Hello Friends,
How have you been? I’d love to hear how your summer has gone. What are you reading now?
I wanted to start with a confession: Rise of the Nemesis (ROTN for short) is not the true start of Boren’s story.
Boren’s tale has its beginnings in the YA epic fantasy Path of the Guardian (POTG for short), which covers the events leading up to the closing of the portal between worlds. That is the event that ends up trapping Boren on the post-apocalyptic world of Taytos, where our tale in Rise of the Nemesis begins.
Is POTG mandatory reading? It is not! I wrote (and rewrote, and rewrote, and rewrote, you get the idea) ROTN to make it a self-explanatory start to the series Fate of the Demigods. The key reason (as you may have guessed) is sub-genre: POTG is a classic coming-of-age tale in epic fantasy sauce. A tidbit darker than your average YA novel, sure, and with no romance, but YA nonetheless.
ROTN, on the other hand, is NOT YA. It is a dark, at times brutal story, there is sex, and baddies that are just…yikes. In short, ROTN is much more like real adult life. This is no coincidence: I started drafting the very first version of POTG when I was 16 years old. ROTN was fully a product of my adult mind and it shows, farewell, innocence!
That being said, for those that would like to get just a little extra context on Boren’s early adventures, I thought I’d share the (SPOILERS?) main events taking place before the start of ROTN.
Enjoy!
The Portal Wars Universe
My universe of epic fantasy stories deals with the millennia-old conflict between two connected worlds called Komad and Taytos.
Komad is a medieval world where magic has nearly disappeared after centuries of persecution by the Empire and its Inquisition. The few surviving magic practitioners, individuals with inborn magic capabilities known as Tek wielders, now mostly live in hiding. What the people of Komad have forgotten, however, is the threat of Taytos.
On that dying world, demigods called Anjun prepare to invade Komad once again through a magic portal. That portal last opened over 3000 years earlier (before the foundation of the dominating political entity of our story, the Empire of Elakon).
Through a first crack between worlds, the specter of one of the Anjun demigods arrives on Komad and begins to wreak havoc. The ghost corrupts a man called Ferdul, a nephew of the King of Siskail, the island where our protagonist Boren also lives.
Ferdul kills the king and usurps the throne, using his new powers to start creating a half-demon army under the orders of the Anjun ghost.
First and foremost among those orders: kill Boren.
Boren is a young man thrust into a destiny he never asked for, alongside his lost brother Kleos, a creature known as the Infant Key – a mysterious being who has the power to seal the Portal between worlds.
Along their journey, Boren is joined by a diverse cast of allies, including Feridun, a Tek wielding warrior; Deuc, a young priest with a connection to Tek; and Cormoran, a mysterious sailor who joins their cause. They face betrayal, loss, and overwhelming odds as they race against time to reach the Portal and prevent the apocalypse.
Plot of Path of the Guardian
The story begins with Boren on the run from Ferdul’s guards, who have just slaughtered the rest of his family. Boren is found and rescued by Feridun, a Tek Wielder who has been put on Boren’s trail by Percus, one of the most powerful men on Siskail, the high priest of a church known as the Order of the Righteous.
Facing both the ghost of the Anjun as well as the lackeys of the usurper king, Boren and Feridun manage to reach safety at a secluded town run by an order of mercenaries called the Wolves. After that village is destroyed by the Anjun and its horde, the duo and a few of the surviving Wolves escape onward to the capital of the kingdom of Siskail, a city called Siniar, where Percus the Righteous is waiting for them.
It is there that Boren learns the truth about his past.
He and his younger brother Kleos were born in a faraway island and Boren was only adopted and brought to Siskail later. The Anjun and Ferdul have been hunting down Boren, in the hope he will lead them to the brother, who has been hidden away. The revelations unlock in Boren not only buried memories but visions and dreams of his brother, leading to another revelation. His is the power of the Guardian. Both Infant and Guardian are magical beings, fated to save Komad from invasion.
Boren and a few of his companions survive an ambush on the way out of the capital and, after following Boren’s visions, they eventually find Boren’s long-lost brother. Together they travel south, to the island of Meiurk where they were born, and were the portal between worlds is opening.
Meanwhile, two of Boren’s allies, who had been captured in the ambush in Siniar, manage to escape and eventually face Ferdul the usurper in the capital’s royal fortress, defeating him.
On Meiurk, however, a final tragedy strikes. Just as Boren reaches the portal with his brother, he discovers a horrific truth: to close the portal they will need to cross it, condemning themselves to near-certain death. Choosing to sacrifice it all for his friends and loved ones, Boren, holding little Kleos’ hand, steps through the portal.
The book ends with peace returning to Siskail, but Boren and his brothers lost, seemingly forever.
I hope that was a fun read! Of course, if you want to read the book itself, you can find it right here (Amazon Affiliate Link, or AAL for short).
Now, onto some more fun updates!
A Reading Update
As I work hard on the next novel, I thought I might share what I am currently reading/just finished. The twist, I am only sharing non-fantasy titles!
Beyond Biocentrism by Robert Lanza (AAL) - (just finished it) Robert will blow your mind as much as any SFF novel, highly recommended!
French Kids Don’t Throw Away Food by Pamela Druckerman (AAL) - if you have kids like me, you never stop learning about parenting. I am on my second read of this classic.
10% Happier by Dan Harris (AAL) - supposedly a book about meditation, but I haven’t decided if it is worth my time yet, a bit too autobiographical so far!
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (AAL) - just started this classic on decision-making.
What’s next:
How to Invent Everything by Ryan North (AAL) - this promises to be hilarious
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath - (AAL) this one definitely does not!?
Life Recap
My life since launching ROTN has been…messy to say the least?
Turning 40 (almost exactly one month ago) was no joke. I admit, it’s a hit, or at least a good excuse for self-assessment. Not sure I’d recommend it, though!
Then the kids went back to school, with the plot twist that they joined a new school MUCH farther from home than the previous one. Result: the family routine is now much changed and HIGHLY regimented: 6 am rise, 6.30 out the door, daddy drops kids off at school at 7.30, then off to a coworking space to work on my projects, with the next novel in Fate of the Demigods being priority number 1!
Then there are the misc health troubles. We all deal with those, but with aging parents, I admit, it is a growing challenge. Especially when you leave continents away as I do (I live in Singapore, my parents are in Italy).
Adulting is a thrill that never ends. Well, enough bitching for me, back to drafting!
Cannot wait to connect with more of you on any of the above.