Review: "The Dark Lord's Tale": Book One of Kevin Borgan's Dark Lord Trilogy

The Dark Lord's Tale is the first novel in a fantasy fiction trilogy written by Kevin Borgan.  While many fantasy fiction series often have a dark lord figure (Harry Potter's Lord Voldemort, LOTR's Sauron as examples), the central character in this story is a reluctant dark lord who does not want that title. Nor does he want the dark magic that comes with being a Dark Lord.  The Dark Lord's Tale begins this young man's quest to break his family's curse and to rid himself of this magic before it consumes his soul and dooms him for all eternity.

Corban Avidanson has been raised in a small village in a remote fief in the northern part of the Realm by the local sheriff.  At age fifteen, Corban learns that the man he has called "Father" all his life is actually a former knight of the Realm, and he is told his natural parents died when the last dark lord fell.  On his eighteenth birthday, Corban is seized by the dark power and learns his true family heritage.  His father, Oren Vayd, was the most recent Dark Lord to wreak havok on the Realm.  Corban is the heir to the legacy of a long line of Vayds who have been Dark Lords (or Dark Ladies) going back thousands of years.

But Corban Vayd wants no part of being a Dark Lord or the dark power that comes with it.  He wishes to find a way to purge himself of this darkness and live a normal life.  Corban leaves his village and the young lady he had hoped to marry to begin his quest.  He begins to make his way across the Realm towards Ebonland, the location of the Vayd family palace, Castle Obsidian. There he hopes to find the answer to ridding himself of the dark power and the Vayd family curse.

Along the way, Corban gains allies in a gryphon named Norval and Galya, a young female Garganite.  He also meets some people who misunderstand him and think he's evil.  Mandan, a young white wizard, can sense the dark power in Corban, but also knows that the darkness has not consumed him.  The two become friends until Mandan's wife is killed in a werewolf attack on their caravan.  The grief-stricken wizard blames Corban for his wife's death and heads to the Royal City to alert the leaders of the Realm including the Clerics, the Knights and the Regent Prince Mogens to the existence of this new Vayd.

Corban also makes two powerful enemies in the Baron Waldemarr of Reychland, and the Black Witch Zenobia.  The Baron has enslaved the surviving Garganites for almost two decades.  Garganites are creatures who were once human, but were cursed and transformed after they chose to serve Kaiser Vayd, the first Dark Lord.  Zenobia, the Black Witch, is a one-time apprentice of Corban's father who wants the dark power to herself in order to rule as Dark Lady.  She possesses the Black Staff, a powerful artifact created by the Vayds emanating dark power.  Zenobia stole the staff from Oren Vayd at the time of his fall, and now she seeks to destroy Corban to solidify her hold on the dark power.  The witch also has a son, Vogel, produced from an illicit tryst years ago with the Regent of the Realm.

Borgan brings plenty of Christian themes into his story.  The Holy Triad, which represents the Trinity, appears from time to time during Corban's journey guiding him on his quest.  Themes of temptation run throughout the story with Corban's use of the dark power and the use of violence to defeat his enemies.  And this quest puts the young Vayd on a path towards redemption which will continue into the second and third books of the Dark Lord trilogy.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Dark Lord's Tale.  Kevin Borgan tells a fascinating story about a villain who really doesn't want to be a villain.  This is a great book for anyone who loves fantasy fiction.  I am looking forward to reading The Sword of Fire: The Dark Lord's Tale, Book Two as well as the third installment when it comes out.

The Dark Lord's Tale is available in the Kindle format from Amazon.com.  You can also learn more about Kevin Borgan and find more of his books at his Amazon author page.  I have reviewed another Kevin Borgan novel, Isolated, in a previous post from May 1 of this year.  You can read that review by clicking here.

What is "The Hand of Xerophias?"

"What exactly is The Hand of Xerophias?," you might ask. For starters, THoX is the title of my debut novel, which I have been working on off and on for many years, and plan to self-publish and make available later this year. The book is a science fiction story which features themes including terrorism and religious wars fought on an interplanetary scale. 

The original seeds for The Hand of Xerophias were sown in late 2001 to early 2002 in the aftermath attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon of September 11, 2001. I began to think about a scenario of a 9/11 style attack in a futuristic/science fiction setting, and all the different races and species of lifeforms that might be affected by the loss of life and damages brought on by such an attack.

I began to formulate the storyline for Xerophias during the spring of 2002. The story was originally set a little 500 years into Earth's future, in about the mid-26th century. Man had gone out and colonized other worlds, making Earth the capital planet of a star nation called the Terran Union as well as forming other star nations. He had also established contact with other civilizations and had begun to settle into the galactic community.

Much of the conflict in THoX centers around a solar system called the Palguras system. One of the planets of that system is Jacqondria, home to an ancient religion called Luhrzahl, centered around a god named "Rigahl." Jacqondria has also been embroiled in centuries of wars with neighboring planets which practice a religion known as Mahrzohn. "Xerophias" is the name of the god worshiped by the Mahrzonite believers. In addition to fighting open wars against these Mahrzohnite worlds, the Jacqondrians have also been victimized by terror attacks by radical Mahrzohnite groups. 

