EPIC FANTASY *With Dragons

An Epic Fantasy* like no other!
(*with dragons)
Epic Fantasy *With Dragons
Master Dragonslayer Corlan Tang is the best in the business!
So it is little surprise that jealous Guild rivals conspired to have the sniveling Prince to banish him from the city.
Sent out into the Valley of Death – and stuck with a runaway boy from the palace kitchen – Corlan decides on a plan. He will head to the far end of the valley where he’s heard a vast marsh provides nesting grounds for the dragon horde. There he will smash their eggs and lance the younglings, destroying dragons once and for all! Then he can return as a conquering hero!
However, like any foolhardy quest, there are constant dangers and seductive detours along the way – as well as unsettling encounters with new allies, fiends, and traitors. A quest changes a man, Corlan realizes, and he finally must reconcile the dark secrets from his past.
Despite every distraction, Corlan must succeed, if only for his own stubborn sense of justice, but also so he might return home again. To achieve his goal, he must push himself onward, use his wits and guile, demonstrate his daring-do, and employ all the will and strength he can muster – for surely the gods have assigned him their harshest tests in this twisted new world, harshly cleaved from fire and quake. After all, the fate of the world rests in our hero’s hands.

[Read more about the creation of this epic work on the author’s blog.]

Dystopia, Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalypse: What’s the Difference?

Dystopia, Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalypse: What’s the Difference?
For many readers, of fiction such as The Hunger Games and the Divergent series, the distinction between dystopia, apocalypse and post-apocalyptic fiction can be confusing. And, to be honest, the lines can be blurred between the three genres as well as sometimes having them able to exist together within the same novel! So what are the distinct differences? Let’s break it down:

Dystopia

This is the opposite to the term utopia which means a perfect place, or the assumption of a perfect existence. It is usually also assumed to be an imagined or idealistic state and not a physical place. The term was first used in the novel called Uptopia, written by Sir Thomas Moore and published in 1516.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsIf utopia is quite literally paradise, then dystopia can be thought to be a place that is hell on earth. While this definition can be true, dystopia as a genre is quite often used to describe a place that appears perfect on the surface but is bad underneath. Sometimes this corrupt existence is known but suppressed (The Capitol in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games is a perfect example of this). In other instances, the world appears to all intents to be perfect, but it is discovered as otherwise, quite often by the main character in the story.

As of late I have heard a lot of people referring to AMC’s The Walking Dead as dystopia for adults. This TV series is set in a post-apocalyptic world that is indeed filled with horrors that, by nature, are the very opposite of a Utopian world, however, I would not consider it true dystopian. Without the appearance of an organised ruling body that seems perfect on the outside, this TV series falls neatly into the post-apocalyptic genre. While there are small factions of seemingly Uptopian communities (Woodbury, Terminus, etc), the ruling body needs to be more global than that to classify as true dystopia. If the TV series were set entirely within one of those communities, then, yes, the show would be considered dystopia, but these communities act as catalysts for story lines and plot development rather than the complete direction of the series.

Apocalyptic/Apocalypse

The Stand by Stephen KingMany novels you see in the genre of post-apocalyptic are actually apocalypse novels. The Stand by Stephen King is an example of this, his more recent novel, Under the Dome, also falls into the apocalyptic genre. For this category, you need a world that is in the midst of crumbling. There can be many reasons for this: famine, disease, medical mayhem, earthquakes & other natural disasters  the Mayan calendar, religion & the end times, zombies, aliens, and so the list goes on. The main thing to be aware of is the fact that life as we currently know it is disappearing and the survivors have to cope with this as well as plan for the future ahead.

Post Apocalyptic/Post-Apocalypse

The Passage by Justin CroninThis genre is similar to the apocalyptic one, and sometimes it can even overlap. The Passage by Justin Cronin does this. His book starts as a post-apocalyptic adventure, but in parts we are taken back to the time of the apocalypse.

In the post-apocalyptic world, the life-changing event has occurred and human existence as we currently know it has drastically changed. This genre, however, is not interested in how people react to the cataclysmic events as they occur, but how people change and evolve as time goes on.

The Walking Dead comic series by  Robert KirkmanSometimes the post-apocalyptic world will be many years and generations into the future and this is quite often where the line between post-apocalyptic and dystopia blur. When this is the case, the world that we currently live in is quite often (but not always) seen by the post-apocalyptic characters as an utopian world. In other instances, the post-apocalyptic world will be newer and many of the characters in the story remember what life was like before the big change. They have memories of lost loved ones and things that they once had but no longer can have (ie. TV, McDonalds, the internet, etc). The Walking Dead comic series by Robert Kirkman is an excellent example of a newly post-apocalyptic world.

Are They All Considered Horror?

The Giver by Lois Lowry (Genre: Dystopia)The short answer is: No. However, many of these books do indeed fall into the broader genre of horror. The Stand by Stephen King would certainly be considered a horror novel, where as a lot of the YA (young adult) dystopia would not be considered horror. The Giver by Lois Lowry is an example where it certainly isn’t horror. And it is probably thanks to the massive amounts of YA dystopia literature available at the moment that this genre has really come into its own. Twenty years ago, you would just go to the horror shelves and look there for these types of books.

So, there you have it, the difference between the genres dystopia, apocalypse and post-apocalypse! Let me know if you think I got them right (or wrong) 😉

Sections of this post originally featured on Racheltsoumbakos.wordpress.com

Metanoia | Zombies or Conspiracy Theories?

Metanoia by Rachel TsoumbakosMETANOIA
Definition: n. a spiritual conversion or awakening; a fundamental change of character
Etymology: Greek ‘change one’s mind, repent’

Marli Anderson has just one task: assassinate Oscar La Monde, the man she once loved.

As assassin for hire for the prestigious Merrick’s Inc., she is sent back to her home town to kill the man she now loathes beyond all others—her husband. Considering they are on opposing sides of the uprising, Marli anticipates an easy task; ‘closure’ they call it. The fact that she can exact her revenge for his past discretions is just the icing on the cake.

When she arrives, the town has changed. The man she hated is unexpectedly welcoming. And the town’s folk—well, they’re just… different. Someone or something has transformed them all into a bunch of zombies. They appear to be harmless – but are they?

As she begins to uncover details of who may be behind the townsfolk’s’ metamorphosis, Marli is left fighting for the truth. Will she and Oscar be able to unravel the web of deception before it’s too late?

Should she trust her heart or her head? Which is less likely to get her killed?

Either way, METANOIA is a heart-stopping zombie apocalypse adventure that will keep you guessing at every twist and turn until the very end.

Emeline and the Mutants | Zombies and dystopia

Emeline and the Mutants by Rachel TsoumbakosWhat would you do if your whole family mutated?

Would you have the courage to do what had to be done?

Emeline Hart is faced with this horrifying decision when the miraculous Haum vaccine changes into something hideous. When the mutations start, there is no way to hide the fact that the world is now filled with people who are no longer dying of cancer, heart disease or diabetes. Instead, they become werewolves, vampires and trolls.

In the midst of this, Emeline must search for her missing brother and unravel the conspiracy of events surrounding his disappearance.

The heart pounding action intensifies as medical science goes wrong in EMELINE AND THE MUTANTS.