A New Start

Hello everyone, this is 'ESB' Stringfellow, and I have a lovely bunch of coconuts, and this is...

An Update Regarding The Author's Books!!!

I am as pleased as punch to announce that I have taken the chance to republish my books on Amazon! All of the links to the right in the "Books by the Author" section have been updated and will now take you to the new versions of my books, where none of them, I promise you, are priced at four hundred dollars (I'm still scratching my head at that one). If you find that the links don't work, or that they're taking you to the wrong place, then tell Amazon as well as myself, and we'll try to figure it out together.

Now, what are the differences, you must be wondering. Basically The Five Year Pilgrimage series is unaltered, but there are a few things in Path of a Hero I'd like to mention. For one thing, I cleaned up some more writing mistakes, but I also took the opportunity to take out the word okay whenever it was used by someone who was not Magus. Why? Because I felt that was a slang/informal word that should be used more sparingly, thus helping to make Magus' way of speaking stand out more, and I only thought of doing that until AFTER my first time publishing Path of a Hero.

A couple other changes I did had more to do with gaining newfound knowledge over the years, which made me want to make things more appropriate. One of them was General Demana's outfit, which originally was on the sexy side, but after learning that was an overused and even problematic trope, I decided to give Demana a new outfit that reflects her status as a warrior more. The last change I did was refer to Sa'Phi'Ro's sword, Muramasa, as an odachi. When I first wrote Path of a Hero, I never bothered to ask if a katana-like sword that was six to seven feet long was named anything else, and to my slight embarrassment, I asked rather on the late side. But that has been changed now, and hopefully for the better.

If you are, by any chance, someone who has purchased and read Path of a Hero before, you might find that these changes are not great incentives to buy it again, and I will not blame you. All that I ask is that you tell your friends/family, if they had not read my book yet, to give this version a shot (that way, I'll actually get royalties).

Oh, and also, I added a relabeled map of Trino.



Now you can follow Cyan and Magus' "Path" to "Heroism"

Hopefully, that does turns out good (I haven't had the pleasure of seeing it myself yet outside of digital previews) and you'll be able to read the labels well enough. My fingers are most definitely crossed!

Now, there is the other difference that will stand out with all of my books that I had published with America Star Books, and that is the covers. I would like to share them with you now...

Where Darkness slowly engulfs the Light.

So, first up is the Path of a Hero cover, which I feel captures the idea of Cyan slowly losing his Light to Darkness. Not really half Darkness and half Light, but the sense that Darkness is indeed growing.

A Temple With a View!

Book I: Chi had to have some earthy hue to it, so I created a cover that had some various shades of brown to it. I also wanted to have a temple in it, to convey to the readers the location that this story takes place, the Tu Long Academy.

Blinded By The Light!

In Book II: Sui, there are two things going for it: A water theme and magic, and definitely lots of magic. So I used this mystical looking image that I found and gave it the best watery color that I could get.

Enter The Dragon!

Shockingly, Book III: Ka's cover came out looking almost exactly the same as its original! I found myself wondering if America Star Books had used the same cover creator that I did! And I must confess, I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to find a dragon image/emblem that I could use, but I lucked out!

The Colors of the Wind?

Hmm, starting to wonder if I had done right with Book IV: Fu's cover when in comparison to the others. I still like it, but I can't help but wonder if I could've done better. Oh well, I'll be sticking with it, no doubt, even if it does seem to lack a certain wind factor.

A Heavenly Light.

And finally, we come back to Book V: Ku, where I did a little color addition at the top and bottom of the cover so as to not have pure white there whenever it gets printed into a physical book (a flaw I had discovered only after getting some copies for myself).

So, what do you think? I know they don't quite have the cool factor of the old covers, especially when they're all missing that wonderful katana sitting beneath the words, which had become something of a regular recurring theme. But hey, I make do with I got, and the main thing is that my books are all on Amazon now and at much more reasonable rates.

If you find yourself having trouble, again, contact Amazon and inform me as well so that I can also contact them. This is my first time publishing on my own, with so many books at once. Things are bound to have a bump or two along the way (trust me on this).

