A Poem for Britain

Bards of Fantasia #1

by S.W. Wilcox

Alternate cover for ASIN B06Y1DL85N

IF YOU EVER WONDERED how future teens might interact with Arthurian figures, in terms of intellect and technology.... And where to get maps of Avalon & Alfheim? --misty home of powerful spirits & elven royalty? Then read on as...

Romance among teens unfairly thrust into adulthood at the end of the world return to the gods' birth to set things right. But the history-ruling Viking gods are as naive about love as the time-voyagers! So in 48 hours, two lab partners RACE the coasts of medieval Britain, begging, tricking or downright fighting gods, kings, and beasties alike.

Their time-travel mission? Change the past just enough to forestall a 22nd century nuclear war. Their main weapon? Music. But history's a lonely place for a cynical college girl, when your boyfriend's a rock star, war buff, and demon hunter!

"Pic-Book" with 200 color pics, 20k words

126 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

INTRO (BIO BELOW): Main interests are reviewing & writing for film. Fav book last year? It was on film writing, by the guy who created the tv series "Stitchers." I've posted 50 reviews here, catalogued 1,000 books, and also have a YA novel for free review. My Listopia CELTIC list shows some of its genre influences (and it's on 6 other lists too): https://www.goodreads.com/list/book/3...

I can't wait 'til the e-book world starts encouraging full color pics in books. Right now 130 color pages printed through Createspace can't be made for less than about $20. I'm trying to lead this, and am taking my lumps for sure. But my new GRAMMAR MAPS manuals-trio should cement my place as a linguistic expert and pioneer. My 30-year bio shows other milestones in songwriting, education, and performing arts.

BIO: S.W. Wilcox, aka DJ Scott, was born and raised in California. He earned a BA in English in Pa. in 2004. An animated short version of "Bards of Fantasia" was made in 2007, for schools. As a teen, Scott also corresponded with famed fantasy pioneer Michael Moorcock. Editorial rave reviews are featured on his Amazon product pages. First full, official bio is linked below. Thanks to "Chris the Story Reading Ape's Blog." https://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/20...

Reviews

[Samantha Burnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An action packed and character crammed fiction read firmly in the fantasy genre. Shared this one with my young 12 year old daughter who thoroughly enjoyed the read. There are some engaging illustrations as well which are a must in fiction for this demanding age group. So if she's enjoying some fantasy time travel fiction and covering a bit of grammar education at the same time I am happy. Presents well on klindle and the illustrations still show easily which sometimes with kids books is not the case and we have had to resort to using the reader on a the laptop with the bigger screen.

[Eric Tanafon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bards of Fantasia: A Poem for Britain is a time traveling extravaganza that ranges from the 22nd century CE to prehistoric times. Students in a future English university, Skall and Dor, set out to solve ancient mysteries and riddles, thereby changing the past and saving their war-torn, toxic present. Along the way, they meet with with a large cast of supernatural and science fiction-ish characters, including several gods and goddesses (Hel's walk-on part was one of my favorites).

This story, with its "hero-minstrel" theme, is reminiscent of Michael Moorcock in his Hawkwind phase. Here's a sample quote to give you a flavor: "Skall quickly cased his rare electric guitar just before a large wave soaked him thoroughly, then reached for his time-controller, frantically pushing the bleeping buttons."

The prose was a bit difficult for me to navigate at times, but that's largely because of its adherence to screenplay conventions. Put on your mental 3-D glasses for this one. With its illustrations, visual imagery and focus on the power of music, it needs to be judged more as a multi-media artifact than as a novel per se. In fact, the story exists as a film as well. In whatever form it takes, Bards of Fantasia overflows with energy and creativity.

I am voluntarily reviewing this book; thanks to the author for sharing a copy with me.

[Mark Kloss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to give this one four stars for the immensity of the project the author has undertaken and for the incredible plot. It really is like nothing I’ve read before: fantasy, sci-fi and an homage to rock music.

