My new novel Ravenseed is out now. A page-turning epic of love, lust, betrayal, and vengeance, this (mostly) Dark Ages-set tale marks my first foray into the fantasy genre. Ravenseed has been a long time in gestation, with many rewrites, tweaks, and polishes. I am extremely pleased with it, and I do hope you’ll read and enjoy it.

What’s it about? Here’s the blurb from the back of the book:

532 AD. Knights Sir Peter and Sir Matthew ride to battle, but when they take an ill-advised detour, the two friends find themselves involved in a quest to break a curse on Sir Matthew’s love, Elizabeth.

The quest sends them on a journey through Anglia, where they encounter magicians, spirits, gods, and dangers beyond their wildest dreams – from without and within.

In the present day, as teenager Fay Pendleton reads an ancient account of the two knights, scars start appearing on her face. Despite her ongoing disfigurement, she becomes obsessed with discovering the outcome of the quest, and her link to this mysterious story.

Hopefully, that will spark your interest. As I mentioned in my previous announcement, I don’t intend for Ravenseed to be purely for genre fans. This novel is written to have broad appeal for all (adult) readers. In my not particularly humble opinion, all the best fantasy novels have that same broad appeal – The Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter series, and His Dark Materials, for instance.

One thing I’ve learned about writing fantasy is not to make worldbuilding the main thing. Yes, worldbuilding provides background, but it should not become foreground. People generally don’t read The Lord of the Rings because they’re fascinated by arcane details of Elven magic, Dwarf metallurgy, or how many mana points Gandalf needs to defeat a Balrog. They read it because of universally resonant, relatable themes – courage, loyalty, friendship, temptation, betrayal, sacrifice, the love of home, the horrors of war, the devastation of the industrial machine at the expense of the environment, good versus evil (not just external evil, but the evil in oneself), growing up, the melancholy at the end of an era, and so forth.

In the case of Ravenseed, the tightrope of drip-feeding worldbuilding into the narrative whilst avoiding the fall into the dreaded info dump was not an issue, because it is mostly set in the Dark Ages. Everyone is aware of that era by cultural osmosis due to the Arthur legends. Creating a dirt-under-the-fingernails landscape of bleak moors, mountains, rivers, and mystical forests, or dwellings such as taverns, monasteries, besieged castles, and so forth, gave the novel a feeling of the familiar. Setting the novel in and around areas I know in southwest England (and further north) also proved immensely liberating.

My tagline sums up the plot thus: “An epic tale of love, lust, betrayal, and vengeance.” All four of those themes are universally relatable, and in addition, the book is about friendship, loyalty, honour, and a lot more I wouldn’t dream of spoiling. Although most of the novel is set in the Dark Ages, there’s also a parallel plot in the present day that provides a contemporary reference point, again reinforcing the idea that this is a grounded fantasy. As such, this is a story with relatable characters that can be enjoyed by all, regardless of the genre.

You can pick up Ravenseed from Amazon on Kindle or paperback here (in the UK) and here (in the US). Downloads or paperbacks are also available from Draft2Digital, Smashwords, and associated outlets here.

Today marks the release of my latest novel Ravenseed. A page-turning epic of love, lust, betrayal, and vengeance, Ravenseed is the first fantasy novel I’ve ever released. It was a wonderful challenge to write, and I’m extremely pleased with it. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Blending adventure and romance with Arthurian mysticism, most of the novel is set during the Dark Ages, but a parallel plot in the present mirrors that of the past, and eventually the two narratives converge. For more about the plot, here’s the blurb from the back of the book.

532 AD. Knights Sir Peter and Sir Matthew ride to battle, but when they take an ill-advised detour, the two friends find themselves involved in a quest to break a curse on Sir Matthew’s love, Elizabeth.

The quest sends them on a journey through Anglia, where they encounter magicians, spirits, gods, and dangers beyond their wildest dreams – from without and within.

In the present day, as teenager Fay Pendleton reads an ancient account of the two knights, scars start appearing on her face. Despite her ongoing disfigurement, she becomes obsessed with discovering the outcome of the quest, and her link to this mysterious story.

I hope that whets your appetite. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be talking in greater detail about specific aspects of this novel, from giving a more thorough introduction to the narrative, to excerpts, discussions on research, settings, locations, the process of revising the manuscript, inspiration, influences, and more. I should add that this isn’t just a novel for genre fans, but for all readers, so even if fantasy isn’t usually your thing, I do hope you’ll give this a go regardless. I’ll get into more of the specifics of how I’ve aimed for broad appeal with this novel in an article next week.

In the meantime, you can pick up Ravenseed from Amazon on Kindle or paperback here (in the UK) and here (in the US). Ravenseed is out on Friday 17th of May. Downloads or paperbacks are also available from Draft2Digital, Smashwords, and associated outlets here.

In early 2018, I finished the first draft of an as-yet untitled fantasy novel. Six years and several rewrites later, it is finally ready for public consumption. Ravenseed is now available for pre-order on Kindle or paperback and will be released on Friday 17^th of May.

This is a fairly big deal for yours truly, as fantasy is a genre into which I have not yet dared to tread (give or take the odd short story or novella). Ravenseed is a 113,000-word mystical epic of love, lust, betrayal, and vengeance. It’s mostly set in the Dark Ages, with a present-day parallel plot, and a third perspective also in the present. I’m extremely excited (and nervous) to put this story out into the world, as it is one of the most ambitious novels I’ve ever written. I do hope you enjoy it.

Between Monday and Thursday of next week, I’m previewing exclusive teaser images of certain locations in the novel, with a bit of cryptic commentary on each. In the meantime, ahead of a bigger introduction to the novel next Friday, here’s a preview of the cover, followed by the blurb on the back of the book.

From the author of Death Nest… A fantasy epic of love, lust, betrayal, and vengeance that will keep you riveted till the very end.

532 AD. Knights Sir Peter and Sir Matthew ride to battle, but when they take an ill-advised detour, the two friends find themselves involved in a quest to break a curse on Sir Matthew’s love, Elizabeth.

The quest sends them on a journey through Anglia, where they encounter magicians, spirits, gods, and dangers beyond their wildest dreams – from without and within.

In the present day, as teenager Fay Pendleton reads an ancient account of the two knights, scars start appearing on her face. Despite her ongoing disfigurement, she becomes obsessed with discovering the outcome of the quest, and her link to this mysterious story.

You can pre-order Ravenseed from Amazon on Kindle here (in the UK) and here (in the US). Paperbacks will be available from the 17th May.