What would you do if the darkness came for you? Folktales come to life in this epic fantasy saga. If you like chilling suspense and thrilling twists, don’t miss the enthralling Tale of Tales epic fantasy series!
“Odd in an endearing way… both very familiar and completely different.” —Claire Buss, winner of the Raven Award for Favorite Fantasy/SciFi novel.
Somewhere in dark ages of our past… Senka is no hero, but you never know what is coming for you. And if that burns down your house and family, while you are left blinded by your house’s guardian snake, the outlook becomes grim. So Senka clings to her dog’s back to survive, unaware of the fateful prophecy and the great changes to come. But when a wandering warrior becomes her protector and mysterious strangers join their hounded party through a series of seemingly chance encounters, they all begin to discover that all is not as it seems.
What is pursuing her? And why? Can the strange characters gathering around her on her desperate quest save her from doom? Are they mere puppets of a young, beguiling witch guided by her own hidden motives, or are forgotten shadows rising again from the immeasurable depths of time?
A tale of folk fairytales and myths, of swords and sorcery and mythical beings – a unique story of dark times and unsung heroes who may light your way.
The scene depicted on the cover: Above this hellish pack and the rider at the forefront, flurried a cloud of dark, endlessly bustling bodies and wings, a swarm of creatures that produced the great din which had first reached the ears…
Book One, A Strange Bunch, is the first part of Nikola Stefan’s Tale of Tales, an epic fantasy adventure saga based on the motifs of ancient myths, legends, and forgotten fairy tales. This enchanting book series features leading characters of various ages and, although written with adult audience in mind, it is, in the tradition of the greatest narrated epics and classic fantasy books, suitable for all ages. Whether you’re a fan of Elric or the witcher Geralt, Bilbo or Conan, Tyrion or Gandalf, Labyrinth or mythology… there is something for you in this spellbinding high fantasy book series!
Genre: FICTION / Fantasy / EpicThe book has sold many hundreds of copies on Amazon and around half of that elsewhere (wide, especially Kobo).
The best rankings I managed to screen-shot are #52,772 Paid in Amazon.com Kindle Store, #39 in Classic Fantasy eBooks, and #55 rank in Best Sellers in Folklore, and for Kobo #60 in SF&F, Fantasy, EpicFantasy and #75 in Fiction & Literature, Action & Adventure
OPENING NOTES
There are many mythical beings in this book that are unknown in English and most other languages. It was a great endeavor to make them all conceivable. A good example is dragon, as there are three types: the fiery dragon is a huge reptile with wings, a being that carries a fire inside him, as known in English. But, there is also a human form that is his descendant and ascendant, a human with great power, usually called dragonkin, some of which can even shapeshift into a dragon-like form and fly. The third form is the spirit dragon, the most unusual and most powerful of them all – this invisible essence willingly resides only in a special human, called a zduhač, who is unable to control it, and it is the only being that is able to confront ala, the ancient beast that brings havoc upon men; when ala strikes, the spirit dragon leaves its transient vessel, the body of the zduhač, to fight its archenemy in the sky. The reader should not be confused when any of these three forms of dragon (fiery dragon, dragonkin, or spirit dragon) are referred to simply as: dragon.
On spelling: When a double-sign is used up above the letter in the folklore-spelling of names and titles, like zduhač mentioned above, a reader need to imagine “h” after that character and read these two letters as a single hard voice they become. Therefore, Miloš is Milosh, Baš Čelik is pronounced as Bash Chelik, and Žarko reads as Zharko (similar to the beginning sound of the French-derived word gendarme or to the voice “s” in measure). In contrast, a single line above the letter, like in Perunović, means the softer version of the same voice, like the “ch” in chirping of birds, or the soft opening sound of ciao in Italian, pronounced with tongue touching the front teeth.
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French
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Already translated.
Translated by Jessyka Roy
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Author review: Jessyka is a fast translator, though we had a lot of back and forth while she was setting up the stage for my series. But I believe we have a fine translation to show for it. |
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Portuguese
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Already translated.
Translated by Johann Pires
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Author review: I have many good words for Johann, too many for this review. Excellent professional, did everything as agreed. |
