He was once the greatest champion in the land.Then he disappeared.
With Nemesia's defeat, the Barlows have helped turn the tide in the Hidden Lands. But the victory is short-lived. An even greater evil stirs in the north with a fierce new army bent on destruction. As the twins, Gabe and Garret, discover their own special powers, a thin thread of hope emerges: long ago, a fabled king was rescued from death on our world and hidden on Karac Tor. Who is he?
Each brother has their part to play. Hadyn must travel north to warn the land barons, which leaves Ewan with a bitter choice. Will he sacrifice what is most precious to discover whether Corus lives? Even more important, if Corus is alive, can he wake the Sleeping King of legend...before it's too late?
~About the Author
Dean Barkley Briggs is an author, father of eight, and prone to twisting his ankle playing basketball. He grew up reading J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lews, Patricia McKillip, Guy Gavriel Kay, Stephen R. Donaldson, Ursila K. Leguin, Susan Cooper, Madeline L'Engle, Terry Brooks, Andre Norton and Lloyd Alexander (just to name a few)...and generally thinks most fantasy fiction pales in comparison. (Yes, he dabbled in sci-fi, too. Most notably Bradbury, Burroughs and Heinlein).
After losing his wife of 16 years, Briggs decided to tell a tale his four sons could relate to in their own journey through loss. Thus was born The Legends of Karac Tor, a sweeping adventure of four brothers who become enmeshed in the crisis of another world and along the way, must find their courage, battle overwhelming odds, face their pain, and never quit searching for home.
In God's timing, beauty and joy arose in the real world, too. Briggs remarried a lovely redhead named Jeanie, who previously lost her husband in an auto accident. Together with her four children, their hands are quite full, and they spend each day grateful for their eight blessings.
~My Review
Now I haven't read all of this epic book... so crazy busy around the holidays and this past week has been rather hard for me... I didn't finish it like I planned on. I can tell you though, that I have highly enjoyed what I have read. I'm not going to do my full review until I finish the whole book... it for sure deserves it! (My next post in a few days will be a full review) For now I'll say great characters, unique epic story line... a different blend and twist to the story of King Arthur, and the author's style of writing is nice... I haven't read book one, but I definitely plan on getting it. I think I would enjoy this even more if I had read book one first... I knew the story line and all, but I know I missed out on a few things.The book itself is rather cool too! AMG publishing keeps getting better with their covers. The books name, along with the authors name are lifted, giving it a nice feel. The swords hilt is also popped out and the spine looks pretty in your book shelf. Ha, ha, I know don't judge a book by it's cover. ;-)Since my review is short here is something some of you might enjoy.
Below is a great post from the author himself from his wonderful blog http://deanbriggs.com it gives you a total different understanding to his fun names in his book series. I love creating my characters names :-)
WriterTips: A Primer on Names in LoKT (Legends of Karac Tor)
For any novelist, many factors go into choosing a good name for each character, including: Culture or ethnicity, Physical appearance, Personality, Temperament, History, and Rank within the story. These comprise the broad swath of identity which a name is meant to convey. Sometimes, an author will want to run counter to stereotype with a name that intentionally defies the conventions. Even so, the character “Maximus” is unlikely to be a shy, effeminate pacifist of eastern origins, with nothing but a small role in the latter part of the story. Rather, he’s likely to be the brawny warrior/general from an imperialistic nation who’s probably stern, short-tempered, has two broken bones at any given time, and is perpetually threatening to take over the whole story.As a linguist and scholar of ancient languages, Tolkien was unmatched in name selection, creating evocative new words that imprinted so deeply in the reader’s mind it soon seemed hard to imagine that character being called by any other name. I generally determine names in one of two ways: phonetically or visually. They must strike the right tone and have the right texture or nuance, either to pronounce or to read, though preferably both. There must be balance and meter between syllables or words. One word or two? Or three? If there is an ethnic implication, the tone must suggest something larger than the name itself. This applies to place names, given names, object names, etc. Let me give you some examples from The Legends of Karac Tor:
