A royal wedding. A missing duke. An empire on the brink of war.
Carthinal and his companions gather to celebrate Princess Randa’s wedding to Prince Almoro—until news arrives that Duke Larrin of Sendolina and his wife are missing, and their lands have fallen to enemy forces. With tension rising between Grosmer and Erian, the king dispatches a dragonet to uncover the truth.
As the Wolf mercenaries set out on a dangerous rescue mission, they are blown off course and forced into battles on land and sea. Meanwhile, rebellion brews in Hambara, and young Thadora—noble by blood but raised in the shadows—must uncover Erian’s next move.
Soon, loyalties will be tested, lives lost, and Carthinal will have to face a betrayal from someone he trusted the most.
A richly detailed epic fantasy adventure, IMMORTAL’S DEATH is the fourth book in the Wolves of Vimar series by V.M. Sang.
The first 3 books are available as a Collection. It says ‘The Complete Series’, but that was before Book 4 was published.
All three books in V.M. Sang’s ‘The Wolves Of Vimar’ series of fantasy novels, now available in one volume!
The Wolf Pack: Carthinal is ready for his rite of passage to become a mage. What he doesn’t expect is ending up on a quest to find the long-lost sword of the legendary King Sauvern. Followed by Randa, the daughter of the Duke of Hambara, and the young thief Thad, Carthinal will need all the help he can get in order to complete his quest.
The Never-Dying Man: After straying into Erian, Carthinal and his friends find preparations for war. Carthinal will need to face unpleasant truths about himself; Is his desire to further his magical career more important than his friends, and his country?
Wolf Moon: An invasion is planned to Grosmer. As the heroes make their escape, they accidentally stumble upon an old Dwarven city. Facing enemies on all sides, the five must find where their loyalties lie, But can they save their homeland from certain destruction?
Although it is better to read the whole series, I believe that each book can be read on its own. There are some things that hang over, as it’s a series, but most things are settled in each book. There is an overarching quest of finding and killing the Never-Dying Man to save the land of Grosmer.
If you choose to read any or all of the books, I would be more than grateful for an honest review, and if you would like a free review copy of Immortal’s Death (or any of the other books), please let me know in the comments.
There is no obligation to review, but I would be greatly appreciative.
After publishing some of his short stories on his blog, Hugh W. Roberts, who is dyslexic, received numerous requests to publish his short stories in a book.
Here, at last, are 28 short stories that will take your mind on a roller coaster of a ride into worlds that conceal unexpected twists and turns.
‘Glimpses’ allows the reader a peek into the lives of everyday people who are about to have life lead them on an unpredicted path. From a mysterious deadly iPad app to a hole in the fence that is not all it seems, to a strange lipstick that appears to have a life of its own, you will encounter terror, laughter, sadness, shock and many other emotions on journeys which promise a thrilling and gripping climax.
If you are a lover of shows such as ‘The Twilight Zone’ and ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’, then you are in for a real treat with this first collection of short stories from Hugh.
Dare you take a glimpse into the lives of these unsuspecting characters?
As this is a book of short stories, my usual format for reviews won’t work.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading these stories. There were stories of different lengths, so you could choose a short one if you haven’t much time, or a longer one if you wanted to settle down and relax.
I began at the first story and worked my way through.
Every story has an interesting twist, which, for me, made it very interesting and exciting trying to decide what the twist would be.
Some of these stories will horrify you, some will sadden you, yet others will make you smile, but they will all surprise you.
The book is well written and I didn’t notice any typos of grammatical errors.
If you are a fan of such TV programmes as The Twilight Zone or Tales of the Unexpected, then this is the book for you.
I give it 5*
My ranking of books.
In order to get a particular number of stars, it is not necessary to meet all the criteria. This is a guide only.
5* Exceptional. Wonderful story. Setting well drawn, and characters believable–not perfect, but with flaws. Will keep you up all night. No typos or grammatical errors.
4* A thoroughly enjoyable read. Great and original story. Believable setting and characters. Very few grammatical errors or typos.
3* I enjoyed it. Good story. Characters need some development. Some typos or grammatical errors.
2* Not for me. Story not very strong. Unbelievable and flat characters. Setting not clearly defined. Many typos or grammatical errors.
1* I hated it. Story almost non-existent. Setting poor. Possibly couldn’t finish it.
