Fantasy of a different breed. Fantasy with a strong addition of Taoist and Stoic philosophy.
I'll be perfectly honest. . . traditional fantasy with trolls, elves, goblins , etc., has never been a favorite form of entertainment for me. My tastes have always ran to either nuts-and-bolts hard science-fiction or heroic science-fiction/fantasy usually found in Robert E. Howard's Conan series. Ah, but if you could perhaps take fantasy and ultimately make it heroic sci-fi . . .well then, you might have something remarkable.
Artwork for Roland of the High Crags series is being done by Jesus and Javier Carmona, of Madrid, Spain. Two brothers of exceptional talent in the realm of Fantasy. The plan is to use their vision throughout the series. A series of at least eight volumes. Check out their work at www.carmonaart.com.
The thought of writing a fantasy series uniquely different from the standard, Tolkin-esque copies flooding the market today has always interested me. How about a fantasy series that was dark, moody, filled with treachery and deceit? How about a series where the main character, in this case a warrior-monk, and skilled wizard, by the name of Roland of the High Crags--is, at times, far from being the perfect hero? How about a hero who, in extreme crisis, goes into a blind rage and seeks out revenge against Evil--yet does so in a blind, mindless fury that may be more harmful than protective?
On a planet inhabited by two species of intelligent biped--one man, and the other a dragon-scaled repitle called King Dragons--this human warrior-monk is asked to protect a seven year old dragon princess from certain death. The problem is, dragon and man have been fighting a war of mutual destruction for over a thousand years. Dragon gods, and dragon prophecy, claim only with the destruction of mankind will dragonkind survive. To further complicate the issue, this child is no ordinary dragon child. She is a Pearl Princess--the last of five promised by dragon gods to come to the dragon clans. Her destiny is to grow to adulthood and unite all of dragonkind and lead them in the final great assault on humanity.
She is, therefore, an extremely deadly enemy to Roland and humanity. Yet he accepts the challenge with a secret agenda all his own. And his destiny and fate are forever changed.
More artwork from the talented brothers of Jesus and Javier Carmona. This is the for the cover of book two of the Roland series entitled, Roland of the High Crags: Treacherous Brethren. Coming sometime in 2010.
