World of the Lianshae: A Ben Wolfe Anthology

by Ben Wolfe

TRADE PAPERBACK: Includes an introductory chapter from the full-length novel LAST KNIGHT OF THE TEMPLARS (release date TBD), CURSE OF THE LIANSHI (1st of 5 short stories in TALES OF THE LIANSHI) and ESCAPE OF THE CONCUBINES (1st of the novellas that make up the WRAITH RIDERS trilogy).

*LAST KNIGHT OF THE TEMPLARS*(sample chapter of a full-length novel - PUB Date TBD) "The son of a powerful French nobleman, Jean Claude sets his eyes on a young gypsy and arrives in time to witness his father's persecution of her tribe. Cursed into stone, his likeness is carved from the stone over a century later by a master stonemason. He awakens a cursed man out of time only to be tasked with saving the Templar Order in France. Hoping to find a cure for the curse that still plagues him and trying desperately to save the Templars, he finds himself drawn into the world of the Lianshae. But Francesca, still alive, isn't the young gypsy he fell in love with so long ago. As their love inexorably draws them together, they find that love, like everything else, will be challenged both by time and circumstance."

*CURSE OF THE LIANSHI*(1st of 5 short stories Tales of the Lianshi - PUB DEC 2018)When a beautiful young gypsy falls in love with the son of the Hammer of Anjou, the right-hand enforcer for the French throne, things are bound to get complicated. Add a love spell, a blood curse, and a shapeshifting dragon and what could possibly go wrong?*Amazon.in Review:* "Excellent reading. It transports you to a different world. Absolutely addictive and thrilling, this book is going to stay with you forever."*Amazon Review* "Highly recommended for readers who are smitten with brilliant fantasy stories!"*Goodreads Review* "This author & new series just catches your attention and draws you in, will be one of the next best sellers..."*ESCAPE OF THE CONCUBINES*(1st novella in the Wraith Riders Trilogy - PUB SEP 2019)When influential women of the west contract the Wraith Riders of Arkenheim to help them defect to the east and seek the protection of the Lianshi, their escape goes horribly wrong, nearly resulting in the death of the Vordoshan Konigar. The rulers of the west are forced to take action that will have dramatic consequences for the Lianshi and her fledgling empire of women.

Genres: Romance, Fantasy

156 pages, Paperback

First published December 4, 2019

About the author

Ben Wolfe is an American writer of Slovenian-Polish descent. He is one of six children, has one daughter, and divorced in 2012. Ben attended a federal service academy and served as an engineering cadet during the first Persian Gulf War. He studied creative writing under the American novelist, John Dufresne and obtained an MBA in Global Management in 2003. Ben has traveled extensively and has been to twenty-five countries on four continents, and traveled through thirty-five states in the US.

Ben is an avid reader and a prolific writer but also considers himself an activist and advocate for child refugees of war. Ben Wolfe is a pen name. He has written as a photojournalist in Chicago for Streetwise Chicago magazine and prefers to use his real name when writing as a journalist and uses Ben Wolfe when writing fiction. He also does screenwriting under the name Anton Skolezar.

Reviews

[Ben Wolfe]

An excellent read! It actually starts with a book that hasn't been released yet and starts telling the whimsical story of a young man cursed out of time, still bearing a curse, awakened after more than a century. The first short story tells us a little more about how it all happened from the perspective of the gypsy, Francesca. What starts as a well-researched historical fiction transports us seamlessly into the fantasy world and does so in such a way that we barely notice within a 34-page short story. The story continues with a parallel series called the Wraith Riders trilogy of novellas and the first novella tells us the story from the perspective of the people who dwell in this fantasy realm and tell the story of how Francesca's arrival affects them.

[C.L. Charlesworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben Wolf has cleverly merged into one book, three stories, Last Knight of the Templars, The Curse of the Lianshae and Escape of the Concubines, to give the reader a tasteful gourmet meal. The main character is Lianshi, an beautiful gypsy witch, whose sorcery, army of female warriors, throw in a few dragons, curses, shape- shifters, bloody wars, and of course a fiery romance will remind you of a well-done fantasy-movie, and with that, will keep you reading. Granted, you must bring imagination to appreciate, but it’s not a hard book to get into. One thing that’s handy and quite helpful is the glossary at the end of the book. It explains in immense detail the terminology and world Ben Wolf has created, and logically tied together in a series of books. Ben’s writing is full of dark storytelling, grounded with characters whose adventures travel in a magical-medieval-survival-of-the-fittest-world. The strengths of Ben’s writing is ability to capture his audience with his own spell, and transport them to a place where no one without a sword, courage, or a few handy spells would dare live, but then, that’s the wicked fun of the journey. Ben’s work is worth taking time to read.

