Here, I’m going to try my hand at marketing–again. As you see from the title, my dear readers, I’ve self-published a fantasy novel–a medieval, military, fantasy, adventure novel to be more precise. The roots of this novel lie in an old manuscript I created at seventeen years of age and completed at nineteen. The tome, dubbed Ketil’s Saga, stretched for over three hundred Word Document pages, was written in a pompous and abstruse style, and contains one of the most meandering plots never to have been inflicted on the public. I dream of one day polishing it enough to be presentable trilogy; but, writing a new story set within the same world seems an easier proposition.
All Man’s Clotted Clay might be a familiar title, since this book was submitted to Athanatos Christian Ministries’ 2015 Novel Contest and made the semi-finals. As such, it has received extensive editing by one of the contest judges and by yours truly–so much so that I developed a disgust for revising it and an irresistible urge to bring it before the reading public. All Man’s Clotted Clay is set three hundred years before the events of the unpublished Ketil’s Saga. It concerns the struggle of a heroic pikeman to win the love of his life and defeat the enemies of his country. (What can I say? I love romances of this sort–the medieval kind–and am even reading one such tale now: St. George for England by G. A. Henty.)
If this description (Medieval Otaku-ish, romantic, military, fantasy adventure) sounds too sparse, I admit that it sounds that way to me also. How to describe my fiction has always left me befuddled. I could go over the manifold sources which inspired my tale; but, they say never to reveal one’s sources. (Though, this blog pretty much reveals all of them.) By all means, try out a sample before you buy–taste and see for yourself!
Overall, it has been judged a fine tale by my friends and acquaintances. If you like the unique way I combine ideas in my editorial posts here, I believe that All Man’s Clotted Clay shall also be to your taste. If you’re not sure, by all means download the sample onto your Kindle (I published it through Amazon.com) or another e-reader, and try it out.
Thanks for your time and support! Please give it a short review whether you enjoyed the book or not.
Medieval Otaku 
Whoa-hey, nice! Though I don’t think I can buy it right now, considering how I’m not that ready to go more independent with electronic transactions yet, but hey, I don’t mind recommending this to people whom I think would be interested! And speaking of medieval fantasy stories and such, things which still remain popular today, I have interest in realistically exploring the depths and details of the Middle Ages with the humorous viewpoints of whisked-away modern-day youths. That will certainly take a lot of research and writing and such, but hey, don’t you think that that’s an interesting idea?
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Thanks! I hope that you pick up the novel one day.
Moderns time traveling into the past can be comedy gold. And, if you add some realism, it will be even more fun. I’d especially recommend reading the works of G. A. Henty, Howard Pyle, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (The White Company, in particular) if you want to see examples of accurate fictional stories set in medieval times. Good luck!
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Awesome news! Next week I´m finishing my Master classes and exams and I´m looking for good fantasy works to rest: I´ll buy it then, and of course you´ll have my review when finished. I´m also looking for the Canterbury Tales… By the way, is this the one with japanese Longaevi?
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Thanks! I hope that you enjoy it. Yes, the Japanese idea of the longaevi is borrowed for this book. Hopefully, they’ll appear in several more. 🙂
I look forward to reading your review!
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I finished the novel just today! Do you prefer an e-mail review, or a long comment below with a spoilers warning?
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By all means, comment below. The more opinions given openly about my novel the better. If you can give a review on Amazon, that would also help a lot. Thank you for reading it!
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I’m having problems with my Amazon review (if I’m understanding it well, I have to spend more money there before I can comment). But I’ll keep trying
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Reblogged this on Aquila et Infans.
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Congrats! Hope it is a success for you! 🙂
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Thank you! I hope that many people read it.
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8D!!!!! Oh my god! I didn’t realize you’d done something like this. Good, because I love the way you talk, and I wouldn’t entirely mind reading a medieval fantasy entirely in that. I’ll check it out.
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Thanks! I hope that you enjoy it!
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Congratulations Medieval. That’s very good news.
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Thank you!
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As promised, here is my review of “All Man’s Clotted Clay”. Spoilers ahead.
I´ll start by saying I enjoyed the novel. It was well written, coherent and balanced, there was a strong sense of place and world construction coupled with an understandable and clear presentation. The main character, Cecil of Beortholm, was sympathetic, clever, brave and often funny. He was well portrayed and developed, and the question about Amalia´s fate was enough for me to care about his destiny (and consequently, the triumph of Volsune in the war brought enough tension to the plot). His friends, foes and girlfriend were believable, and he affronted realistically the problems of a soldier in the battlefield and a man ruled by tyrants.
During the reading two things caught my attention: one positive, one negative. The was the detail and attention put to the medieval recreation, geography, politics, weapons, landscapres, cultures, etc, which amounted to a very realistic vibe, while being self-contained and straightforward. But in the end, I felt it was so self-contained, realistic and straightforward as to lack a sense of myth, despite being a fantasy novel, some interesting questions were left unexplored and I had the feeling that Cecil had more potential as a character.
I´ll explain myself: in the very first chapters, we see an aristocracy based in race and so cruel as to test his sword by killing an innocent peasant, as proud as to require the people to lie in the mud before them. We see they are, in general, violent, lustful, capricious and unjust: they take human maids as concubines and drop them out to marry only their peers, they decide to kill a loyal soldier who brings them a good strategy only because his intervention hurts their pride. They command others to call them “gods”. Cecil could be murdered anytime, were not for his quick tongue and good luck, and his supposed friends among the yoshen wouldn´t have prevented it at all. The number of casualties among them in the battle is insignificant, even if that battle is for their sake. There is a moral problem in all that. Cecil believes foreign yoshen are worst. Yet, I find him far too complacent about them. Such a bold and clever man can rebel, or dream of rebellion, or be self-deceived, or confront tyranny with resignation, or actually love his tyrants or whatever, but in the end, I don´t think the problem was directly confronted, maybe because this is a prequel.
I think also that a man whose girlfriend is in a whorehouse and who he himself has visited since old would be more plagued of old demons, dubious, fearful and jealous (as he himself has not been chaste in the past), and that he would dedicate more time to think in the enormous, revolutionary change in his life which would be to become at once a husband and a father. And that a prostitute who has find a man willing to marry her would be moved, heartbroken, guilty, in pain, radiant, unbelieving, as if there had been a miracle. It is. But maybe in a world where almost all the rulers are publicly lustful, marriage is less meaningful that in the Middle Ages. I liked the way it was explored in the conversation with Cecil´s friends, but I lacked that in Cecil and Amalia´s dialogue or in Cecil´s solitary thoughts. There probably isn´t a more hutful and dark position for a woman: if Cecil truly loves her, I would expect him to aknowledge this and grief for her.
I lacked also a general religion, cult or philosphy associated with the inhabitants of Volsune in an otherwise perfectly developed world, and the use of Fantasy in its highest meaning: to instill a sense of wonder and magic which in turn enlights our daily reality, Chesterton´s “dragons that can be defeated”. The novel was so realistic that it felt prosaic sometimes. Were not for Amalia, I wouldn´t have cared too much about Volsune or Florin winning the war, as they were similar in almost every aspect.
The best part of the novel was that it made the reader live the life of a soldier. The long walks, the troublesome officials, the high ranks, the songs, the watches, the punishments, the songs, the bonds of friendshipt and the loss of friends in the battlefield, the technical part, honor, courage, the battles, victory, defeat, they were all perfectly portrayed.
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