Guy Antibes's Blog, page 2

An Unexpected Magician Released

Finally, I’ve finished the first book in my latest series. The series name is “The Justin Spede Novels” and the title of the first novel is “An Unexpected Magician. Here is the blurb:

In an empire where magic has lost its savor, Justin Spede is reviled by his family and tolerated by his father. There is no magic in the family, which means Justin has no power. His life becomes worse when his family dies in an accident and he is passed among family members who don’t want him.

An uncle and aunt from a distant town are called to take him away, and so begins the young teenager’s journey. As he recovers from his traumatic upbringing, Justin learns he has magic, and a host of mysteries confront him as he is pulled into a world of guns and power and forces he barely understands. 

And the cover:

I generally don’t have a world where gunpowder exists, but this time I thought it added to the decline of magic in the world. Magic is an inherited trait and the world is losing the magic gene. I’ve also added some political thriller elements to this series. I hope you like it.

To get the story, here is a link to Amazon.

New Series in Process

I have started writing my next series. This one will have a younger protagonist set in a world where magic is dying out as the world modernizes.

Currently, his name is Justin Spede. He lives in an empire where oligarchs rule alongside the emperor and with the help of his ex-army uncle and his friends, will fight against the powerful interests.

I can’t tell you more since I’m writing as I am figuring out Justin’s world. There will be more to come.

Final Book in Gags & Pepper is released

The Gags & Pepper story ends with the fifth volume: Comrades in Magic. Here is the blurb:

Wizards attack Gags’s home country, and the threat becomes personal, as Gags and his team of ex-soldiers must fight against a new magical threat. Amidst the turmoil, Gags has to keep his romantic aspirations in check while he battles the upheaval in the Gags & Pepper agency as his life and title are under siege, and Miria confronts her secret past.

Here is the cover. Click on the image to go to Amazon and the novel:

Now that is finished, I’m on to my next project. When I get a little further in development, I’ll let you know.

A Spell Misplaced is now published!

Book Four in the Gags & Pepper Protection Agency series has just been published. Here is the blurb:

With confirmed evidence of a unicorn spotted on the southern continent of Oroia, Gags and Lucian head to the kingdom of Baxter to find their access to the unicorn blocked. They must work their way through a court shot through with intrigue before they can get to Miria and use the precious pot of potion to turn Miria back into a human. Betrayal and surprise awaits them, as all is not what it seems, and a simple task becomes more complicated than Gags could possible imagine.

The novel is available at Amazon in kindle, paperback and hardcover formats:

A Spell Misplaced on sale at Amazon

The Guy Antibes website is Back!

Too long ago, my WordPress server became corrupted. Not being a techie, I threw my hands up after a few futile attempts to find out what was wrong. The Guy Antibes website went dark for months.

I finally called my hosting company and talked to someone in tech support. That fine person, Manu, helped finish my incomplete messing about and installed a new version of WordPress, which I use for my site. The problem is I now have to repopulate the site with Guy Antibes content.

That is a big task and will take until after holidays to be up and running properly. So be patient.

My current status is: My Gags & Pepper series has grown to three books, available on Amazon, and I’ve finished the draft for book four. If I get it out by January 1st, it will be a Christmas miracle.

Come back in a bit and you’ll see more contact as the weeks go by.

Thanks for dropping in.

Plight of the Unicorn Release is Near

I am almost ready to launch a new series: Gags & Pepper: Protection Agents. The first book in the series is Plight of the Unicorn and is an origin book for the series. As in most of my books, the plot will be a coming-of-age novel. The main character is Vingus Gags, son of a minor noble.

The novel is in the final stages of editing and review. I’ve attached a picture of Gags’s world.

Mephis, Vingus Gags’s world

Sorry About That

The Augur’s Eye series ended too abruptly for many. It had an ill-fated start. I never liked the original cover and my wife never liked the original title (The Mud Elf). So I changed the cover and title and that just was the beginning of a series I never ever grew to love. I did like Whit and his entourage, but I struggled with plot and pacing. Maybe I can blame the Covid environment on it. Lots of people blame Covid for everything, but in the end it’s my writing and it has my name on the cover.

I don’t know if Amazon changed their algorithms or if the books didn’t ignite much interest, but this has been, commercially, my worst series in some time. I wanted to end it and move on, so I cut the last three books in the series to two and was so unhappy about the pacing, that I decided to end everything while I wasn’t that far into The Knave’s Serpent. I thought the surprising end where everything came together into a big climax would be a fitting conclusion, but it wasn’t universally acclaimed by my readers.

Unfortunately, as with the rest of the series, with what I thought was decent pacing and foreshadowing throughout the fourth book, I couldn’t compensate enough for truncating the plot, and that plot evidently still needed to simmer for another book or two for the enjoyment of my readers. For that I am sorry.

I’m on to my next series which has a different premise, and I am hoping it is written on a foundation of plot and character that will allow me to give you a longer look at a fantasy world through the activities of the Gags and Pepper Protection Agency.

The Knave’s Serpent Now Available on Amazon

The final episode of The Augur’s Eye series is complete and ready to read. Here is the blurb:

Whit Varian wants to look past his last year at the University of Herringbone toward returning to the field to collect more parts of the long-lost Augur’s Eye. However, life gets in the way as he must endure the presence of a pestilent prince and his serpent familiar. The execrable Greeb Deechie intrudes into Whit’s life again even as Greeb’s cousin arrives in Herringbone to continue her romantic relationship with Whit started in Coria. Before his schooling ends, events cascade as Whit’s life is threatened, and the pursuit of the Augur’s Eye becomes more dangerous than Whit could ever imagine. All this in the final book in the Augur’s Eye series.

You can get it now on Amazon at this link: Buy Knaves’s Serpent

Since getting removed from Facebook, if you wish to tell your friends and neighbors that they can now read the entire series, please go ahead with my permission.

Fortia – Whit’s world

The Knave’s Serpent Cover

Knave’s Serpent Cover

After a looong absence, I’m ready to publish the next book in the Augur’s Eye series. This will be the last episode of Whit Varian and his team of intrepid adventurers. Whit’s last year at the University of Herringbone is filled with adventures and as Whit progresses to graduation, his quest takes some startling turns all the way until the conclusion. As I generally do, I bring in some characters from previous books to add to the plot and to give them some final time in the story.

The cover for The Queen’s Pet featured a pixie, and the cover for The Knave’s Serpent features a knave. You will recognize him right at the beginning. I expect the book to be out mid-February and then it’s on to a new series. The epic fantasy series’ name is tentatively “Gags & Pepper Protection Agency.” There will be more about that later.

Set up Glitch – The Queen’s Pet now up on Kindle Unlimited.

For some reason, when I published The Queen’s Pet, the switch to publish the book as a Kindle Unlimited offering wasn’t done correctly, so KU was unavailable. It looks like it is working now.

For those of you signed up on KU, please enjoy the latest installment of The Augur’s Eye series and find out what happens next to Whit Varian.