And another review from Amazon
“If you are looking for a thoroughly entertaining read, Glimpses is the book for you. Each story, cleverly crafted through Hugh’s wonderful imagination, will whisk you away to many different worlds, past, present and future. Every story makes a compelling read and just when you think you know what’s going to happen next, Hugh masterfully reveals a brilliant twist. With bite-size and longer stories, Glimpses is a must-read. I loved it.” – Esther Chilton, Writer, and Author.
Today is Armistice Day, the day when peace came to the world after WW1. It was said to be the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. For convenience, I suspect, it seems to have been moved to the nearest Sunday,
As I’m having to spend a lot of time trying to get through checking the edited manuscript of my latest WIP, I’m unashamedly reposting the one I posted for 100years since the end of that dreadful war.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
I’ll never truly understand How World War 1 began. The death of Archduke Ferdinand Started the deaths of many more, The young, the old, the rich, the poor. All died with guns in hand.
My Grandad went with Uncle Jim And Our Poor Willie, too. They sent them off, singing a hymn. Grandad went to Gallipoli, Uncle Jim left his love, Polly. Gas in trenches did kill him.
I cannot see, in my mind’s eye Grandad with gun in hand. A peaceful man, sent out to die. He fought for us, for you and me So we can live and so that we Safely in our beds may lie.
Grandad came home, and Willie too, But millions more did not. Their duty they all had to do. They died in fear, in noise, in blood. Everything was caked in mud. Yet in those fields the poppies grew.
The War to end all wars, they said, So terrible were the deaths. The youth of Europe all lay dead. Yet 21 short years to come Another war. Once more a gun In young men’s hands brought death.
One hundred years have passed since then. What have we learned? Not much! Too many men are killing men. Wars still abound around the world. Bombs and missiles still are hurled At those who disagree with them.
My Grandma always referred to her brother as ‘Our Poor Willy’. No one knows why she called him that, though.
Please leave a comment. I love to hear from you and of your thoughts.
This poem, and others, can be found in Miscellaneous Thoughts. You can buy it by clicking on the cover in the sidebar where you will be taken to the online store of your choice.
I would normally have written about it myself, but I’ve received the edited manuscript of Immortal’s Death and need to go through it. I’m consequently a bit short of time.
I was looking through some of my photographs the other day and came across several of lovely trees. I thought I’d share them.
I love trees, and they are so important, not only for helping with removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and turning it to oxygen, but also to preserve other wildlife.
During the writing of The Wolf Pack, I decided to eliminate a chapter where Carthinal took the practical test to end his apprenticeship and enter the world of full mages. This is part of that chapter.
I’ll post more of it eventually. Probably next week.
Please don’t judge it too harshly. It was my first ever attempt at writing a novel!
PRACTICAL
This was it.
The final and most important part of the test was to begin a little later than the others, at the fourth hour.
There were still six of them as all had learned of their success in the previous afternoon’s test, Carthinal and Ebrassaria gaining distinctions. (The elf had looked rather piqued to find that a mere half-elf seemed to be matching her efforts in the written tests.)
This time, instead of going upstairs to the room where they had done their written tests, they were escorted down many flights of stairs to a room well below ground level.
Their guide left them in a circular room devoid of furniture, but which boasted seven doors in the walls, including the one through which they had entered.
Six mages entered from the other doors and introduced themselves to the candidates. There was to be one mage to watch each candidate.
Carthinal’s examiner was an elven mage who introduced herself as Yssalithissandra. (Yssa for short she told him in a whisper, giving him a wink.) One of the examining mages gave them their instructions.
“You will each enter a different door, and have six hours to find the door to return to this room. There will be a number of problems and dangers for you to overcome. When you return, you’ll be assessed on the efficacy of your use of magic and how well you conserved your strength. We will also assess the way you solved any problems you will meet on the way.” He paused to wipe his glasses. You are allowed to take one scroll and one weapon with you, but no magical items.” He looked around the six candidates. “There is a real danger of death in the test before you. If any of you wish to pull out, now is the time.”
Carthinal looked around. No one moved, although Olipeca looked rather pale, and Grimmaldo looked decidedly green. No. No one was going to pull out.
They selected their weapon and scroll.
Carthinal chose to take his dagger, which he always had strapped to his wrist, and a True Seeing scroll, having decided it was quite possible that much of what was behind the door would be illusion. Even with that knowledge he knew that illusions could be deadly too.
They all moved forward as one.
