Heroes Of The Fallen: New Cover + Reviews

Here it is the newly tweaked cover for Heroes of the Fallen. To be released now in early 2010.

How about a couple reviews thus far.

"Heroes of the Fallen is a Book of Mormon historical that reads like an epic fantasy. It's not often that the LDS market sees something truly new, but West's debut novel really is different. It was refreshing. A breath of fresh air--and a lot of fun."
--Rob Wells

"David West’s debut novel, Heroes of the Fallen, will transport you into an epic tale comprised of the haunting historical events that eventually lead to the downfall of an entire civilization. Written with captivating characters and vivid descriptions of a grand culture, the powerful setting and poetic language make this novel a monumental retelling of the Nephites’ final years of existence."
—H.B. Moore, author of Abinadi and Alma

Halloween Stories Week 3. The Demon Strangler

Tired. I was as bone tired as I could ever remember. It had been a long day at work and I was glad to be home and just kick off the stinky work-boots. I was sore and took a long hot shower and crashed in bed with the paitence of a chopping block not even worrying about dinner. Though it was still light out I was soon asleep, dreaming pleasant dreams.

I awoke with a terrible crushing upon me, my breath halted involuntarily. A force was pushing me down into the bed. Opening my weary eyes I looked into the face of the most grotesque being I have ever beheld. Mottled dark green skin, warped and bent about the skull, piercing hateful eyes and twisted rotten teeth. A red cowl was about the thing as it attempted to squeeze the life from me.

Know that I was afraid but also animalistically angry. Pushing back against the fetid breath and unhallowed grin, I commanded Get Out of Here! And I was afraid no longer.

The demon sensed this as plain as anything. It could not crush me with fear and it could not kill me. It stood up, glanced again at me prone and departed out the wall and window, simultaneous as if it was a hallway to the nether.

It was then my eyes opened in the physical world and I knew that what I had thought I had seen had been with spiritual eyes. The bed still rocked and heaved at the things departing and I knew it had happened but in what physical sense I was not sure.
I do not fear demons and it has not returned.

Halloween Stories Week 2. Damn You Nigeria

I am waiting for an ARC of Burn Me Deadly from noir-fantasy writer Alex Bledsoe I want to review it to spite the FTC and I want to see what happens next with his character Eddie LaCrosse the last review was here. And since I forgot to get the mail today, I decided to take a quick break from editing a short story The Hand of Fate that I shall be submitting soon to a Heroic Fantasy anthology Through Blood and Iron.

Anyway I went to get the mail at 11'O'clock at night. The ARC isn't there but a strange letter is. It says my wife has won the United State Lottery, they have been trying to contact us and we have won 55,500 dollars.There is even an initial check for 3,755 dollars to show us how real it is.

Yeah right.

We have to MONEYGRAM them 2,700 first to pay our taxes and then we get the rest. I google them and its those Nigerians again.

Now some might say "Hey when the prince of Nigeria asks you for help you help him."

Not me, I'm a real Pharisee when it comes to Nigerian princes. I would beat em and leave lying there beside the road, bleeding in the snow, uphill both ways.

That's my fresh scary story for Halloween.

Yours?

Halloween Stories Week 1. Hunting Bigfoot

Quite a few years ago I heard there was a small town in Utah with a biblical name that had a number of Bigfoot sightings. Supposedly back in the early days of Utah, gunfighter and bodyguard to Brigham Young, Lot Smith saw it and shot at it-he missed and was told that it was best to leave it alone.

I was told some first hand stories about the area and the expieriences of a couple of hunters that had run-ins with the Thing.

So why wouldn't I go and check it out? I did.

It was an out of the way town with a very small population. I didn't get there until late at night. A friend and I were the only people on the road that night and we went through town and on up a dirt road into the mountains crossing a snaking creek perhaps a half dozen times. When the road ended we camped. We sat up late staring at the fire under the wheeling stars and told ghost stories until the flames died.

When I slept I dreamt Bigfoot was there watching us. Standing just a few feet away towering over us, watching.
I awoke in the morning still feeling like I was being watched and I was.
A pair of deer stood twenty feet away staring silently.

After breakfast we wandered through the area and found no sign of anything out of the ordinary except the feeling of being watched and the thickness of the woods denoting a place where anything could hide.

Any strange tales out there?

We are the CHAMPIONS My Friends

WE WON.
Thanks everybody who participated, except Peta Pete dont come back here.

I'll get ahold of The Pirate Slayers: Ghost Waves by W. Everett Prusso as soon as its off the presses, hopefully a month from now, around about the same time mine is released I believe. And I will review it soon afterwards much to the chagrin of the FTC and their non-reimbursement preference. I have nothing to declare.

Post a Comment, Save a Kitten

I will save the life of one kitten for every comment someone leaves me, otherwise its curtains for Snuggles and co.

Across the Threshold of Dream

Lest anyone be afeared of my losing that bizarre and esotericness I emblazon across my banner I have for your amusement a rather weird and strange tale, echoing of mad dreams, perhaps assisted by the Dark Muse herself.

Late last night I was working on a new title for a brand new opening I have written for Blood of Our Fathers. Originally Heroes of the Fallen and Blood were one book, but at its voluminous size I decided to submit it in half and it was thusly accepted, but that brought its own problems of making sure things were edited and for book 2 making an adjustment for the sake of continuity for the possible reader who has not read Heroes.

I have written a new opening for Blood and was thinking on what I would like to title the opening chapter. I delight in naming each chapter as if it is it's own short story, plain numbers bore me, but I was at a loss for what to title this new opening. It involves a major character from Heroes=Amaron who is sometimes known as the Lion. Then I started thinking about some of my favorite pulp fantasy writers titles and I remembered an unused title by Karl Edward Wagner. He was going to write the then as yet untold tale of how Conan became king of Aquilonia and he was going to title it Day of the Lion. But L.Sprauge DeCamp who had the rights squashed that idea because he wanted to write that story himself. So KEW wrote The Road of Kings one of the best Conan pastiches, and Day of the Lion went unused. I should mention that DOTL was a play on Robert E. Howard's only Conan novel Hour of the Dragon and was a tale set after Conan has become king of the worlds greatest nation.I have discussed Karl's work before here.

Because of the possibility of using a Lion reference and name for my chapter I thought perhaps I would use the discarded title from a great influence and so I went to sleep.

I dreamt I was in a biker bar talking with Karl and playing pool, getting along famously until I mentioned I was going to use his discarded title. He was not happy-he said we better step outside or some such. I said fine because I've been in a scrap or two, to quote Charlie Daniels, we went outside and exchanged fisticuffs. Needless to say neither one of us were definitively winning the fight and I awoke in the morning resolving that I would not use the title as it was not mine, not in the proper homage and to boot KEW did not want me to use it.

It wasn't until I was well into my day that I read online from some of the sites I frequent, that I realized today is the 15 year anniversary of Karl Edward Wagners death. I would think it an interesting coincidence but I don't believe in coincidence. So perhaps it was the Dark Muse that Wagner wrote about, playing with both alive and dead authors creating malevolent discord among those that should be friends.