The Frewyn Herald: Home of the Haanta Series

I have been horribly ill this week, and therefore the release of Vol 2 of Commander and Den Asaan will be delayed. Here from the book is out king's full history. Enjoy. A lasdair Braeghan Brennin was a generous, compassionate, and sensible young man. His handsome features, tall stature, upright and slender figure, and amiable character were the demise of many women in the capital, but unlike his brother Allande, Alasdair thought little of his appearance and was therefore oblivious to any advance made him. His pastel complexion and green eyes were the object of discussion within the halls of the royal court and many young noblewomen would have given him due consideration if not for how he had been raised.                 Due to unfortunate complications at Alasdair’s birth, Brighel Brennin had died and the death of her husband Prince Draeden shortly followed, leaving Alasdair, named for the lady’s late father, un...

I started adding the character descriptions in the character section. Here are the first three: Characters More descriptions coming soon! Name: Boudicca MacDaede Age as of book 25: 30 Occupation: farmer/ commander of the Diras regiment Race: human History: Boudicca grew up on a small farm in Tyfferim. From a young age, she followed in her father Jaicobh's footsteps and became a farmer on the MacDaede plots, much to her mother Maddie's dismay. She attended school at the Tyfferim Church. There she met Alasdair Draeden Brennin, whom she later befriended. When the Galleisian War came to Frewyn, her lands were destroyed and her father was murdered, forcing her to join the army and avenge her father's death. In training, she was reunited with Brennin. They shared a short-lived relationship, went through the war together, and have been friends ever since. During their time in Amene, she found Rautu skulking about the barracks in search of his effects. She requested...

In the late 1800s to early 1900s, Nelson's Library for Boys was an imprint of Nelson's & Sons publishing house, a publishing and printing house begun in 1798. The imprint specialized in adventure books for boys, most of which have a more estimable vocabulary than most adult books do nowadays. The publisher kept a canon of various authors, one of whom was Paul Creswick, the author responsible for the greatest retelling of Robin Hood (or Robin Wood or Whode, if you want to get pedantic about it). He wrote quite a few adventure stories for Nelson's, including Greypaws, Hastings the Pirate, and In a Hand of Steel. In a Hand of Steel is more a suspense novel than it is an adventure. It discusses the solemn life of a young man by the name of Dick Milcrest, heir to the Thatchmere estate, an old region of what used to be Cumberland. The young man's uncle was part of a secret organization involving the protection of a steel hand, what it was for I won't tell you so a...

Rautu is taking the failure of the peanut crop very seriously. R autu could rejoice in the failure of the fruit and vegetable crops. He was all private elation at the idea of being made to eat nothing but meat and baked goods every day. While everyone around the keep was grave and conferring and pondering, he was prancing along the battlements in high glee, deciding which of the wild beasts and foul would do for his dinner that evening. He might be prevailed upon to hunt enough to feed the entire keep. He began forming a schedule in his mind as he sulked down the stairs to the training yard: Gods Day could be pheasants, the next could be smoked meats, and the next could be brined slices, and the next could roasted boar, and the next could be marinated steaks of various elk, and the next could be baized lamb, and the last might be eggs or turkey merely to give him mate one day of reprieve from her duties at spicing. He saw this impending famine as no famine at all, for Frewyn could do ...

Captain Sarasa and Aldan are cousins, both of them high ranking in the Livanon royal houses and both of them complete opposite in character. Here for the weekend is more of their eternal rivalry. It was Aldan’s first official day as a married king, and as there were ingratiating compliments to be collected, proceedings over which only he could preside, and a large breakfast planned at which he must display his latest acquirement, he roused tolerably early and entreated his wife to do the same that she might titivate herself, curl and pin her shining locks, adorn her limbs with bracelets of gold and layers of transparent silks to exhibit the fullness of her beauty and pay tribute to Aldan’s astonishing wealth. Though the treasury had been emptied for the wedding, the chief of the stock was soon replaced with the resources granted him on his marriage, and as all the powers of trade in Sesterna, his newfound ally, would supply Livanon with added business, his treasure vaults would be bri...

I am in the middle of heavy edits for Khantara Vol 2 and 3. Posting will be less than usual for a few days, but here is a sneak peek of what's to come in Khantara to tide you over. Enjoy! Knowing how their brother’s usual state after having performed the Haanta ritual, Bhaaldhena and Mhardhosa waited for Jhiaanta neat the temple’s entrance, sitting amidst the verdant rows lining the path of the central walkway leading to the outer sanctum. While Bhaaldhena was distracted with the few temple assistants milling about the fountain and according him meaningful looks, Mhardhosa’s attention was on a woman standing at the top of the temple steps. He observed her intently, inspecting her tall figure, slender frame, and significant elegance in movements with a chary eye. His attention had flickered away for some minutes, but his eye always wandered back to her. She wore the linen garments of a groundskeeper, wore her light brown hair in a low fishtailed brad, but her grace and her tranquil...

This is one of Alasdair's favourite books. Certainly one of Paul Creswick's lesser known works, Greypaws tells the story of a little field mouse who, quite by accident, has an adventure. The story is told from his perspective: he's a small mouse on the lower rung of society, who though educated is seen as a mere peasant to most. He has a terrible family row and decides he has done with being a common field mouse in a family of unreasonable women. He quits his home and is taken up by an owl, thus beginning his grand tale of pert slugs, greedy foxes, and sagacious pixies. Here, I will let Alasdair tell you why he adores it: "I love Greypaws, as a story and as a character. He is positive despite his misfortunes, fearless regardless of what danger he might find himself in, and he trusts those who help him without suspecting them. He might claim to be commoner, and others might tell him that he's only a field mouse, but he prevails in spite of himself." ...

Sarasa makes his first appearance in Vol 2 of Commander and Den Asaan. He is an important recurring character in the series. Here is his history as taken from Vol 2: At twenty, Sarasa Darias Buthaena had done more than most of his noble kinsmen would ever do at fifty. Growing up on his father Prince Darias’ moderate estate, he had learned the value in economy, the importance of good sense, and had inherited his father’s character of cheerfulness, prudence, and sensibility. His mother dying young and his father ill soon after, Sarasa was the only son of his particular branch of the Buthaena tree. He had learned to look after himself, had taught himself to read and write with some assistance from his uncle, and by ten was the master of his own tutelage. He learned well, cherishing an observant eye, from which he learned the arts of acrobatics and escape. Unable to inherit the throne, and with little inclination to do so if he should, he soon took to horse riding, swordplay, gained a f...