As they reached the doors, Grimmaldo whispered, “Good Luck” to Carthinal. He did not have his usual cheery grin, and he looked decidedly nervous.
Carthinal wondered if he looked as scared and if they would all return through those doors.
The door closed and he was alone in the pitch darkness. He could see nothing at all with normal vision, so he looked around for any heat sources that may denote a living being. Towards the end of the corridor, he could see a vaguely humanoid-shaped red glow.
“Is this enemy number one? I’d better creep closer and see.”
As he came nearer, he could make out a distinctly hobgoblin smell.
“OK, I can deal with this without my spells.”
He released his dagger from the harness holding it on his forearm, and in the same movement threw it unerringly towards the creature’s throat. He was rewarded with a gurgle and saw the reddish shape slump to the floor, the redness fading as the body cooled in death. Carthinal quickly retrieved his dagger while he could still see it.
Now there was only blackness. No sign of any further enemies, but a few paces away from where the body of the hobgoblin lay, the corridor finished in a blank wall.
“What now?” he muttered aloud. “There must be a secret door somewhere. I’ve got six hours to complete this test, so there’s no rush. At least not yet.” He leaned against the wall to think, and as he moved his feet, he heard a scrunching beneath them and realised there were rushes on the ground.
“Torches! Yes!” Cardinal knelt and gathered a bunch of rushes. They were dry, so he set about making a torch. He knew if he set light to them as they were, they would burn far too quickly, so he plaited the ends where he would grip them, and left the tops free. He made a number of these rush torches, taking the time to do so, since he had no idea if he would find any more farther into the labyrinth, or so he surmised it to be.
After he had what he considered a sufficient number, he lit the first torch using the cantrip he had used to light the fires on his journey with Asphodel and Basalt.
It took a few seconds to light, and he thought it was not going to work, but there was a sudden splutter and the makeshift rush torch burst into flame.
The end of the corridor proved not to have any signs of secret doors. He searched twice to be sure, then slowly made his way back up the corridor towards the door through which he had entered. There was no sign of a door on the right hand side, nor, to his surprise, was there any sign of the door through which he had entered.
“Well that ensures we don’t go back,” he muttered as he searched the other wall of the corridor. “Ah! I knew there must be something somewhere!” He could see the very finest line in the stonework.
It was hardly visible, but his elven heritage had given him excellent vision. He wondered for a moment how non-elves would set about finding this door, but that was not his problem, so he put it aside. Mabryl had taught him to focus on the problem at hand and not worry about things he could do nothing about.
“That way lies death,” Mabryl’s voice whispered in his mind.
He also remembered similar instructions from his life in the gangs, before Mabryl had saved him.
It took only a couple of seconds for him to discover the mechanism that opened the door and then a portion of the wall swung inwards with a grinding sound.
“Kassilla’s tits!” he swore. “If anything’s in there, it would have heard that a mile away.” Ensuring there were no rushes to set on fire on the floor of this new corridor, Carthinal stubbed his torch out. He stood in the dark, searching the corridor for signs of life.
No red glowing figures were visible, nor did he hear any sounds. Wait! Was that a shuffling? No … Yes! There was something out there. He could see no heat sources.
Then he realised with a sinking feeling. One of his biggest dreads! Undead!
Well, they knew he was here, and he must be able to see them if he were to fight them, so he re-lit his torch. Sure enough, shuffling slowly along the corridor was a zombie. Carthinal’s mind worked quickly. He needed something more than his dagger here as it was unlikely that a single throw would stop the zombie. Zombies fought with their bare hands, hitting and clawing at their victims, but could do a tremendous amount of damage, especially to an unarmoured mage. He therefore could not risk getting into close combat with it.
A spell then, that was the answer.
Trying any mind influencing spell was no use as undead were generally immune to such spells, not having a mind to affect, so it was no use trying to put it to sleep. He decided to use small bolts of energy.
He quickly took the mana into himself and wove the pattern to absorb energy from the surroundings and transfer it into darts of pure energy.
Two silvery darts shot from his fingertips to bury themselves unerringly in the zombie’s chest.
It staggered and fell to the ground, twitched a few times and then was still.
“I hope there are no more of them! I hate undead, they give me the creeps.”
Carthinal was unsure why he was talking aloud. “Maybe for reassurance. After all, I could actually die in here.”
He quickly quashed the unpleasant thought, but like everything one tries not to think about, the idea kept returning. To try to stop it, he began to talk to himself again.
