Chronicles

Archer of the Heathland #4

by J.W. Elliot

The heathland is in turmoil—In these four original stories from the heathland, you’ll meet new characters in the ongoing chronicles of the heathland and discover their personal sagas of loss and failure, of loyalty and triumph, born in the struggle for the heart and soul of the heathland.In Blood on the Reeds, a coup has toppled the royal line of Hassani and threatened all connected with that family. Thane must choose either to betray his king or rescue the last survivor of a massacre.In The Hidden Archer, war has erupted between Coll and the Salassani. Trapped in an isolated valley, Redmond faces an unseen enemy alone while his friends lay dying only yards away. Only one archer can walk out of the valley alive.In War of the One-Eyed Woman, the genocide of the Carpentini begins over the birth of an innocent girl. Edrick must rush to save his family before the Bracari capture and kill them all.In The Deadly Jest, the Order of the Rook has sent its newest initiate, Mara, on a dangerous mission into the southland. She finds herself entangled in intrigues of the heart and the treachery of those she should be able to trust.This volume contains three short stories and one novella.

Genres: Fantasy

150 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 15, 2019

About the author

James is a twenty-nine-year-old stuck in an older man’s body. He loves to paddle his canoe, shoot his handmade longbows in the woods, make knives, study martial arts, and generally enjoys challenging himself. When not teaching or writing about the real past, he is imagining worlds and histories that might have been, should have been, or may yet be.

James has two homes (though only one house)--the mountains of Idaho and the forests of New England--where he canoes, hikes, camps, rock climbs, and shoots the longbows he makes himself. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife. ​

James is a professional historian whose published works include two histories of the Inquisition, a documentary history of Columbus's first voyage, a transcription of a colonial era account book from Weymouth, Massachusetts, and a global history of piracy. This means that he is a professional teller of stories, both real and imagined.

James's favorite author is J.R.R. Tolkien, though he will never be able to watch the Peter Jackson Hobbit films again. The first viewing nearly gave him a fit. He loves The Giver and The Book Thief. He has read all the Hunger Games novels, but thinks Katniss should have ended up with Gale. (Sorry Peeta fans.) He enjoys Harry Potter and thinks magic should be real--so long as he owns the Elder Wand.

For more background, images, videos, and information related to my stories and my hobbies, see my Pinterest boards. https://www.pinterest.com/jwelliot1/b...

Reviews

[L.G. Mosher · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a great collection of short stories.

Though if I had known more I would have read it after the rest of the books instead of as number three.... But either order before or after it fill a lot of holes!

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique Way to Add Context

Character context is neat to have with so many characters and roles. I also enjoyed Elliott's transparency, explaining how he created these side stories to better develop some of these supporting characters.

[david deiters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting short stories.

Provides a nice background to the previous books in the series. Interesting concept to the characters in the first three books.

[♍️Lady Book Fairy ♍️♍️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was almost as good the others that I have had the pleasure of reading in this series. I feel sad for Redmond all the horror and sadness he had to go through just because another man wanted a war. I can't imagine having to leave the love of your life behind knowing if you returned to them their life is in danger. I loved seeing the short stories about the other people. When I got to the end, I was like holy crap the Kingdom of Coll has people on the inside that want to attack and on the outside. (Kingdom of Moria sorry if I am spelling it wrong). The reason I am not giving it full stars. Is because I somewhat feel like this book was slightly unneeded even through it was a slight eye opener for me, but it could have simply been added to one of the other books. This is just my personal opinion.


Sincerely,
~Lady Book Fairy

[See · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small summary of vignettes - good reading.

I was looking for a fourth book in this series, but what I got was there vignettes based on characters that we have already met, and one I am sure will show up in the next book. I am looking forward to it.

[Derek Hartshorne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prequel in the middle of a series interestin

Short stories which give insight into previous characters and plot lines and hint at things to come .interesting read looking forward to book 5 and beyond

[Mr. S L Enderman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good book but I didn't really like the shorter stories very much. I think it's because the deadly jest has unseen characters. This book I'm pretty sure you can read at any point because it's just a couple of short stories that don't really need to be read but it's still interesting.

[tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wait till end of the series

I,'ll give it the thought it requires at the end of the series .THe story is not concluded until the end.

[Gerald E Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explanation

This book describes much of the background of the players supporting the leading characters in this series of books. Not often seen, this is a highly interesting tactic.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book introduces to some of the characters taking place in the other books and how they became who they are. Lots of interesting facts and what is taking place leading up to where it all started and why. I really enjoyed Muckle Jack (The Jester). He was funny but also strong and kind of mysterious of about who is and what he is capable of.