It’s not an easy read as unfortunately I think some of the formatting has gone by the wayside in turning into a Kindle version, and at times it is difficult to follow (when you understand that it is part story board, part comic book then converted into a novel the formatting makes a bit more sense and the jumping around of viewpoints then isn’t so jarring). It would benefit from another proofread but I loved the whole concept of two time-travelling musicians trying to save the fate of the world, the mix of science with high fantasy. A bit like Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures if one of them was a girl and majorly fancied the other one.

[Augustine Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing Graphics

In this intricate, unusual work, the first things that stand out are the illustrations, though this is not a graphic novel. If it were, perhaps the illustrations alone would suffice since the text, in a way, robs the book of identity. While it calls itself a picture novel, it is neither written like a novel nor presented as a picture book. It hangs somewhere in the middle, embellished with images that are beautiful to look at but difficult to place seeing as they don’t constitute a storyboard of interactive media sequence accompanied by (graphic novel style) dialogue. Instead, they are stand-alone illustrations interspersed with full-chaptered pages of Arthurian legend presented in the form of a play.

Bards of Fantasia, experimentally designed for reluctant readers and the sight-challenged, is an illustrated YA novella, imbued with poetic myth, magic, and juvenile romance. It just might find its audience.

[S.W. Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

30 years in the making: 10 years field researching and performing the core music, 15 years mastering the film animation and producing the rough score, 5 years screenplay & novel writing.

*NEW, VER. 2: Ver. 1, orange cover, is for film producers, so is in screenplay present-tense with full color pics. But Ver. 2, blue cover, is aimed to be a film novelization, with full text, less pics, and formatted so I can sell it for 99cents. It's still only about 130 pages, but that's not only the standard 2-hour film time, but also the page count of the YA Brit Lit stories that inspired it: "Alice," "Willy Wonka," "Narnia," "Train Your Dragon" etc.

I also retain the italics for emphasis and hyphens of new words like fire-elementals (WorldTree I spell esp. differently, as a kind of trademark), to help busy and younger readers. Since I also have 3 Grammar Map Manuals to go along with the novel, you might also note extra dashes and complex (but not too long) sentences as I'm very conscious to avoid journalese conventions of sentence fragments and misuse of perfect tense. Combined, this caused some confusion among mature beta-readers, but I assure you the grammar is correct and just adds to the alien-ness of this journey into early English times. Heroine Dormira, linguistic translator, even comments on this when appropriate, using parentheses -- even as she's swept into magical-panoramic-god-worlds. And there the print-type becomes bold italics to communicate the shimmering worlds, a bit like when Frodo donned the One Ring and entered the Ring Wraith realms.

*SOON TO BE A MUSICAL FILM! Grab one of these 1st, limited ed. copies with seascape covers by Magdalena Adic (V.2 sea-green night, V.1 orange day, play-text, heavy pics).

[Susan Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

S. W. Wilcox’s Bards of Fantasia: Book 1: A Poem for Britain, an energetic and exuberant medieval Sci-Fi, will find avid fans in gamers immersed in the Middle Ages. Its whimsical humor and the bizarre world of 2162 AD are grounded in both the familiar and the discontinuous.

The thread, like the string in the minotaur’s labyrinth, leading the reader is the relationship between Dormira, called Dor, and Skall. One of their amusing encounters takes place after Skall is (almost) seduced by an evil female. “’You spent the night with her and tell me nothing happened,’ [Dor] accused. ‘How am I supposed to believe that?’ ’Listen, I woke up with most of my clothes on!’ he informed her.” This does little to console Dor, a strong female role model. The humor in this dialogue suggests the light touch throughout.

The many elements in this roller-coaster ride include teleportation to Ireland in 635 AD, a Frost-Hel goddess, monks, and cyborgs. Especially fun were the wonderfully evocative illustrations heading each chapter. I loved looking at them, imagining what the chapter would bring, and returning to them after reading.

I am voluntarily reviewing this book; thanks to the author for sharing a copy with me.

[Brian Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is tricky. It's not as neat or as well edited as you want it to be. It's not as deep as it could be. But it's like Dr. Who and Rincewind had an odd lovechild who liked ice skating and decided to jump through a time portal to save the future and glide through various myths to make things right. And there's some come-hither-oh-no-get-away-oh-come-hither-you-ninny-oh-no-no-get-away love story going on, and a bit of a twist at the end that makes one wonder whether it was consistent throughout.

