Dyrk ashton biography of williams
Stephen Hawking meets the Dalai Lama.
(And they agree on everything about the universe.)
In my review of Paternus: Rise of Gods, I mentioned my first impression was it felt like an urban fantasy; though neither it nor Paternus: Wrath of Gods belong to that genre. In the end, I compared Rise of Gods to American Gods meeting Clash of the Titans. I’m going to compare Wrath of Gods now to one of my favorites: J. C. Nelson’s Free Agent. Free Agent takes well-known fairy tales and turns them on their head with new interpretations, Paternus does the same to mythological figures.
Wrath of Gods picks up very soon after Rise of Gods left off. Peter, the primordial Father of all life on Earth, has summoned all of the Deva (the gods of Good) to meet in the realm of Freya, so that they might rise up against the threat of the Asura (the gods of Evil). However, they have to get there first.
The first half of the book reminds me of the old adage about travel broadening the mind, with the caveat of having to survive. The main characters split off on their own adventures, where they develop their powers and discover their heritage. Bitten by the spider, Max, Fi learns what it means to be Firstborn—the ability to understand all languages, endurance, strength, etc. She has to unlearn everything she thinks she knows about herself, with the guidance of Peter and her Firstborn siblings.
Zeke continues to be an enigma, with an underlying intrigue—not being Firstborn, there are so many things he should not be able to do, such as slip; and more impressively, pick up a weapon that even Firstborn cannot. He is like an onion, where one layer is peeled away to reveal another; and given that he doesn’t bathe much, he probably smells, as well. With the guidance of Peter, he (and we) learn the mechanics of slipping, which also takes him to parallel worlds.
To me, this was the brilliance of Wrath of Gods. It is clear the author is well-read in theoretical physics as h
The SPFBO team have completed their search for a finalist!
Today, only one book remains, and that is Paternus by Dyrk Ashton! Congratulations Dyrk! You are moving on to round two in the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off!
You can read our review of our amazing second place winner for part one of the contest here.
G. R. Matthews: Well, here we are. Our final two. We’ve read a lot of books some good, some excellent and we’ve had to whittle our 30 down to one. It has been a tough challenge and also a privilege.
Paternus is, for me, a strange find. And I don’t mean that in any bad way at all. It just wasn’t what I was expecting from the cover we were presented with. In fact, it may have been the exact opposite to what I thought it was from the cover. I was really expecting a YA, Enid Blyton, Famous Five, Secret Seven kind of book. It wasn’t at all like that.
Laura M. Hughes: Those were my thoughts exactly. There’s nothing wrong with the cover, but it really doesn’t do the book justice. I didn’t look at any of the blurbs before I started reading. As you can probably imagine, when I got around to reading Paternus I was very surprised (in a good way!) with the direction the story took.
A.F.E. Smith: Me too! I really didn’t know what to expect from it, and in fact, that feeling continued throughout the book. I was never quite sure where it was going to go next. And I found it enjoyable to read a book so utterly unpredictable. Often you can get a sense of the shape of a fantasy novel, a kind of indistinct path down which you know you’re going to walk, even if the details aren’t yet clear. But I couldn’t tell where Paternus was taking me (guesses about the nature of certain characters aside) and that was great fun.
LMH: While we’re talking about expectations, I’d like to point out that one of the most contentious features we’ve come across in the SPFBO has been the use (and misuse) of prologues. We all agreed that Ravenmarked showed the strongest us
A young man is drawn into a mythic realm of magic and war.
William Wilde is hunted. Dead things stalk him, and he has no idea why. He thought he was simply another high school student, but it turns out he’s much more. And the powers percolating through the world know it. They’ve already killed his family, and if tested, they’ll murder him, too.
It’s only the beginning of William’s troubles, especially when he’s drafted into a war stretching back thousands of years—one involving monsters, evil gods, and resurrected heroes.
His magic might be the key to victory for both sides. William is the most powerful mage born in generations, and while some might aid him, can he trust their motives? There is Serena Paradiso who holds secrets about his heritage. And the warriors, Rukh and Jessira Shektan, whose faces shine with ancient knowledge. Who are they really?
William doesn’t know. His only certainty is that if he doesn’t master his powers, he’ll only live long enough to see his world enslaved.
This is the complete five-volume omnibus of The Chronicles of William Wilde, a series full of epic adventure and pulse-pounding excitement mixed with a dash of romance.
“Fantastic action, intriguing world, and truly unique characters. This is really great fun. Highly entertaining, and highly recommended.”
– Dyrk Ashton, award-winning author of Paternus: Rise of Gods
The riveting tale begun in William Wilde and the Necrosed continues as William finds himself beset on all sides by cruel foes and even crueler friends.
Having survived the deadly Kohl Obsidian, William Wilde had hoped his life would settle down; that he’d finish his senior year of high school and have no further adventures.
But life isn’t so simple for a potential magus, especially one who’s overcome as dangerous an enemy as Kohl. Instead, William has unwittingly earned the raptor gaze of even greater foes. One is someone he thought he could implicitly trust while others are even more terrifying. And all are from the island of Sinskrill. They are mahavans, powerful magic-users bent on humanity’s enslavement. They seek to capture William and bind him in perpetual servitude upon Sinskrill.
William finds himself trapped amongst people for whom deceit and pain are simple coins to be traded, and his best hope for survival might lie with those he thought to be his mortal enemies.
William, Serena, and his friends must face Kohl together, rely on one another to defeat a creature who cannot be killed.