Hi peeps, we have Andrew Q. Gordon popping in today with his upcoming release Kings of Lore & Legend. We have a fantastic guest post from Gordan and there’s a fabulous excerpt…. AND all you readers can get a free copy of the first book in the series The Last Grand Master so check out the post and get your free copy now! <3 ~Pixie~
Kings of Lore & Legend
Andrew Q. Gordon
Dumbarten should have been the end of Farrell’s efforts to find his distant ancestor Kel, but the Six have other plans. Farrell is told to continue his search for answers in Agloth, the temple city to Seritia. Forced by the Goddess to ride across the vast continent of Lourdria, Farrell and his companions learn that Meglar’s reach extends well beyond the borders of Ardus. And Agloth, despite being dedicated to the Goddess of Love, is also home to a millennia-old curse that Farrell must end if he wants to complete his task.
Answers don’t come easily, and Farrell determines he must travel to the Dwarf Kingdom of Colograd to continue his quest. When an ally of Meglar’s threatens Agloth, Farrell cuts short his time in Colograd and rushes back to defend Seritia’s home. The attack seems doomed to fail, but the death of one of his companions distracts Farrell at a critical moment. Battling against his crushing grief, Farrell struggles to save Agloth, his friends, and himself. And even if he survives, he still hasn’t found Kel or his answers.
Andrew Q. Gordon
As Things End
I remember back in college—no, really I do, even though it’s more years ago than some of you have been alive—and I’d just completed my last college exam. After the initial relief at finishing (and knowing I’d done well enough that I was going to graduate) I had one of those moments where you stop what you’re doing to think through something that just came to you. I believe some would call it an epiphany, and having gone to a catholic university, it might well have been, but it really wasn’t that profound a moment. But what hit me was, something had just ended. A part of my life, a phase, that I’d spent so long working toward, was over. There was no ‘next semester’ anymore.
We all have those moments, I’m sure, but that was the first time I realized it. Not high school or any of the other grades, but that one moment stuck with me to this day. Since then I’ve had quite a few more of those moments, but I think the biggest may be ahead of me—‘lil q graduating high school and leaving home, retiring, moving somewhere warm and welcoming to old folks, stuff like that.
Writing is a lot like that. We create our characters or our towns or our universes, and eventually we need to let go and accept that a phase of our lives—or theirs—is over. Kings of Lore & Legend brings the Champion of the Gods series to a tipping point and has it heading toward its end. I’d originally planned the series to be four books, but when I first published The Last Grand Master, most publishers wouldn’t accept a manuscript from a first time author over 120K words. Ever notice how the Harry Potter books got SO much longer as the series went on? I’m willing to bet that if J.K. Rowling had her way, all the books would have been as long as Deathly Hallows.
Cycle back to me. The story was way too long, even with even with extensive editing, to fit into four books. I started to think six or seven. But then, Dreamspinner Press launched DSP Publications in the Fall of 2014. They agreed that for fantasy novels, they’d permit longer books for a series. Armed with a higher word count, I decided I could complete the rest of the series in three longer books rather than five. That’s a long way of reiterating that Kings of Lore and Legend is the mid point. And I finished that book ten months ago. Child of Night and Day is nearly finished and that leaves just the as yet untitled book five to go.
I don’t think I’ll revisit this universe again. I know some have done it before: David Eddings did it twice, when he wrote the Malloreon to follow the Belgariad, and the Tamuli to follow the Elenium; Stephen R. Donaldson did it twice with the Thomas Covenant series; and Mercedes Lackey did it a few times with her different Valdemar series. Of course, I’m not any of them.
For me, finding another adventure, one that will captive readers is hard. Now, I can hear folks saying, “right, what are the odds someone with a lot of magic, living in a world where the gods are fighting will have two interesting adventures.” Okay, you got me there. The odds are high that they would, but remember, no one likes to jump the shark.
The other thing is, in life, we have to accept that phases end and then we move on. Whether that’s a good or bad thing remains to be seen. The unknown is usually scary, but it’s exciting as well. So while this phase isn’t over yet, it’s getting closer. Then I’ll need to figure out what to do with the next one.
Excerpt
Vedric crossed his arms and stared over Petres’s head. “You may be right, but I’m not going to act on an assumption. Our information hasn’t been accurate so far, and I’d not want to find out they’ve snuck off to Agloth while we focused our attention on their last hiding place.”
Neither spoke for a time. Finally Petres shuffled his feet. “That is a wise decision, my lord. So what do we do next?”
“We must tell him what we’ve learned and what happened with our attack.”
“And you think that will appease him?” Petres’s doubt oozed from his words.
“No, but that is not all I intend to tell him.” Vedric’s evil smile sent a chill up Farrell’s spine despite this being the second time he’d seen it. “They make for Seritia’s city. I intend to take an army and pursue them. If we can’t stop them before they get to Agloth, then we will march on the city and demand the priestess turn her over to us. If they don’t…. The first war between Holy Neldin and the others began with the destruction of Seritia’s temple. There’s no reason the second one can’t start that way too.”
Petres opened his eyes wider and swallowed visibly. “My lord. You can’t be serious about attacking the goddess’s holy city.”
“I can and I am. Our god, Neldin, is at war with the Six. The followers of the Six spent centuries destroying and defiling Neldin’s holy houses.” The anger in his voice made it sound personal. “Just as Most Holy Neldin could not prevent the desecration of His temples, neither can Seritia stop us. If She interferes, She’ll hand Neldin an opening into this world. She’ll watch Her city be destroyed before She takes an active hand. Count on that.”
Petres considered Vedric’s words and then smiled. “Your point is well made. Destroying Seritia’s city is something the master will appreciate. And if it results in the death or capture of a princess of the house of Hevnor, so much the better.”
“I’m glad we agree.” Vedric pointed toward the door. “Leave me while I compose myself before I give him our news.”
The image winked out of existence. Farrell stowed the Eye in his pocket and turned toward Penelope. “They seemed to know you. Do either of them look familiar?”
She shook her head but didn’t speak. Shifting his attention to the others, Farrell noticed everyone looking at him. When no one spoke, he checked to see he had his clothes on and then looked behind him. Seeing nothing, he turned back. “What?”
“You really didn’t see it?” Miceral asked.
“See what? That Meglar is behind this? Sure. But what kingdom has he subverted that this prince is bowing to him?”
“Didn’t the younger one look familiar?” Takala asked.
Farrell searched his memory and considered Vedric again. “No. Why?”
About Andrew
Andrew Q. Gordon wrote his first story back when yellow legal pads, ball point pens were common and a Smith Corona correctable typewriter was considered high tech. Adapting with technology, he now takes his MacBook somewhere quiet when he wants to write.
He currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his partner of twenty-one years, their young daughter and dog. In addition to dodging some very self-important D.C. ‘insiders’, Andrew uses his commute to catch up on his reading. When not working or writing, he enjoys soccer, high fantasy, baseball and seeing how much coffee he can drink in a day.
Follow Andrew:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Or just email him: andrewqgordon@gmail.com
Get your free book!
In the run up to the release of Kings of Lore & Legend, you can get book one, The Last Grand Master for free. Yep, that’s right, DSP Publications is giving away book one free.
GET YOUR FREE COPY OF THE LAST GRAND MASTER
Or you can down load it directly from DSP Publications: (limited time only)
Book two, The Eye and the Arm, is now just .99 cents. The sale is only until May 1, 2016.
Thanks so much for hosting me today.