Along the way you'll wonder why too many things are in italics and why the dialog isn't as crisp as it could be, all the while wondering when they'll stop yammering at each other and see who else on the cavalcade of pagan gods is next on their list to visit. Fun.

[H.M. Gooden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was at turns illuminating, frustrating and confusing but at all points it was a magical mystery tour of the past in an extremely unique and well-thought out fashion. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever read anything that compares in the slightest to this. It was often difficult to follow but I understand that to be intentional. While not my usual, it stands out as a true one of a kind

[Mick Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewers have a terrible track record when confronted with art forms that are genuinely different. Think of Philip Larkin’s hostility to be-bop, or Pete Seeger trying to cut the cables when Dylan went electric at Newport, or the hostile reactions to Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’. I am not suggesting that ‘Bards of Fantasia’ is in that league, but it is certainly different from anything I have read before, and the risk of me totally missing the point is very real. This is especially so because ‘Bards of Fantasia’ is aimed at young adults who presumably grew up with games, and are comfortable with abrupt narrative shifts, and with a focus on the visual. It has the ambitious, but very laudable, aim of trying to attract an audience that does not routinely spend time reading for pleasure – again, not me.

The work does have a real sense of energy and enthusiasm. It reads like a mash-up of all the things that the author loves – sci-fi, rock music, sword and sorcery epics, corporate conspiracy theories. The plot is more than averagely silly, but I like the fact that our heroes use peaceful means to try to save humankind, rather than just shooting and slicing their way through the book. When I read the description of the plan to go back in time and use music to change the future, I hoped for a scene where the villains fall to their knees and agree to mend their ways if only they can be spared from having to listen to another extended guitar solo (no need for a spoiler alert, this does not happen in the book, and I suspect the author is a better musician than that!)

Although described as a ‘pic-novel’, the pictures are not as closely linked to the text as in a graphic novel. The explanatory material provided by the author explains that the particular form of the novel is a deliberate attempt to entice readers who would be put off by too much descriptive material. I am not entirely convinced. ‘Bards of Fantasia’ looks like, and reads like, a story board for the musical film that the author hopes to make, and I did not find it had been adapted enough to be comfortable as a stand-alone reading experience. The scene is continuously described as if from the viewpoint of the camera. Much of the action centres on music, and it is a major limitation that we can’t actually hear any of it, and (unless you are Bob or Joni) it is nearly always a mistake to reproduce lyrics in isolation.

There is a great deal of action, involving a large cast of fairly one dimensional human characters and mythic beings of one kind or another. In a book aimed at a youthful readership, I was a little uncomfortable that some of the language reflected gender stereotypes. The action shifts rapidly between times and realms, including the use of dream sequences and flash-backs, leaving this reader somewhat confused as to how the various characters connected to each other, but not sufficiently engaged to devote time to finding out. I suspect that younger readers might cope better, and might not share my yearning for a more connected narrative.

Overall, I think this is an interesting experiment that does not quite work in its current form -but it is not intended for me. I gave it three stars to avoid the risk that a grouchy review by an old git might put off younger readers who might enjoy it.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dor and Skall are witnesses to a great destruction at the end of time, driven by an ancient red-hooded sorceress intent on the destruction of man. With their electric guitars, songwriting and ninja skills they jump through a portal back in time to attempt to change the past which will change the future which will make the trip to the past unnecessary, er, and I rub my templs and quip with Captain Janeway, that time travel makes the head hurt.

The Norse and British demi-gods vie for mastery and love while Dor and Skall try to stay alive long enough to make friends and influence the movers and shakers of the skies. But will their time-changing machinations and their songwriting skills save them from the master of the underworld and a fate worse than, but including, death?

Content:
Drug Content:
PG-13 - There are several drunken parties while cavorting through the past, but overall not a lot..

Violence:
PG - There are several scenes involving war and a few brawls that take place.

Language:
G - Relatively clean.

Adult Content:
PG - There's a scene where Skall is enthralled by a goddess and heads off to her bedchamber. There's a scene where the Norns discuss mating.

