim giant from Shynar, Rogan takes back the mammoth his folk gifted the kings.
Soon, warriors are sent to recapture the mammoth and bring it to the Lord of the world, Zazaeil, a demon in human flesh, and the Nephilim giant Marduk, in the fabled city of Irem.
After learning that his sister is to be a sacrificial bride to Marduk, Rogan journeys to Irem in the company of Elisa, a warrior herself, whose mother is a wizardess. With a horde of warriors in pursuit, they encounter many evils, monsters, and challenges to their selves and souls.
Will the song of Rogan’s blood make him strong enough to be the Killer of Giants?
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