Mercy and Monsters: After spending all his life reading tales of romance and chivalry, a young boy finds his own fantastic quest to be far stranger than fiction.

Mercy and Monsters: YA/FANTASY

Buy at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, Google Play

Read first chapter

BLURB: Mercy and Monsters

As a boy growing up in the Songhay Empire, Morien hears tales of a fantastic, foreign land to the south, filled with dashing knights and fair-haired maidens, and dreams of someday visiting this exotic continent himself.

In another time and place, a young girl named Mija lives in the land of Ibery. Hearing stories of the mythical island of California, Mija dreams of someday discovering this incredible land herself.

One day, Morien and Mija both are thrust into their own fantastic quests. And though the reality they encounter as they journey to strange and dangerous lands is far darker than the fantasies they read about, the ideals learned from those stories remain strong and true, and they carry the pair of travelers as their quests eventually collide.

EXCERPT: Mercy and Monsters

When Morien first opened the voluminous volume, he only intended to read the section containing the songs of Orlando, as had been recommended by the hero. But when Pakeezah called to her son, to alert him to the presence of dinner, she found him still enthralled by that tome’s pages. And even after he had scarfed down the food prepared for him and run back to his room, Morien stayed up until the next day’s sunrise, just so that he might finish reading the whole book. In this he failed, for even the most studious of readers would not have conquered the whole of that volume in so short a time.

But for the next few days, Morien stayed by the side of the book as though it were his dearest friend, as indeed it might as well have been. By the end of the week, Morien knew the book’s contents cover to cover, and could recite the tales of each and every valiant that it recounted.

Perseus, who slew the gorgon Medusa for the sake of his mother. Aeneas, who braved the Ilion War and sailed uncharted waters in his quest for a new home. Lon the Lionheart, who fought the Black-Blooded Baron and restored peace to the empire Aeneas had founded. Pryderi, who witnessed the wonders of Cantre’r Gwaelod still told and sung by the cyfarwyddiaid. Fionn mac Cumhaill, who held the heart of Hibernia in his hands. Beowulf, whose heroism led both to his rise and his downfall. Orlando, who grew from an unwanted child to the hero of Roncevaux Pass. Bernardo del Carpio, who sacrificed everything for his dream of freedom. Holger Vanske, who never let honor or loyalty blind him to what was right. Amadix, who was a most indomitable Gaul. Arthur Pendragon, who ushered in the golden age of Camelot. And lastly, Väinämöinen, who was old when the world was young, and remained the eternal bard forevermore.

All this Morien read. And in those pages, he saw himself reflected back. In the parents of the Valiants, he saw Malik and Pakeezah, raising their child who possessed a great destiny. In the bards and cyfarwyddiaid he saw the griots, with their own noble task and own noble stories. In the Ilion War and its survivors, he saw Bilal, the Prophet’s dear friend and ancestor of all great Soudanian kings. In the rulers and kings, he saw Sundiata, the great lion-king of Mandé, and the greatest Mandenka ruler to ever live. And in all these stories, he saw laughter and love, sadness and fear, dreams and desire, all that existed just as brightly and brilliantly as they did in the Soudanian stories Morien had read and heard.

Imagine, Morien sighed, as he would sit down to read yet again another of his favorite tales from that book, what wonders this land of Augusta must possess. What exotic and exciting adventures awaited him there in that foreign land? The question haunted his dreams, and filled him with a boundless desire.

Above all others, the favorite hero of Morien’s was Lon the Lionheart. Third of the Valiants, it was he who stood against Tar-Cruorem, the Black-Blooded Baron, who sought to take the Aenean empire for himself and usher in a new era of darkness. To halt his bid for power, Lon traveled all across the world, and even to the moon, to collect three Keys with which to seal Tar-Cruorem away on the isle of Thule. Though he faced many trials and tribulations on his quest, with the aid of his Keys and the sacred sword Crocea Mars, Lon was successful and he sealed Tar-Cruorem’s evil once and for all, before retiring to the life of a humble traveler. It was even said by some that Lon was still out there, righting wrongs and helping those in need by whatever means he could.

And when Morien read that final part, his mind flashed with the image of his hero. Had that been him? Had Morien met a living legend? As the months and years passed, pieces of that day slipped from Morien’s memory. But he never forgot that kind and gentle face, the face he now knew to be Lon the Lionheart’s. If only he could meet the hero again, to speak to him and tell him what he meant to Morien. If only, he sighed, as he traced his hands over what would be the first of many books in Morien’s library.

Website URL: https://equasimilione.blogspot.com

Blog URL: https://equasimilione.blogspot.com

LINKS

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0892S1F6J

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mercy-and-monsters-marco-cian/1137066706;jsessionid=346DC7FD77919EB6A812083D37EA46FA.prodny_store01-atgap02?ean=2940163069866

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/mercy-and-monsters/id1515366353?mt=11&app=itunes

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mercy-and-monsters

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=8EnmDwAAQBAJ&rdid=book-8EnmDwAAQBAJ&rdot=1&source=gbs_vpt_read&pcampaignid=books_booksearch_viewport

New Release