“I think I’ve been in here now for about an hour and a half. Time to find the door, time to make the rush lights, and two enemies to dispatch. Still plenty of time, but then, I don’t know, do I? I’ve no idea how far I have to go, or what I must face. I’d better move on.”
The corridor curved to the left, meaning Carthinal could not see very far in front of him. It was worse than a sudden corner, as there he could have stopped and looked carefully round, so he walked slowly and quietly along, his back to the wall, and paused every few yards to listen.
His progress was snail-like, but he was as sure as he could be that he was not running into danger unprepared.
The long curving corridor eventually ended with no further traps or enemies to be overcome, and then forked into two ahead of him.
“Now which way?”
He decided to toss a coin as no other ideas came to him. Heads, left, tails right. It came down heads, so he took the lefthand branch.
There was no sign of an enemy, but he moved with care.
The first book in the Wolves of Vimar series opens with the burial of a king and his magical sword, and the sacrifice of twelve warriors whose spirits will protect his body from harm until the eight “wolves” come. This prophecy results, many years later, in a quest, as eight characters are sent by a duke to bring back the sword.
The book is divided into thirds. Part I takes its time introducing the characters who represent a variety of races including humans, elves, dwarves, and their half-elf leader, Carthinal. The group includes the duke’s entitled daughter Randa, a married horselord couple, and a young thief with a thick accent. The backstory for most of the characters comes through multiple points of view with some omnipresent narration.
Part II of the story begins the journey. The author’s attention to world-building is evident as the “wolf pack” wends their way across the land. Part III covers the journey home. The pace is moderate throughout with tangents for fun, humor, and a bit of romance. Much of the book’s journeying reminded me of a Dungeons and Dragons quest, with a variety of creatures offering challenges along the way including Yetis, dragons, bandits, hobgoblins, and other fantasy monsters.
The characters are distinct but for me, the book was more of a plot-driven read than an emotionally-deep character-driven one. Most of the characters don’t have significant arcs apart from Randa, the entitled duke’s daughter, and for that reason, I found her the most interesting. Though the first book in the series, it also stands alone well. Recommended to YA readers of high-fantasy quests who enjoy a leisurely pace, plot-driven stories, and encounters with otherworldly creatures and monsters.
Ifyou would like to read The Wolf Pack, you can get it by clicking here, or on the book cover in the sidebar.
This link will take you to a page where you can buy the book from your favourite online store.
It is available in ebook, paper back, hardback and audio.
Did you enjoy this excerpt? Please leave your comment in the comments box.
This was supposed to be scheduled for Tuesday, but WP didn’t give me the usual option, but posted it right away! I cant find a way to unpublish it, either. So this is my Tuesday’s post early!
Last week I sent the manuscript of Book 4 of The Wolves of Vimar series. It’s called Immortal’s Death.
I thought you might like to know a bit more about the world of Vimar, so here’s a post about it.
Map created using Inkarnate
Vimar circles its sun in almost exactly 360 days. This leads the people to have divided their year into 12 months of 30 days. Since it is not exactly 360 days, but in fact 360 days and 4 hours, this means that every 6 years an extra day is added to the year. This is added at the end of the year and is called the Day of the Gods. It is a holiday for everyone and as it comes just before Grillon’s Day, also a holiday, when the New Year is celebrated. Everyone looks forward to this time.
Because all the important astronomical timings are 6 or multiples of 6, the people of Vimar have come to believe that six is a holy number. Thus when they came to devise the timings of the day, they decided to divide it into 24 hours, much as we do on Earth, However, they begin to count their day from the time of sunrise on the 2 equinoxes, unlike Earth, where timing is taken from the mid-point of darkness at this time, more or less.
Once every place began their day at dawn, regardless of time of year or place on the planet, but as trade increased this became somewhat confusing, and so the standardised time began. Thus what on Earth would be 6am, on Vimar it is 0 hour, and Earth’s 12pm is Vimar’s 6th hour.
Vimar has 2 moons, Lyndor and Ullin. Lyndor is slightly nearer to Vimar than Ullin and appears to be a gold colour. Ullin appears more silvery. It is considered propitious when the moons are both full together, and if both moons are dark, that is considered to be the least lucky time for any ventures. The best times for starting any venture is when both moons are waxing, and conversely, if they are both waning, that is a bad time, although endings can be good at this time.
