Guest Post: Medievalist and Author William Hahn and Games of Chance

Huzzah! I'm honored to have fellow medievalist William Hahn on my blog today to discuss one of his main characters in his new release, Judgement's Tale I: Games of Chance. Prince Gareth may well come to be one of my favorite characters in the series, as he already has bonus points for a namesake in one of the Knights of the Round Table! I am so impressed with the detail and scope that Will has created in his world The Lands of Hope, and I'm positive you will be too.

 

Make sure you check out the link to the Gareth excerpt below. Will is a regular blogger on the Independent Bookworm, and his creativity and witty personality make his posts a blast to read. Also check out the book trailer and Will's Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes and Nobles links. And don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway!

 

I’m delighted at the chance to address Lori’s audience on a theme that I think rings well with the tone of her writing. I also studied the Middle Ages in school and came to love the period. Sure enough, in my upcoming novel Judgement’s Tale there is a predominantly medieval culture and technology, with some variations. In the excerpt I’m linking to here, the reader gets a first glimpse of a very Arthurian-style kingdom named Shilar, and the major character of Prince Gareth.

Shilar is named for one of the heroes of the elder days of The Lands of Hope, and the nation is situated the furthest east of the kingdoms (see the map), closest to the last place where the armies of Despair threatened the Lands nearly two thousand years ago. Taking up the challenge to keep watch over the mountains known as the Swords of Stone and guard against the return of evil, the knights of Shilar prize their honor and duties very seriously, with a rather complex code of chivalry closely resembling those which evolved here in the Alleged Real World.

 

All well and good, but it’s been twenty centuries since there was anything for these brave fellows to actually do. And just as they say in Community Theater, “the passions run so high because the stakes are so small”. The closest thing to an enemy the knights of Shilar have is the nomadic tribe of Bordbeyonds that live even further east of their kingdom, across the great River Sweeping and practically in the shadow of the Swords of Stone. These half-elves too have sworn to keep watch, but are not nearly as advanced or settled as the humans in Shilar.

With that backdrop we see in this excerpt the first public appearance of the character Gareth, and I hope you enjoy it. Judgement’s Tale Part One: Games of Chance will be available July 4^th 2014.

As we say in The Lands, Ar Aralte! (Hope Forever)

 

Link to the Gareth Excerpt

 

Judgement’s Tale Part One: Games of Chance

For twenty centuries the Lands of Hope prospered from their Heroes’ peace, but suffer now from their absence as a curse thickens over the central kingdom known as the Percentalion. An immortal omniscient conspirator schemes to escape the extra-worldly prison restraining his tide of undeath, using a demonic ally in a plot to bring back hell on earth. Solemn Judgement steps onto these Lands both a stranger and an orphan, driven to complete the lore his father died to give him.

In a world beset with increasing chaos, the bravest Children of Hope must take mortal risks. A young woodsman’s spear-cast, a desperate bid to save his comrades; the Healers Guildmistress’ cheery smile, hiding a grim secret and a heavy burden of guilt; the prince of Shilar’s speech in a foreign tongue, a gambit to avoid bloodshed or even war. As a new generation of heroes, scattered across the kingdoms, bets their lives and more, Solemn Judgement- soon to be known as The Man in Grey- must learn to play… Games of Chance: Part One of Judgement’s Tale

Wm. L. Hahn Bio

 

*Hmm, what happened to the picture with all the medieval weaponry, Will?

Didn't want to scare 'em too soon?*

 

Will Hahn has been in love with heroic tales since age four, when his father read him the Lays of Ancient Rome and the Tales of King Arthur. He taught Ancient-Medieval History for years, but the line between this world and others has always been thin; the far reaches of fantasy, like the distant past, still bring him face to face with people like us, who have choices to make.

 

Will didn't always make the right choices when he was young. Any stick or vaguely-sticklike object became a sword in his hands, to the great dismay of his five sisters. Everyone survived, in part by virtue of a rule forbidding him from handling umbrellas, ski poles, curtain rods and more.

 

Will has written about the Lands of Hope since his college days (which by now are also part of ancient history). With the publication of Judgement’s Tale Part One, Games of Chance, he begins at last to tell the tale of the Land’s most unique hero, The Man in Grey.

 

 

CONTACT LINKS

Will Hahn is the chronicler of the Lands of Hope tales.
The Plane of Dreams- See the trailer!
The Ring and the Flag-  Try the Audio Book at Scribl!
Fencing Reputation-

Three Minutes to Midnight-
The Book of Tales-

Will Hahn at Smashwords
Will’s Amazon Page

Will’s B&N Page

Will's Blog Thoughts- Including tales of a happy childhood (which continues), hopes for a writer's journey, and analysis of Classics You've Never Read

 

 

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