Christian content:
Nada. There's a scene where Christian warriors are battling the pagan forces. For the most part the only gods depicted in this novella are the Norse ones of Fire, Ice, Death, and the Sea. Frost-Hel, Etain, Gyn, Deirdru, Angus, Mannanan, Dovnu, the Norns, and the World-Tree people the past and fight each other for mastery of the all-important World-Tree and its many dimensions.

Final analysis:
Each chapter in this book began with sketches of the action inside, and it reads like a screenplay, which it devolved from. The action is quick and gripping, and the many worlds visited are panoramic in view. The World-building is immersive, and the humor and interplay outstanding. But the characters in the story were a bit wooden to me and could have used better dimension, the gods and supporting cast were almost one-dimensional. The stakes were high, of course, the fate of all the dimensions, but the action was a bit jerky for my taste. Focus went from one gripping scene to a quick flight or rescue, to another crisis without any real transition.

I found the world-building stellar, the plot outstanding, but the character development and pacing unfortunately in need of fleshing out. This could have found a home as a trilogy, with the amount of action it contained, but in its brief form it was a bit like a sped up movie, panoramic and epic and all-too-soon over. Four Stars.

[Diane Meier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am awed by this fantasy about a band of time-traveling musicians. It has everything a fantasy lover could want, including kings, queens, gods, serpents, sorceresses, dragons, goblins, elves, merfolk, demons, and wizards. Among the fantasy novels I've read, I find this story incredibly creative. Amidst the journeys, adventures and battles are messages that I find delightful. At one point Skall, one of the bards, points out that “a couple key kindnesses, songs, and rescues, and karma is bound to right itself in the end.” Words to live by. The characters are great fun. I love that Dor, who travels with Skall, is a fighter as well as a musician, and not a damsel in distress. In addition, I am very impressed by the crisp dialogue and descriptions as well as the plot and characters.

It’s exciting that this novella may be used with the Bards of Fantasia Grammar Maps to improve students' writing. I discovered the Maps first while looking for a way to make grammar more interesting to my grandson, who is in high school. I’m really pleased that the graphics and the story captured his attention. This is a great tool for teachers and parents who to take a more creative approach to teaching writing. I strongly recommend A Poem for Britain and the Grammar Maps as a terrific combination of books that together will entertain and improve writing skills.

[Kameron Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dragons, guitars, and time travel! (Minor spoiler in this review – Beware)

This was different. And when I say that I mean different in a good way, like dragons, guitars, and time travel different. A breath of fresh fantasy and sci-fi air.

Skall and Dor are attempting to remedy present day world issues by going back in time and altering the course of history. And it sure is quite a ride! The tale was non-stop adventure, with twists and the proper dosage of suspense, like when I thought Dor died but it was only her android. Ultimately, this was a fun story and an exciting mashup of two of my favorite genres.

[Kaila · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is not really my cuppa for genres.. but it wasnt a badly written story.. i enjoyed the writing.. i enjoyed the characters.. and it was easy enough to follow and i like this author so i would love to read more by this author and maybe even more of this series. i am glad i got to review it

[Loralee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was tricky to rate, because while it's called a novel, it reads more like a storyboard for a movie. It doesn't really read like a graphic novel either, since graphic novels have mostly just pictures which tell the weight of the story, and the only text is dialogue. In this story, there are lines of text followed by pictures. And in the text, there is more telling than showing, more of a: he did this, she did that, etc. than really showing what was going on, and as a result, I was wiffle waffling between a two and a three. What made me decide to bump it up to a three, was that the storyline itself is pretty good, and the pictures were well done.

[Glenn McGoldrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read, set across a number of different times. I’m a big fan of dialogue, and this book had some great stuff in it!

[John Vassar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very different (but enjoyable) read... I'm not even going to attempt to categorize it. Enough to say it's the most original work in terms of style that I've read in a long time. It takes a little while to get used to the grammar, although my own comic-reading days a long time ago helped a lot. The sheer amount of narrative here is incredible - it's a lot of story! Combines LOTR, Harry Potter and Arthurian legend mixed in with a bit of Bill & Ted (the original time-travelling musos). Plenty to like, and five stars for originality!

