04-02-2013, 08:39 PM
Hi, Michael
Actually, there's quite a bit about the Alans in the novel. We meet Safrax as a boy, then a teenager, and finally when he hooks up with Alatheus. The sword in the novel is Tyrfing the Ironbreaker, the "sword in the stones" in Alanic and Taifali culture. In the story, the Taifali and a small group of Alans are part of the Tyrfingi confederation... the "kunja." And the major female character is a Taifala.
So, overall, it's a tale of three tribes who came together in mutual defense, something historically probable. Unfortunately, the novel is epic; and I have not put together a Kindle version because I'm not thrilled in the way PDFs get botched when they come out as htmail. The print version has a missing "a" in the first sentence and then we get 500 pages with no errors. That little error in the front of the book really devistated me. :dizzy: I walked away from it for several months, but I'm finally getting over it.
Overall, it's a good story... touching on the metaphysical. A bit of humor, but not like The Demon's Door Bolt. What I tried to do was give a characterization of a young Fritigern that fits his historical profile when he arrives in the books of Socrates Scholasticus, Zosiman, and Ammianus Marcellinus.
mile:
Actually, there's quite a bit about the Alans in the novel. We meet Safrax as a boy, then a teenager, and finally when he hooks up with Alatheus. The sword in the novel is Tyrfing the Ironbreaker, the "sword in the stones" in Alanic and Taifali culture. In the story, the Taifali and a small group of Alans are part of the Tyrfingi confederation... the "kunja." And the major female character is a Taifala.
So, overall, it's a tale of three tribes who came together in mutual defense, something historically probable. Unfortunately, the novel is epic; and I have not put together a Kindle version because I'm not thrilled in the way PDFs get botched when they come out as htmail. The print version has a missing "a" in the first sentence and then we get 500 pages with no errors. That little error in the front of the book really devistated me. :dizzy: I walked away from it for several months, but I'm finally getting over it.
Overall, it's a good story... touching on the metaphysical. A bit of humor, but not like The Demon's Door Bolt. What I tried to do was give a characterization of a young Fritigern that fits his historical profile when he arrives in the books of Socrates Scholasticus, Zosiman, and Ammianus Marcellinus.
mile:
Alan J. Campbell
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
