Her city was put to the fire; her family enslaved. For centuries she served the shadowmancer. Now, he too has been taken from her.
The Source must be reopened and the Lost Continent released. The Day of Darkness once came and nearly destroyed humanity.
It will come again and she will have her revenge.
Awakening, Watchers of the Light Book 2 Coming Soon.
Book1, Among the Shadows is out now.
#ChooseASide #DarknessIsComing #WhoIsTheNewShadowmancer?
In an age lost to myth, all human life nearly vanished from the Earth. War erupted between men and demon. The Blood Rain fell from the skies, the land was scorched and torn. The waters came and completed the ruin of the world.
In time, people ceased believing in such tales. This the Darkness wanted. It waited until it was forgotten, a time when most thought it foolish to listen to the warnings of their ancestors. Among the shadows malice lurked, and signs from the Light were ignored. Centuries passed.
A shadowmancer arose to launch a new Scourge. Evils unseen since the ancient wars returned from the Abyss. The modern world would soon fall. No men could stand against them. So they thought.
Six Watchers, gifted by the Light, stood to meet the Darkness and destroyed the Dark One’s legions.
While the world had been unaware, all had nearly been lost. Now the shadows had receded, their terror extinguished. The Followers had been burnt by the Light.
Except one.
If a lost land could be raised, if the ageless weapons restored, she would have her revenge. New hordes would be brought through the veil. The final merging of both worlds completed. Ancient tales of the end of days no longer legend.
An Awakening.
Will the Watchers, who had turned back what emerged from the shadows, be able to stand against a new onslaught? One that would leave every land in desolation and enslave all whom survive?
They will not fight alone. More of their kind, wielding gifts of great power, have also come forth. The Light surges in us all, but among the Watchers it is untamed and unbound. Only the can turn back what is coming.
In these last hours, they are our only hope.
Awakening, Watchers of the Light Book 2 Coming Soon.
Book1, Among the Shadows is out now. #ChooseASide #DarknessIsComing #WhoIsTheNewShadowmancer?
Egypt’s fabled Labyrinth, well, was never a fable. Ancient historians visited and wrote about it. Then it was lost, buried under the sands. In 2008, explorers believe they found evidence of the Labyrinth’s location, but the Egyptian government shut down their operation, and haven’t allowed any further exploration. Perhaps they are afraid of what may be found, locked away for ages.
In Awakening, Book 2 of the Watchers of the Light, the Labyrinth may hold the key to humanity’s survival.
Or its ruin.
Awakening, coming soon.
#WarIsUponUs #WhoIsTheShadowmancer #ChooseASide
The newest printing of Among the Shadows features the latest version of Dark Snowfall, a Lost Tale in which Milena steps through the veil into a troubling winter encounter. This should also be in the ebook edition soon, so there is no better time to Join the War and Choose a Side.
[Full disclosure: This is an interview with me, by me. Yes, you read that right…]
Today we are talking with writer Darrick Dean, author of the Watchers of the Light historical fantasy series. He has graciously taken time out of his busy schedule to answer a few quick questions on his books and writing. Thanks for joining us tonight, Darrick, ready to dive in?
Good to be here. Let’s give this a go.
Q: So, fantasy stories are often set in other realms or alternate realities, but the Watchers of the Light is set in our own modern world. There is a catch, however. Not all myth is fiction. Can you tell us more about this premise?
A: I wanted to really blur the line between reality and fantasy, so I took some historical elements, and overlaid bits of myth and legend. Of course, another facet is that legend often has remnants of truth in it. Take the core of the Iliad — the Trojan War and the siege of Troy — turned out to be true. So did the Viking Sagas detailing voyages to America, and so on. Now the reader is left wondering where fact ends, and fiction begins, while being drawn deeper into the story.
Q: Among the Shadows has an archetypal villain, the shadowmancer Ahriman. What kind of threat will the Watchers face in Awakening?
A: Ahriman is largely a puppetmaster, controlling everything from afar. He isn’t overly complex in his motivations, but is certainly malicious and powerful. His past his only hinted at, which leaves an opening for future stories. In Awakening, we encounter a different sort of enemy. Darkness pervades her as well, but her story is more complex, her motivations more faceted.
Q: In the first book, much of the story centers around Ethan and his family, all gifted with different abilities. Does the focus change in book 2?