As the fight against these Marhrzohnite extremists becomes more desparate, the Jacqondrian government reaches out to the Terran Union and the rest of the interplanetary community for help. As a Jacqondrian ambassador meets with political leaders and diplomats from the galactic community, members of a radical Mahrzohnite group known as "The Hand of Xerophias" strike at the meeting, killing all of the dignitaries present as well as members of the interplanetary news media. 

This attack sets Lance Spillman, an operative for Terran Central Intelligence, on a mission which takes him across a series of planets and solar systems as he seeks out the leaders of the Hand of Xerophias and discovers a connection between the organization and the galactic drug cartels of the Phirunas system. The original galactic terror attack scenario I had come up with following 9/11 was never actually used in this particular story, but I filed that idea away in the back of my mind to use for a possible sequel, and I still may yet use it.

The Hand of Xerophias wasn't originally conceived as "Christian science fiction." In fact, I formulated this story and began writing it in 2002 during a prodigal/backsliding season of my life. The language and violence of the story would have been equal to a PG-13 rating. After I recommitted my life to Christ in 2004, I began revisiting the manuscript and removing all of the profanity but keeping the violence pretty much the same, justifying it with the mindset of "you can't write a story about terrorism without violence." Then I began inserting made-up swear words in place of the real ones from the original drafts. I created three words to use: "tsiach" (shee-ahk) to be used in place of the "S-word;" "phreigh" (fryg) as a substitute for the "F-Bomb," used in a non-sexual context; and "vesteich" (ves-tike) for "bastard." I eventually removed these words and went back to a profanity-free approach.

Off and on for several years, I worked on THoX, repeatedly abandoning it and returning to it over and over. I would begin work on other projects that could be more "Christian" or faith-based/inspirational speculative fiction, but my attention has always been drawn back to The Hand of Xerophias. I often pondered the prospect of doing THoX as a Christian story, but was unsure of how to do it. I even tried abandoning it altogether.

But then about three years ago, I felt something stirring me from within. God was prompting me, showing me how to do this. Since then I have been working on THoX as time allows. Most of the basics of the original storyline are still there, but I changed the setting from the 26th century to a universe completely different from our own. The Terran Union was replaced by the Taleuran Union, based among the twin worlds of Taleuras Major and Taleuras Minor. 

The Palguras system is still there, as that universe's equivalent to the Middle East. Palguras is the home to the cosmos' three main religions. Mahrzohn is still present in this story, with both peaceful and radical believers. Jacqondria is home to the other two faiths. Luhrzahl represents Judaism, and is the official state religion of Jacqondria. I changed the name of the Luhrzahite God from "Rigahl" to "Y'on-El," an angram for the Hebrew "Elyon." Christianity is represented as "Ashueia," named after Ashu'ey, the Christ figure in the Ashueian faith.

I made some changes to the hero character, starting with his name. Lance Spillman became Josh Nunnmeier, and changed him from a TCI agent from the Terran Union to an anit-terrorism operative with the Jacqondrian Institute for Security and Intelligence. The ISI is Jacqondria's equivalent to the Israeli Mossad. As with Spillman, Josh's crusade against terrorism has a personal dimension. Each had lost a wife to a terrorist attack years earlier, prompting each to abandon a promising military career to fight terrorists as an operative. 

With Josh, this decision has created a rift between him and his father, a retired Jacqondrian admiral and a devout Luhrzahlite. The two have barely spoken to each other for about seven years. Early in the story, the elder Nunnmeier reaches out to his son to make amends and heal their relationship. But when the father reveals that he has become a follower of Ashu'ey, the rift between the two actually widens. While Josh himself is not a particularly religious man, he is extremely offended that his father is now an Ashueian. As he finds that other members of his family are now Ashu'ey-followers, Josh feels a sense of betrayal.

Josh finds himself investigating a serious of attacks by Mahrzohnite radicals. But when an attack by the Hand of Xerophias affects the Nunnmeier family, Josh begins his own personal investigation of his father's new faith. But as he studies and weighs the evidence, the younger Nunnmeier must decide for himself if Ashu'ey truly is the "Maigrac," the promised Savior sent by Y'on-El to redeem fallen humanity and save mankind from his sin-debt. 

As I move closer to finishing this novel, let me add that I do have some story ideas for possible sequels to The Hand of Xerophias: more subplots than main storylines at this point. Some of these ideas obviously involve further terrorist threats from Mahrzohnite extremists, while some also involve other potential enemies for Jacqondria and for Josh Nunnmeier himself. There are some interesting directions I can take Josh in after THoX, and I look forward to following him on that journey, and I hope you do as well, Dear Reader. The journey begins later this year when The Hand of Xerophias finally sees the light of day!