[Ben Wolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read! It actually starts with a book that hasn't been released yet and starts telling the whimsical story of a young man cursed out of time, still bearing a curse, awakened after more than a century. The first short story tells us a little more about how it all happened from the perspective of the gypsy, Francesca. What starts as a well-researched historical fiction transports us seamlessly into the fantasy world and does so in such a way that we barely notice within a 34-page short story. The story continues with a parallel series called the Wraith Riders trilogy of novellas and the first novella tells us the story from the perspective of the people who dwell in this fantasy realm and tell the story of how Francesca's arrival affects them.

[Delilah Bluette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a one-sentence one-page rule with books I read for fun. I open to a random page and read one sentence. If the sentence grabs me, I will read the rest of the paragraph. If the sentence doesn’t grab me, I will not read the book. If the paragraph is interesting to me, I will read the rest of the page. If the paragraph doesn’t interest me, I will not read the book. If the rest of the page holds my interest, I will go to the first page and read the book from the beginning. If I haven’t been sucked in by the end of that random page I read, I won’t read the book.

Because I had decided to review World of the Lianshae before borrowing it on Kindle Unlimited, I did not need to do my page test. I would plod on through whatever my interest. To be honest, I wasn’t really sucked in until the third chapter. There was a lot of world-building and establishment of the mythology and cultures for the first chapter that I was kind of wading through at first. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good stuff and only gets better and more involved the deeper into the stories you go.
Ben Wolfe builds a culturally rich alternate reality where magic and curses are not only a matter of fact but also a means of everyday warfare. Lianshi has never been a “normal” girl. In her human life, she is a gypsy witch, an exceptional creature to begin with. But she is cursed, and her curse makes her functionally immortal (though still capable of being injured and feeling pain) and somehow banishes her to another reality where she becomes embroiled in the wars and politics of their realm as the leader of a new nation.
Because The Lianshi (now empress) is a powerful magical being to begin with, her story in and of itself isn’t terribly impressive (to me, right now, because I haven’t gotten to the really good part yet which is in another book where more of her personal adventure and challenges are explored). She cannot die until the curse is lifted and therefore, it seems like she will always prevail. (I’ve been assured that there will be more focusing on her personal story and thoughts in other books and I’m sure it will be riveting.) However, the stories of the people who serve her, or flee to her for protection from war and persecution, are fabulously compelling. I can’t wait to read more about this fascinating world and the characters within it.

[Ellen Khodakivska · Rating 5 out of 5]

🗿BOOK REVIEW / “World of the Lianshae. A Ben Wolfe Anthology”/ Ben Wolfe👸🏻
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Genre: Fantasy   
Pages: 156
Language: English
Publisher: Independently published
Release date: 2019
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🗿Reading this book was like flying very close to the full moon above the magic garden of ancient stone sculptures and overhearing their secret talks.
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👸🏻The Plot: Opening this book you plunge into a marvelous fantasy world of raven-haired stunning lady Francesca, wraith riders, aelfen rangers, dangerous, mysterious and intriguing paths, lakes and woods of the World of Lianshae Stories. The first short story lit a light on how everything had started. The young man Jean Claude Martel had to pay for his love and was cursed to be a living stone for centuries until the day someone will help him to lift the curse.
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🗿The Writing Style: I adore the writing style of Ben Wolfe. The writer describes the scenes of some unreal events in a totally jaw-dropping manner. The author succeeds in filling his stories with so many twists that your goosebumps will race a marathon on your skin. I love a balance in writing pace – on some pages you feel like sitting in an ambush, on others you feel like sliding down at a high speed from a giant slide. The writer manages to thicken the plot in such an extraordinary way that the books will keep you in suspense from cover to cover.
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👸🏻The Characters: There is an ocean of characters in this book. But, believe me, you won’t drown in it. There is a perfect glossary of maps and characters at the end of the book that will help you to navigate a ship of your bookish trip in the World of Lianshae. The writer so magnificently depicts the characters’ emotions that you’ll feel empathy for them from the first pages. Ben Wolfe creates unbelievably unique characters that will lug you away into their worlds at once.
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🗿My Favorite Quote: “It’s painfully difficult to stand in one place for that long, stone or no”
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💙Would I read other books by this author: Definitely!
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🎈My humble rating is: 5/5
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