[John G. Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adventure, time travel, mythology, linguistics and more

I liked this. It's a fun adventure story, fast-paced and even throws in a few unexpected surprises. The opening scene is set very well and introduces the world as it is. From there it's off to the races on a world-saving adventure. As an occasional musician I appreciated the relevance of music with The Bards, too. It was nice addition and gave the characters something. (Besides time travel and magic.)

I didn't give it the full five stars because of a few things. A few times I felt scene transitions were rushed and there wasn't much build up or tension. A few times the text formatting struck me as odd and removed me from the story a bit too.

Overall, this is an exciting whirlwind of an adventure. Fast-paced with grand locals and infused with interesting mythology. I can recommend to anyone looking for a quick fix of sci-fi and fantasy.

[Christy Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time travel, fantasy, high action, and a liberal dose of historical fact sprinkled in among the dragon sprites. This was a great YA romp and engaging story. The paradox paradigm of time-traveling ‘fixers’ to save the present had a fun echo of the Sarah Jane Adventures and Time Bandits mixed together. It's a highly enjoyable adventure/YA love story.

[Robert Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inventions often undergo many iterations before they have value. This may be the case with Bards of Fantasia. Neither a storyboard, script, graphic novel, novel or comic book, Bards is seeking its identity. Problem is, the quality and form of writing do not make for a good novel and the graphics do not independently depict the story line as well as they should. Combined, they make for a confused presentation of an otherwise interesting fantasy. I would have preferred the images to be spread into the relevant parts of the story rather than in a group, and maybe they are in a different format. And the wild slew of word capitalizations and italics, is that a youth thing? (Full disclosure; I last read comic books around 1958 when I switched from Superman and The Beano to MAD Magazine. And didn’t learn until the end of the book that the caps and italics are movie production devices. This book needs an instruction manual.) At the same time, however, the writing is fun and so is the artwork. A bit more proof reading wouldn’t hurt.

Is this book any good? We can learn from industrial genius Henry Ford. When asked what his early customers wanted, he replied, “a faster horse;” they knew about horses, not motor cars. Ford would one day give them a Mustang Cobra. Maybe this form of literature is not a horse as we’re used to, but as advertised an innovative way of getting reluctant readers somewhere faster, easier and more enjoyably, just like old Henry did. I greatly admire author Wilcox’s idea, intent and effort.

Once I got into the rhythm, I kinda liked it. I felt invited to participate in how the book should be experienced, especially the camera instructions. Of course, my tepid interest strongly suggests the intended audience will love it. And a fantasy movie musical version? Great idea.

[J.M. Hofer · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK. I thought a long time on how best to try and describe this one, but find it hard to explain or categorize. Dr. Who meets Scooby Doo, perhaps? Maybe. Maybe not…I confess feeling like a stranger in a strange land, as that’s about the sum scope of my Sci-Fi reading. Working my way through this one, I felt like a farm girl who had never seen anything other than corn fields and a one-room school house, suddenly stumbling into an amusement park full of bright lights, loud music and fun houses —disoriented and overwhelmed most of the time, wondering repeatedly what in the world was going on, but occasionally delighted by the chaos.

Having only read a handful of scripts, graphic novels, comics and science fiction novels, I don’t feel at all qualified to judge the work of Mr. Wilcox, but feel inspired to give him 4 stars just for his originality. I can safely say I’ve never read anything like it before!

[S.W. Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apologies for any confusion from my limited ed. novella, a specially --painstakingly even-- formatted-preview for a film, if it threw anybody by its experimental design. It's a hybrid aimed at quite a few different audiences at the same time (including sight and learning disabled) and might have seemed too much like a graphic novel; but it in many ways rebels against that form for the comic book's lack of sophisticated sentence structure and vocabulary depth, imo. V.2 standard text, light pics version due early Sept. Cheers all!

[Harini · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I was offered thus book by the author for a review"

I liked this book. The writing was pretty good, the pace was a little bit off. And the plot-line was quite orderly.
There were not many noticeable flaws in this book, it just was not my type of book.

BUT THE ILLUSTRATIONS AND PICTURES MAKE UP FOR EVERYTHING THIS BOOK LACKS!!
Overall It was a pretty good read. Definitely would reccomend people to read it.