A: The plan was always to give all the characters substantial roles, but to shine the light a little more on different people in each book. In Awakening we see that happening, including bringing to the forefront a person who was just hinted at in book one. She was a bit mysterious, bookending the first story, but here we find her in the thick of things. Also, with the establishment of the characters out of the way, I think we will see them grow more and be more comfortable in their chosen paths.
Q: Among the Shadows certainly was influenced by traditional fantasy in the sense of creatures and battles and searching for lost relics. Will the story continue down this path?
A: A little, but I want to move the needle just a bit. Not only don’t you want your plots identical, making some subtle changes in the atmosphere keeps things fresh. I like how the Mission Impossible films use different directors to give each film a slightly different look, yet still keep them in the same continuity. Not jarring change, but they avoid a same-old feel. Awakening has creatures and battles for sure, but there is an Edgar Rice Burroughs influence here. Think lost worlds and kinetic action. More crisp and tactile.
Q: What’s the best part of writing these stories?
A: Seeing them come alive on their own. Sooner or later in writing a story, people and places appear that you didn’t plan for. Character arcs you never outlined form on their own. When an author experiences this, he or she has left writing and entered storytelling.
Q: What’s the hardest part?
A: Editing. First you must find the best parts, the ones that just pop off the page, and compare everything else to them. You cut and delete what no longer works, or never did. Think you can’t delete your amazing words? You will once you realize how much more amazing they can be. First chapters, then paragraphs are refined. Next are sentences. Then you are down to individual words. Shaping and trimming like a sculptor. Then you’re done. Mostly.
Q: What does the future hold for the Watchers and their adventures?
A: Finishing Awakening is the first goal. Everyone thinks in trilogies these days, and that’s my initial plan as well. That could no doubt change, but this universe will ultimately have self-contained sets of different lengths. Two books I have planned will parallel the Watchers of the Light, and most likely intersect with it. Set in the same world with a different focus. There is a clue in Among the Shadows to what beings will be featured in the Servants of the Flame duology. I also plan to put together a collection of shorts — lost tales, deleted scenes — featuring various people we have already met, and yet to come.
Thanks for taking the time to speak to everyone. Where can readers find your book?
No, problem, it’s been fun. Among the Shadows is on Amazon, of course, plus most other booksellers. And be sure to check out some excerpts, character profiles and other cool stuff.
To you it is just a breeze. A wind on a wintry day. A summer storm across the plains. When I lost what was dearest to me, a storm was unleashed from within. The winds could terrify and destroy.
I tamed them, made them answer to the Light.
Now evil arises among the sands, in the shadows, and the deep sea. I am Solana, and I will hunt the Darkness, search it out, and call forth the tempest to hurl the demonspawn back into the Abyss.
Among the Shadows: Watchers of the Light Book 1
[Photo used under license from Shutterstock.com.]
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The amazing prices of $2.99 for the ebook, and $12.99 for the paperback of Among the Shadows, ends in a few days. There has never been a better time to choose a side in the War Among the Shadows. Join the six Watchers while you still can.
What was locked in shadow stirs, and where darkness has laid dormant, evil awakes.
This is not some mythical land, nor the distant past. Our own world, our own time, will face malice not seen since ancient times. Once, when the world was new, the Fallen battled the Light over the destiny of humankind. Civilization was left in flames, the Scourges turned back by the Watchers in the last hour. The Darkness, though, was not defeated.
Now, there are six that will decide the fate of us all. A new generation of Watchers, gifted by the Light.
Ethan, with unmatched strength and speed, has walked unafraid among the shadows. Milena is his equal and can command the life around her. Kyra, but a child, can see into the minds of men. The Darkness fears what she may become. Conrad can sidestep time and pass through the veil. Kane must conquer his fears even as the energy of Healing surges within. Duncan wields the substance of life as a weapon none can survive.
Those they face, the Dark One’s Followers, are also gifted. Their skills were forged in blackness.
The depraved seek lost relics infused with unimaginable power. Through portals of time they will raise an army of nightmarish creatures once lost to myth and legend. Collapse and ruin they will bring.
A war of the worst sort has begun. The six Watchers must stem the tide, or will they be drowned by the flood of darkness that ends the age of man?
Darrick Dean 