The world has 2 large continents, The one featured in the Wolf Pack is the continent of Khalram. Grosmer is the largest country on this landmass and has a climate ranging from Mediterranean in the south to cool temperate in the north. To the west, beyond the Western Mountains is a vast plain on which live the nomadic people known as the Horselords for their mastery of the beautiful horses they rear. It is said that a huge ocean lies beyond this plain, but no one knows for sure.
Beyond the Mountains of Doom, a volcanic range in the east, are the lands of Pelimar, a loose coalition of city states, Erian, ruled by an elected Master and the elven land of Rindisillaron.
The north of Grosmer is bounded by a huge range of mountains known as the ‘Roof of the World.’ What lies beyond that is unknown. No one who ventured over the mountains has ever returned.
There is a large, mysterious continent to the far east that occasionally comes to the attention of the people of Khalram because of the Raiders who come for plunder and slaves.
Millennia ago, three huge volcanoes stood at around the mid-point of the continent. Over a hundred years, all three exploded violently, plunging the land into a terrible darkness that lasted many years. Eventually, the eastern ocean broke through and created the Three Seas that now sit to the south of Grosmer and Erian.
To the south of the Three Seas is the Great Desert. That, together with the three seas, acts as a barrier. Little is known of the lands beyond.
It was from here that Fero came to live in Grosmer.
Building a believable world can be a daunting task. I did research into geography and geologyin order to make it believable.The deserts, for example, are in the same places as they are on Earth.
North of the three seas, the climate is Mediterranean, and as one progresses northwards, it becomes more like the UK, especially around Frind, just south of the Roof of the World.
I went out for a coffee To my local coffee house The girl who was serving me Smiled and brushed her blouse. “What would you like?” she said quite clear And then listed all the options near.
“Americano, or flat white Espresso, Latte, that’s quite nice. You can have mocha, if you must Or cappuccino with chocolate dust. We serve iced coffee when it’s hot And Irish coffee when it’s not.”
There was far too much choice. What were these things she offered me? I was confused. I lost my voice. Once upon a time, you see, This was all you’d hear her say “Black or white for you today?”
So what have I been up to during this time?
Well, the first thing I’d like to tell you is that I’ve just sent the manuscript of Book 4 of The Wolves of Vimar series to Next Chapter, my publisher. It’s called Immortal’s Death. I hope the title is intriguing. What do you think of it?
Now begins the waiting game to see if they accept it!
I finished the first draft what seems like ages ago. Yes! It was ages ago. Then began the editing and re-writes.
I ran it through Grammarly to help with the grammar and spelling, then it went onto Scribophile for the critique process. That took ages because there is a limit to the number of words you can submit. Usually a chapter is OK to fit into their limitations, but occasionally one has to be divided into 2 parts.
This story is more complicated than the other books. The group of friends, called Wolf, split up and do different things, thus causing the POV to change. I labelled each chapter with the POV character’s name to make this clear.
Muldee, a little dragonet with telepathic powers, insisted he had a larger role in this book. His ability to read minds is important on several occasions, and so I gave him his way.
Basalt, a dwarf, still hates water and horses, and incidents in the book re-enforce this.
Randa’s horse, Storm, a feisty black stallion, has a bigger role than previously, too.
King Perdillon II and Duke Rollo have important parts. The king especially. He is finding it difficult to make decisions as he has to decide between his duty to his country and his family.
And War comes to Grosmer.
I’ll keep you updated as to what is happening with the book, but it will be a while before I hear anything more.
What have you been up to during July? If you have any comments, please add them to the comments box. I love hearing from you.
First of all, I apologise for no post yesterday day. I had a dreadful cold over the weekend, which is when I usually sort out my posts for the following Tuesday. I’m not completely recovered yet, but am well on the way. It was the worst cold I’ve had in ages. Colds don’t usually stop me in my tracks, but this one did!
The good news is that today I’m visiting Robbie Cheadle on her blog. I would like to thank her for asking me. It’s a great honour to be asked by such an excellent author and poet.
I was recently interviewed by Mary Deal and the interview is now released on her website.
Mary is one of my favourite authors. She writes mystery, suspense and romance. Her writing is excellent and I am honoured that she wanted me to appear on her blog.
Thank you, Mary, for allowing me to visit.
If you would like to pop over and read the interview, click on the button below.
Dragons Rule OK. V.M.Sang (author) 