Author Guest Post with Russell Archey, Ashes of Aldyr

The world of Alda is broken, destroyed by an event the survivors call “The Rupture.”

Welcome to one of the November 11th stops on the blog tour for Ashes of Aldyr by Russell Archey with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

Always a pleasure to have Russell Archey on the blog! Check out this guest post & review tour stop from February for The Seven Spires.

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Author Guest Post

Building a Mythos

I’ve always been enamored by the idea of a mythos: multiple books, shows, or movies sharing a common setting with common characters and places. Tolkein, Lovecraft, and King are some of those that immediately come mind. Even when I found out that Megan Fox’s character’s jerk jock boyfriend in Transformers was the same character in the Friday the 13^th reboot, I wasn’t geeking out over the fact it was the same guy as many were. I couldn’t get over the fact that we officially had a setting where Optimus Prime existed in the same world as Jason Vorhees. I would pay to see that movie.

This led to me wanting to create my own mythos. I wanted to do this in a trilogy and challenged myself to do it without taking years or many books. I wanted to tell a story about a world through many characters’ eyes across many continents and locations. The world of Alda was born. It had to be fantasy and it had to have cosmic horror elements. So, a high fantasy world ravaged by a mysterious, apocalyptic event and brought down to a dark fantasy world became the setting.

The challenge, of course, was telling this story through multiple perspectives. I think it’s the best way to tell the story I want to tell, but I don’t look at it as a short story collection or anthology. There’s no wrap-around story tying it all together. The same locations, events, and, eventually, characters will be referenced across multiple stories. There is an ending and a core set of events told with some central characters. This will all become more noticeable in the next book, of course, but that’s all part of the fun.

This first book sets a solid foundation for what I feel will be a grand trip through the haunted world of Alda. The format may be a little different. The characters may be likable, tragic, or despicable. All of these strings, though, will make for one grand tapestry.

About the Book

Ashes of Aldyr
by Russell Archey

Published 5 October 2021
5 Prince Publishing

Genre: Dark Fantasy
Page Count: 375
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

The world of Alda is broken, destroyed by an event the survivors call “The Rupture.” The aldyrs, magical trees connected to the soul of the world and once grew in breathtaking groves, are dead. Elf-kind, who shared a close bond with these trees, are dying off due to shortened life-spans as a result. The dwarves have retreated into their mountain homes. Humans gather in crumbling settlements. Sinister, god-like beings, each uniquely horrific, exert their influences over the world. Each story is a different thread forming a larger tapestry that shows the scope of the horror and insanity brought by the elusive and mind-numbing entity known as the Obscured Throne. The world was once saved from this threat and Alda was hidden and sealed away. Now, an ancient and shadowy cult called the Black Gnarl have broken enough seals to expose Alda to the Obscured Throne…and It’s coming.

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

Excerpt

I placed my quill to the side, near the inkwell, and turned to face her. I always had to steel myself for this. Her dark skin and captivating eyes always turned my well-meaning words into nonsense. I suppose this made me look quite aloof or even cross, but it was far better than to reveal the clumsy, foolish truth. The question of what she wanted from the restricted section immediately began teasing my higher reasoning skills.

Admittedly, much of the restricted section was limited to the mundane. Many books of recorded history and bureaucratic archives that had yet to be copied for posterity and preservation comprised the bulk of the selection. Scrolls of personal information regarding merchant sales and noble lineages filled in the gaps. However, there were a few volumes of ill repute that gave the restricted section its air of forbidding allure. I’d seen books detailing the Fourth Sect: the magic of death, necromantic practices, and disreputable alchemical applications. Their bindings were sealed with small locks that only Chronicler Germanius himself could access.

About the Author

Russell Archey has been writing since he was old enough to hold a pencil. His love for narratives, world-building, and story-telling has fed into nearly every aspect of his life: from his video and board game hobbies to pressing his most cherished books onto his unfortunate children (who will, one day, read the Lord of the Rings trilogy whether they like it or not). When he’s not creating new worlds and horrifying things to threaten them with destruction, he’s bringing other author’s fantastic works to life as an audiobook narrator, spending time with his two children, and pressing his dear wife’s eternal patience with his quirky habits.

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Giveaway Alert!

Russell Archey will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nov 8	Literary Gold	Nov 9	Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews
Nov 10	Christine Young	Nov 10	Sadie’s Spotlight
Nov 11	The Avid Reader	Nov 11	Westveil Publishing
Nov 12	Fabulous and Brunette	Nov 15	Booklover-Sue
Nov 16	Hope. Dreams. Life… Love	Nov 16	The Obsessed Reader
Nov 17	Kit ‘N Kabookle	Nov 18	All the Ups and Downs
Nov 19	Gina Rae Mitchell	Nov 19	Long and Short Reviews

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