Andrew Ashling: Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse — Alternative History Novel

[Andrew]

Hi all,

I was a bit hesitant, but as this little corner seems to be explicitly here for authors to present their books unobtrusively...

To be honest, I'm not at all sure I, or rather my book, belongs here. But a very recent review on Amazon led me to believe it just might.

This is what the reviewer (with over 300 reviews under his belt) said:

To call this superb fantasy / alt. history novel only an "erotic fiction" would certainly mean to mischaracterize it. (...) The story starts simple: a ruthless king in a medieval-like fantasy settings has way too many sons (four) and decides to test his two youngest sons (16 and 17 years old) by sending them with a small and inadequate army to guard far northern and dangerous borders. He fully expects them to engage in a cut-throat competition for the power and influence. The elder son is strong and seems to be an adequate warrior, while the younger is bookish, weak, and sick of some unknown disease ("spells of dizziness"). Add to this a lot of intrigue, unexpected plot twists and three-dimensional side characters, a secret rebel society, a domineering yet wise and equally ruthless mother (queen), and of course - SPOILER - a complex love-hate relationship between two main characters, two half-brothers. Also, the product description's words - "where nothing is what it seems" - are spot-on; the main character's true motivations are revealed very slowly, and turned out to be quite different from what I thought in the first half of the novel. (...) The focus is on the characters and the intricate yet not-overly-complex plot. This is first and foremost a fantasy / alt. history novel with some of the main characters being gay, rather than an erotica novel.

So, to summarize:

* This is an alternative history. The setting is Medieval, but the story does not take place in 'our' Middle Ages.
* There are brutal and even cruel scenes, as the Middle Ages were rather hard.
* There is political intrigue, warfare, and mystery, but also romance — albeit of the gay kind, most of the time. On the other hand, this is not one of those books where literally everybody is gay.

In case you are at all interested:

* Here is the review on Amazon
* On the book's page, here on Goodreads, you can read some more reviews: The Invisible Chains - Part 1: Bonds of Hate

If you have any questions, or remarks, please feel free to put them here. I'll answer them to the best of my ability.

Andrew Ashling

Mods: if I am completely wrong, and this post is out of place, or otherwise inappropriate, please feel free to delete it without further notice.

[Mishelle, 'The Book Bag']

No deleting on my part~ I think this looks fantastic. Thank-you so much for sharing it with us.. I will be adding it for sure.

[Mishelle, 'The Book Bag']

My only complaint is ~ WTH are all these 'new' books only on e-book??? Lol~ Will it be available in print?

[Andrew]

Lol. And thanks.

I'm an indie. I suppose I could make it available in print, as Amazon provides us with a POD-service. However, e-publishing allows me to offer a 120,000+ words novel for $2.99.

And, I forgot, you can read the first twelve chapters for free on my site Ximerion , so your risks should be minimal. :)

[Andrew]

The Invisible Chains - Part 1: Bonds of Hate

There are two new reviews for 'Bonds of Hate,' right here on Goodreads.

Alyosha writes:

Very good dark fantasy about a royal family, deception, intrigue, abuse, war, friendship, loss, triumph, revenge, love vs. hate..
The world building was solid enough, the very large cast of characters interesting and never monotonous, fascinating customs and a very epic story in the making.

You can find the complete review here.


Nikyta writes:

All you need to know is this: It's captivating. There's a bunch of entertaining characters and interesting places, plans of action and horrible acts. Manipulations, deceits, betrayals, a hint of cruelty and remorse. It's a fantastic read and above all else, it's the start of an epic one. There's more to it and I can't wait to read it.

There's a lot more here.

Thank you both, Alyosha and Nikyta.

*dumb grin*

[Andrew]

The Invisible Chains - Part 2: Bonds of Fear

Bonds of Fear, the second part of The Invisible Chains, my historical m/m-romance series, just went live on Amazon . You can also buy it in epub and mobi format on my own website, Ximerion .

The threat of a barbarian invasion is imminent now, and the resources to organize the defense meager, to say the least. Moreover, the high king, father of the princes, begins to worry that one of his intrepid sons might do irreparable damage to the kingdom by provoking a force, greater than they can handle. Then there is the tortured relationship between Anaxantis and Ehandar...

The same warnings apply even more for this book than for the previous one. Of course there will be smut. There will also be incest. The graphic description of armed conflict may not be to everybody's taste. Characters you might have grown to love will die and their death will not always be an easy one.
This is the second part of a story arc of three, that began with Bonds of Hate. I hope to publish the final volume, Bonds of Blood, by July 2011.

[Andrew]

The Invisible Chains - Part 2: Bonds of Fear

Bonds of Fear, the second part of The Invisible Chains, my historical m/m-romance series, is now also available in pdf-format on my own website, Ximerion .

[Andrew]

Gambit, the first part of The Invisible Hands, the sequel-trilogy of the The Invisible Chains in the Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse-series will be published this month (April 2012).

If you'd like to witness the birth of a cover, I'm blogging about it on my own site, Ximerion, and here on Goodreads, with progress illustrations.

[Andrew]

I posted the fourth and last installment on my blog about the hunt for a cover for The Invisible Hands - Part 1: Gambit (Book IV of Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse). With progress illustrations and the final artwork.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Gambit will be published on Amazon by the end of this week.

[Andrew]

A short message to announce that

The Invisible Hands - Part 1: Gambit (Book IV of Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse)

went live on Amazon yesterday.

I blogged about the book and the choices I made on my own site, Ximerion

[Andrew]

This was the first review for this book, here on Goodreads.

[Andrew]

A short message to announce that The Invisible Hands - Part 1: Gambit (Book IV of Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse) is now also available in epub and mobi format on my own website Ximerion , at the same price as the book in azw format on Amazon .

[Andrew]

I put the first twelve chapters of Bonds of Hate, the first book in the Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse series online as a free read.

You can also download the opening chapters of the saga absolutely for FREE in either epub-format or mobi-format (or both).

All links are on the landing page of my site, Ximerion


More than sixty-thousand words. That should give you at least some idea if you like my writing. :)

[Andrew]

I've uploaded all my books in epub -format to the Canadian outfit Kobo .

This includes the FREE ebook Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse: Beginnings , which contains the first twelve chapters of the first book of the series, Bonds of Hate.

I blogged about why I decided to upload directly to Kobo, instead of going through Smashwords, on my website.

[Andrew]

Since a few days my books are available, not only on Amazon and Kobo but also on All Romance Ebooks , in epub and mobi.

[Andrew]

For those who prefer it: The powers that be have decided to make Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse: Beginnings FREE on Amazon . (In some parts of the world delivery costs may be charged. Check before clicking)

This booklet contains the first twelve chapters — over 60,000 words — of The Invisible Chains - Part 1: Bonds of Hate, the first volume in the Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse series.

It is meant to give the reader a good idea of the story, and a better one than just a sample can give, before embarking upon a long series of books.

[Andrew]

The editing and formatting of The Invisible Hands – Part 2: Castling (Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse – Book V) is finished.

So why the delay?

Explanation here.

[Andrew]

While I'm still waiting for the cover art for my soon to be published fifth installment of the Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse-series, Castling , I'd thought I give you both a second excerpt and an idea how the book will look on an actual device.

If you'd like to see how the book will look on an iPad and epub-ereaders like the Kobo Glo, the Sony PRS-T2, and compare it to the classic Kindle 3 Keyboard, I've put up some screenshots of the beginning of chapter 9 on my site, Ximerion .