Until next time, my dear readers.
Sincerely, 'ESB' Stringfellow'

War Never Changes... Unless There Are Dragons Involved

Hello everyone, this is 'ESB' Stringfellow, and I dream of being a firebender, and this is...

The Synopsis of Book III: Ka!!!

I've been meaning to get this one out, but things sure have been... distracting lately (translation: I was too lazy). I'm here now, though, and that's all that matters. Read on, and discover what awaits our heroes for their third adventure...

Through force of will... No matter how dire... Heroes shall rise... and face the dragon fire...

Cyankazu Omondi, a samurai mage and hero to his people, had traveled far and learned much. Magus, a magical rodent with more fiery courage than most humans, had fought as much as he had loved. And now... the two companions face their greatest challenge yet...

In the land of Eldur, where dragon riders rule both land and sky, a fierce and bloody war was coming to a close, with Cyankazu and Magus becoming embroiled in the center of it all. After creating new friends and deadly new enemies alike, the two find themselves forced to assume command and fight a battle that seems utterly hopeless.

With inner fires as strong as the breath of the mightiest draco, the two heroes will fight to the bitter end... But at what terrible costs?

How to Train Your Dragon (Sorta)

Now that's what I call a beautiful cover! I love how the red and black mesh together and with the black dragon emblem dominating the center. Best cover I've seen on my books, to be honest, and I'll be lucky to find something just as perfect as this ever again on my own. *Sigh* Oh, well. Lets get down to business, shall we?

In this story, Cyan and Magus chance upon something that puts a little snag into their world travels: a dragon egg. The start of this story shows how Magus, quite reluctantly, becomes the "mother" to the hatchling, who is dubbed Titania.

For a whole year, Cyan and Magus raise their new responsibility and teach her (yes, a girl dragon) the basics in hunting, fighting and flying. When the time comes, the two heroes are ready to take Titania out into the wide open world, and let her travel with them for the reminder of their Five Year Pilgrimage. However, Fate deals them a crushing blow in the form of an attack by a cruel and power-hungry warmonger by the name of Lord Calvarick, leader of the Drake Raiders.

Cyan, Magus and Titania are all captured, with Cyan even being tortured and questioned, with Lord Calvarick being under the impression that Cyan works for his sworn enemies, the Draco Knights. Fortunately, an attack by those very enemies forces Lord Calvarick to leave Cyan and Magus, which gives them the opportunity to escape. During the battle, they save Titania and meet some of the Draco Knights, who prove themselves to be noble and honorable.

Now, at this point, I would like to stop giving you the entire story in abridged-form and just simply explain what this adventure entails.

In Book III: Ka, I formally establish a dynamic that I had often hinted at in earlier books. If you have been reading my other books thus far, you'll notice that dragons are both revered and feared, treated with respect at some points, and treated like monsters at others. The reason for this is because, in this world, dragons come in two different varieties: Nobles and Savages. Half of the dragons in the world are friendly and get along well with humans, and the other half is violent and a bane to all other living things. There is a kind of Kain and Abel type of in-universe-myth that explains why, but seeing as I don't mention this in the story, I won't get into it here, because that is a story for another time...

Anyway, the goal of this story was to introduce several breeds of dragons, on both sides, and show them paired with human riders and to have them in the midst of a war. And that... is pretty much it.

Cyan and Magus meet a new villain, but they also meet many new friends, and because the Draco Knights helped them escape Lord Calvarick's clutches, they stick around for a while. They also use this opportunity to introduce Titania to other dragons of her type, which could very well mean that she will choose to stay among her own kind.

However, all of that is almost forgotten as soon as it begun, because the war between the Draco Knights and Drake Raiders suddenly reaches a whole new level, and the scales tip drastically to one side, pushing the heroes to the brink of total defeat.

In this story, Cyan and Magus find themselves in a position that they've never been in before: that of leaders. But how can they lead when the odds are so overwhelming? How can they fight when death seems impossible to avoid?

Find out, in this war of the dragons...

I AM FIRE!!!

Until next time, my dear readers.
Sincerely, 'ESB' Stringfellow