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Mill City Press
The Masque and the Dagger: First of the North Wilds Fables
The Masque and the Dagger: First of the North Wilds Fables
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RIOTS, VIOLENCE, REVOLUTION AND ANARCHY threaten the peaceful North Kingdom, and the mysterious force behind the peril is almost ready to strike...
For Tadris Ashford, life is quiet. Danger turns him to his kingdom's plight, however, as he is confronted by savage creatures made of shadow. He soon understands that the world is hardly as it seemed. As a strange spirit begins to follow him, Tadris meets an old man who introduces him to an amazing underground world. He also meets Alcy- his exact opposite- whose spirited determination may lead directly into danger. Tadris must confront new realities: deer can talk, spirits may be real, empty alleyways are not actually empty, and the most vital secret is something he doesn't know about himself...
As much as The Masque and the Dagger is an urban fantasy adventure set amid a political conflict in an alternate reality, it is a relatable story of a boy growing up into a world he doesn't quite recognize from his sheltered childhood. While fantasy elements make the story more dramatic and exciting, the 11-year-old boy who is central to the story struggles to identify and engage with the world around him as so many do as they discover unsettling and amazing things about life. For Tadris, the journey of self-discovery centers on his introverted nature; he goes unnoticed at school and even around his family, and the narrative deals with the points of contention involved with reaching out and wielding influence in a world that is cold to the touch. His story hinges on relationships he forges with other characters: his older brother Barnett, a friend named Alcy, and an old man named Alden. Each holds a key to the puzzles that surround Tadris as he embarks on a hazardous adventure which challenges him to identify not only what kind of a person he will become, but what relevance he will have in the consequential events that surround him. He will learn the weight of decisions and consequences even as he struggles just be noticed in a tumultuous world.
The North Wilds landscape is the setting for this novel and others to come. It is a world resembling ours in many respects, but startlingly different in some. The extreme climate is unlike anything on our world, and the supernatural teems just below the surface through such elements as the water spirit who narrates the story. The wildlife include talking deer and flame-breathing, mischievous demills who inhabit the vast, frozen woodlands beyond the villages and towns.
The urban areas will also feel a little bit peculiar. In addition to the early-century level of technology, life retains other vestiges of alternate history. A monarch sits on the throne of the royal town, and political radicalism ranges from those who favor democracy to others who embrace a mystical and dangerous anarchic influence. As the story is seen through the eyes of an 11 year old, the complexities of the characters and politics are placed mostly within the context of Tadris' adventure and the action which concludes the story.
The story's narrative unfolds in a series of chapter vignettes. At first, the chapters focus on elements of the landscape and fantastical nature of the world, then explore the character's relationship with his world before finally launching him into an adventure which changes his world in a remarkable way.
For Tadris Ashford, life is quiet. Danger turns him to his kingdom's plight, however, as he is confronted by savage creatures made of shadow. He soon understands that the world is hardly as it seemed. As a strange spirit begins to follow him, Tadris meets an old man who introduces him to an amazing underground world. He also meets Alcy- his exact opposite- whose spirited determination may lead directly into danger. Tadris must confront new realities: deer can talk, spirits may be real, empty alleyways are not actually empty, and the most vital secret is something he doesn't know about himself...
As much as The Masque and the Dagger is an urban fantasy adventure set amid a political conflict in an alternate reality, it is a relatable story of a boy growing up into a world he doesn't quite recognize from his sheltered childhood. While fantasy elements make the story more dramatic and exciting, the 11-year-old boy who is central to the story struggles to identify and engage with the world around him as so many do as they discover unsettling and amazing things about life. For Tadris, the journey of self-discovery centers on his introverted nature; he goes unnoticed at school and even around his family, and the narrative deals with the points of contention involved with reaching out and wielding influence in a world that is cold to the touch. His story hinges on relationships he forges with other characters: his older brother Barnett, a friend named Alcy, and an old man named Alden. Each holds a key to the puzzles that surround Tadris as he embarks on a hazardous adventure which challenges him to identify not only what kind of a person he will become, but what relevance he will have in the consequential events that surround him. He will learn the weight of decisions and consequences even as he struggles just be noticed in a tumultuous world.
The North Wilds landscape is the setting for this novel and others to come. It is a world resembling ours in many respects, but startlingly different in some. The extreme climate is unlike anything on our world, and the supernatural teems just below the surface through such elements as the water spirit who narrates the story. The wildlife include talking deer and flame-breathing, mischievous demills who inhabit the vast, frozen woodlands beyond the villages and towns.
The urban areas will also feel a little bit peculiar. In addition to the early-century level of technology, life retains other vestiges of alternate history. A monarch sits on the throne of the royal town, and political radicalism ranges from those who favor democracy to others who embrace a mystical and dangerous anarchic influence. As the story is seen through the eyes of an 11 year old, the complexities of the characters and politics are placed mostly within the context of Tadris' adventure and the action which concludes the story.
The story's narrative unfolds in a series of chapter vignettes. At first, the chapters focus on elements of the landscape and fantastical nature of the world, then explore the character's relationship with his world before finally launching him into an adventure which changes his world in a remarkable way.
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