Faielyn is a city of romance and charm. Dinglet is not. The former, with extra vowels and lack of hard consonants, has an air of sophistication and mystery. Dinglet sounds trivial by comparison. Likewise, Aventhorn is a fortress of classic strength, while Stobnotter is more appropriate to a remote village. Rake Hightower runs the risk of caricature, I’ll admit, but it sure beats Mort Frogswallow as the arrogant High Constable of the King’s army, unless of course the constable was not heroic, but sniveling and political. And what do you do when you need to name a new monster? Choices abound, but orcs, trolls and vampires are a bit used up. Care must be given to creating a totally new class of monster. Choosing a new word that sounds like an old word can help. What about Goths? For those who remember 8th Grade History, you might recall that the Visigoths and Ostrogoths were fierce Germanic hordes that swept across Europe as part of the destruction of Rome. Such a term, bearing history within itself, may already trigger an image in the mind of the reader, even if they don’t know why. By association, my Goths benefit, as brutal marauders. There’s a connection for non-history buffs, too. Drawing on the term “gothic,” I’m able to borrow something familiar from our language–suggestive of graveyards and creepy medieval architecture. By extension, a Goth is something fearful. Nobody would fear the Pinklets. I don’t care how large their army or sharp their teeth, it won’t sell. The name is too disconnected from the thing it is meant to embody. Name and identity should have synergy, so that every time the name is read, it reinforces principle character attributes without having to restate them. Flogg makes a good gnome name, as might Worr and Wurt and Gorker. But for my taste, Dag Boneswallow or Hali Throckmorton start to try too hard, become too cumbersome. And Tubby just doesn’t work at all, unless the story is told with a winking sense of humor! Finally, there’s Nemesia, the witch who is stealing the memory and identity of an entire generation. Can you identify her name? It’s a combination anagram: Amnesia (forgetfulness) and Nemesis (enemy). Pretty cool!
Over the course of five epic books, The Legends of Karac Tor unfolds the story of four brothers—based on my own sons—thrust into the crisis of another world in the wake of their mother’s untimely death. It is thoughtful, gritty, magical fiction. If you read it, let me know what you think. But here I must part with the Bard. While “a rose by any other name” would smell as sweet, would you want to smell it—would you even give it a chance—if it it were named Scumleaf?
To purchase, Corus the Champion, go to - http://www.amazon.com/Corus-Champion-Legends-Karac-Tor/dp/0899578640/
Check out the author's fun website - http://hiddenlands.net/index.php?Itemid=49&id=19&option=com_content&task=view
To find out more about this great book and author, check out the other tour members for this months tour.
http://ofbattlesdragonsandswordsofadamant.blogspot.com/ Gillian Adams
http://noahsreads.blogspot.com/"> Noah Arsenault
http://rbclibrary.wordpress.com/"> Beckie Burnham
http://morganlbusse.wordpress.com"> Morgan L. Busse
http://csffblogtour.com/"> CSFF Blog Tour
http://carolcollett.wordpress.com/"> Carol Bruce Collett
<http://tweezlereads.blogspot.com/"> Theresa Dunlap
http://projectinga.blogspot.com/"> April Erwin
http://vicsmediaroom.wordpress.com/"> Victor Gentile
http://www.thehahnhuntinglodge.com/"> Nikole Hahn
http://realmofhearts.blogspot.com/"> Ryan Heart
http://www.brucehennigan.com/"> Bruce Hennigan
http://www.christopherhopper.com/"> Christopher Hopper
http://www.spoiledfortheordinary.blogspot.com/"> Jason Joyner (He is doing a giveaway for book three)
http://www.molcotw.blogspot.com/"> Julie
http://carolkeen.blogspot.com/"> Carol Keen
http://krystisbooks.blogspot.com/"> Krystine Kercher
http://mharvireads.blogspot.com/"> Marzabeth
http://www.shannonmcdermott.com/?page_id=189"> Shannon McDermott
http://rebeccaluellamiller.wordpress.com/"> Rebecca LuElla Miller
http://www.questwriter.blogspot.com/"> Eve Nielsen
http://www.sarahsawyer.com/blog"> Sarah Sawye
http://reviewsfromtheheart.blogspot.com/"> Kathleen Smith
http://www.mindsinger.com/"> Donna Swanson
http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/inklings/"> Rachel Starr Thomson
http://christiansf.blogspot.com/"> Steve Trower
http://frederation.wordpress.com"> Fred Warren
http://christian-fantasy-book-reviews.com/blog/"> Phyllis Wheeler
http://www.theravenquill.blogspot.com/"> Nicole White
http://finishedthebook.blogspot.com/"> Rachel Wyant
http://www.theravenquill.blogspot.com/"> Nicole White
http://finishedthebook.blogspot.com/"> Rachel Wyant
In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. Thank you AMG.
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