Authorpreneur Dashboard – S A Hunt
The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree
Science Fiction & Fantasy
The legendary gunslingers of late author Ed Brigham's fantasy novels were supposed to be the stuff of fiction, but when his son Ross and two of Ed's fans stumble into the desolate parallel world of Destin, they discover a war for the very soul of the universe, waged by the immortal muses that once pledged to enrich it -- and a strange secret that might bring America itself into the mystery.
Book Bubbles from The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree
Ross Comes Home
The protagonist of The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree comes home from Afghanistan to realize that his wife has left him and is no longer living in their house. This chapter is pretty much culled directly from my own real life, except for the smashing of furniture. I needed a way to coerce my protagonist into walking without compunction into a fantasy world and leaving his old life behind, and my own personal incident seemed like a perfect fit.
Ross Prevents a Train Robbery
At the midpoint of the book, the story takes a hard right turn as an incident leaves the protagonist stranded in the desert. He discovers an abandoned town and tries to take refuge from a sandstorm, but is discovered by three outlaws setting up for a train robbery.
Ross Experiences the Sacrament
Tied down and beaten, Ross is forced to ingest a ceremonial hallucinogen by an outlaw. The terrifying trip that ensues slowly becomes the instrument of his salvation as a doorway opens in his head, leading to a strange power that will mean the difference between life and death.
"Fiddle" Excerpt #9
This excerpt from Ed's in-canon fantasy series "The Fiddle and the Fire" depicts the eponymous Gunslinger King Normand Kaliburn's drafting into the army of the fictional desert nation of Ain after surviving his abandonment in the choking mica sands of the Emerald Desert.
"Fiddle" Excerpt #8
This excerpt from Ed's novel series "The Fiddle and the Fire" brings us back to the day Normand "Pack" Kaliburn was rescued from the ruins of his farm by traders, and Pack started down the long road to revenge and redemption.
"Fiddle Excerpt #7"
This excerpt of Ed's novel series "The Fiddle and the Fire" depicts a harrowing scene where Clayton and Normand discover that pistol bullets are no match for the terrifying Saoshoma, a massive sea serpent and apex predator that has terrorized the oceans of Destin for centuries.
"Fiddle" Excerpt #6
These passages appear every two chapters in "The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree" and serve to provide flavor and insight to events experienced before the arrival of the main characters. The interstitial passages are culled from "The Fiddle and the Fire", the novel series written by the father of "Whirlwind" protagonist Ross, and represent events that took place thirty to fifty years before "Whirlwind". This particular excerpt details Clayton Rollins, Normand's squire in Book 5, descending into the catacombs under the Forge of Cice Jiunad to hunt down the villainous Ancress Bachelard, the leader of the Grievers and the sword-wielding valkyrie responsible for the deaths of hundreds of men in a quest for power.
"Fiddle" Excerpt #5
These passages appear every two chapters in "The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree" and serve to provide flavor and insight to events experienced before the arrival of the main characters. The interstitial passages are culled from "The Fiddle and the Fire", the novel series written by the father of "Whirlwind" protagonist Ross, and represent events that took place thirty to fifty years before "Whirlwind". This particular passage occurs in the final unpublished volume of the Fiddle series and reveals a dangerous moment in the already hostile frontier of the K-Set colony, as Normand crosses the blasted landscape of a dead civilization to kill the god controlling the giants endangering his home.
Fiddle Excerpt #3
These passages appear every two chapters in "The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree" and serve to provide flavor and insight to events experienced before the arrival of the main characters. The interstitial passages are culled from "The Fiddle and the Fire", the novel series written by the father of "Whirlwind" protagonist Ross, and represent events that took place thirty to fifty years before "Whirlwind". This passage details "Fiddle" protagonist Pack's first encounter with the terrifying Wilder horde.
Normand Crosses the Desert
These passages appear every two chapters in "The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree" and serve to provide flavor and insight to events experienced before the arrival of the main characters. The interstitial passages are culled from "The Fiddle and the Fire", the novel series written by the father of "Whirlwind" protagonist Ross, and represent events that took place thirty to fifty years before "Whirlwind". This particular passage describes a young Normand stranded in the Emerald Desert, a huge green wasteland covered in powdered chromium mica.
Ross discovers Ed's motorcycle.
While investigating his slain father's creepy, empty house, Ross stumbles across an Indian Roadmaster in the back woodshed.
Fiddle Excerpt #2
These 'excerpts' appear every two chapters in "The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree". They are taken from "The Fiddle and the Fire", the novels written by the character Ed, the protagonist's father, and serve to provide insight into past events. This one serves to illuminate a bit of "Fiddle" protagonist Pack's life before the raid that took his parents' life and started him on his lifelong path to retribution.
The first appearance of the Wilders
The first appearance of the Bemo-Epneme, otherwise known as the "Wilders", a ferocious and eldritch creature infesting the ruins of Destin's western frontier, the Antargata k-Setra. (BEE-moh ep-NEM-ee) The native inhabitants of the Antargata k’Setra, the Bemo-Epneme are an enigma and an inherent danger to frontier homesteaders in K-Set. They appear to be the vestigial remnants of a long-lost civilization called the Etudaen, made feral by the strange white masks that inexplicably keep them alive. The Bemo-Epneme (referred to by the slang term “Wilders”) are belligerent, primitive, and standoffish, and unless provoked can be relatively peaceful enough to trade with. They are for all intents and purposes at the cusp of what could be considered “alive” by human standards, and only reproduce by assimilating humans dead or alive, willing or unwilling.
"Fiddle" Excerpt #1
These 'excerpts' appear every two chapters in "The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree". They are taken from "The Fiddle and the Fire", the novels written by the character Ed, the protagonist's father, and serve to provide insight into past events. This one in particular depicts the event that kicked off the entire series: the destruction of Oriensligne, the boyhood home of "Fiddle" protagonist Pack, known later as Normand Kaliburn, the Gunslinger King.
Ed's Execution
A midnight assassin is baffled when his target vanishes in plain sight, mid-shot. This part of Chapter One was added after the initial publishing of the book to add action and a bit of clarification to the beginning.
Law of the Wolf
Science Fiction & Fantasy
PRESSED ON ALL SIDES by a seemingly omnipotent being called the Rhetor and chased by desperados, the protagonists of The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree are led across the desert to confront their mysterious antagonist by the Outlaw King himself, the wizened gunslinger Normand Kaliburn. When one of their own is captured and taken beyond the Wildlands to the heart of the Antargata K-Setra, our heroes will learn the true origins of Ed Brigham's fantasy world... and that incredible revelation will shatter everything they thought they knew about the secret world of Destin.
Book Bubbles from Law of the Wolf
Excerpt Within an Excerpt
This is one of the excerpts of the character Ed's novel series "The Fiddle in the Fire". These snippets of Ed's series depict LAW OF THE WOLF's world back in its true heyday, when laws were suggestions at best and the Outlaw King was just a boy named Pack. In this snippet, the anarchy-touting separatist Lord Harwell shows young Pack one of the dark miracles of the colony - an undead creature called a "Wilder".
Running From The Wilders
After escaping the siege of Ostlyn that ended the first book in a cliffhanger, Ross, Sawyer, Noreen, and the Council of Ain flee from fearsome mask-faced dead things through a catacomb of tunnels and graves.
Normand's Deathwish
The Outlaw King Normand Kaliburn voices his desire to be cremated while the protagonists flee from the giant No-Man through the catacombs under the castle.