  

Review: "Isolated" by Kevin L. Borgan

Kevin Borgan's novel Isolated presents an interesting "what if" scenario which makes for an exciting read.  A mysterious plague strikes a small town in Colorado, leaving only high school and middle school age students as survivors.  Initially quarantined at the outset of the mystery disease, the small town of Rock Creek, Colorado is abandoned by the army.  The teen survivors must fend for themselves, and as food and supplies grow short and the community loses power, Rock Creek is on the verge of anarchy.

Isolated's protagonist, Meagan Greene, is a Rock Hill High School student who has just lost her father in the plague outbreak.  Having been abandoned by her mother, who had left her husband and family to run off to California with another man, Meagan must now fend for herself and take care of her younger brother Nathan.  Nathan is age 14 and has been diagnosed with Oppositional Defiance Disorder.  He is resentful and defiant of his sister's authority as the new head of household, wanting to spend most of his time playing video games or hanging out with his skateboarding buddies, many of which are part of Rock Creek's semi-gang known as the "Shredders."

With all of the town's authority figures now dead, and the community cut off from any contact with the outside world, many of Rock Creek's teens begin to wonder if the entire United States has been decimated by this strange disease.  Anna Mueller, head of Rock Creek High's student council, steps up with a proposal to establish the student council as an interim government with herself as its president, at least until more is known about the plague and the extent of the devastation it has wreaked.

After convincing the teenagers to vote in favor of her proposed government, Anna quickly begins setting up a dictatorship seizing food, fuel and other supplies as well as firearms and ammunition.  She begins rationing food and supplies, and sets up a security force consisting largely of players from the high school's football team to enforce her policies.  The absence of a police force in Rock Creek has enabled the members of the Shredders to obtain firearms and become more violent.  This gives Anna a scapegoat with which to justify the extreme measures implemented by the interim government.

Nathan's defiance of his sister pushes him to run away and join the Shredders.  After a violent with Security leaves several members of the gang dead and others in custody, Nathan goes missing, leaving Meagan not knowing her brother's whereabouts or if he's even alive.  She has reliable allies in her best friend Jennifer Newsome as well as Rob Hastings, a classmate whose survivalist parents owned a local gas station before dying from the plague.  After Meagan's home is raided and several supplies seized by Security, who also take Jennifer in the process, Meagan and Rob must form a plan for moving the supplies she has hidden before they can be seized by Security or by Nathan's Shredder co-horts.  They also must decide what to do about Anna Mueller and her interim government as Anna's totalitarian grip on the community tightens.

Isolated is an exciting novel that engages the reader and makes one wonder what if something like this were to happen, whether it be in Smalltown America, a major city or across the entire nation.  Borgan crafts a great story with characters you can like and feel very strongly for.  I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and would love to see a follow-up, especially since the ending of this book practically seems to beg for a sequel.  Isolated is a very good read, and I am now enjoying Borgan's Dark Lord trilogy which I look forward to reviewing here in the near future.  Isolated is available for purchase on Amazon.com.

Review: "Whispers of a Faded Dreamer" by Celesta Thiessen

Cara Pierce is an adopted teenager with a jealous boyfriend and a mother who blatantly favors her biological child, Cara's younger brother. One day while Cara is at school, she and many others around the world see what appears to be an alien visitation as black spaceships turn up all over the earth along with incorporeal black creatures. But not everyone can see these ships and their "alien" occupants.

The appearances of the ships and creatures turn out to be projections created by Kingcade Worldcorp. These projections are part of a recruiting campaign by Kingcade Worldcorp to seek out "Dreamers" for the company. The dreamers get paid simply to sleep and dream while being monitored by the company's technicians. With Cara's father in the hospital and the medical bills piling up, Cara accepts the job offer as a way of helping her family.

Shortly after she begins working as a Dreamer, Cara receives visitations in her dreams from Jesus Christ (referred to here as "The High King"). Cara and the High King embark on adventures together, but the King also challenges her to examine herself and the way she views others around her, especially Bryce/Blaze, a classmate of hers. The High King encourages Cara to forgive those who have hurt her, including her boyfriend and her mother and to look and see the hurt behind the attitudes and behaviors of people such as Blaze in order better understand them and love them as the King Himself would. 

I love how this story employs both science fiction and fantasy scenarios in the dream sequences. In one dream, she's aboard a spaceship on a planet surrounded by blue and pink aliens, and in another she ventures out in a boat with Blaze and the High King to fight a dragon and rescue the people on an island. I also like the use of the High King to represent Christ as He visits Cara and she experiences his love and mercy while He challenges her in how she views and relates to others. 

"Whispers of a Faded Dreamer" is the first of Celesta Thiessen's books that I have read, but it will by no means be the last. I am certainly looking forward to reading more of her work. This is a great read, which I wholeheartedly recommend to any reader who loves science fiction, fantasy or inspirational/faith-based/Christian fiction.

"Whispers of a Faded Dreamer" by Celesta Thiessen can be purchased at Amazon or at Barnes & Noble.com. You can also learn more about Celesta and her writings at her own website, Celesta Thiessen.com.