(Have you seen WWW.GIDEONSDAWN.COM yet? Check it out!)

Gideon's Dawn

Book 1 of The Pearlsong Refounding (available now!)

"In a world where Words can kill, the Language you speak marks the destiny of your soul."

Gideon's Dawn is a complex epic of heroic adventure set in a unique, mysterious world where two magical languages—one borne of Creation, the other of Destruction—are building toward an ultimate war for dominance. For generations the Council Lords of Phallenar, sole keepers of the language of Destruction, have ruled the lands unopposed, having long ago destroyed all those who spoke the language of life, and suppressed the knowledge of their tongue so completely that in time it became little more than legend.

And yet one tentative hope remained. Certain prophecies from ages past continued to rail against the Council's heartless rule. They spoke of a coming redeemer, one who would break the Council's power and remake the world with a magic not like theirs.

Then one day, a stranger named Gideon appeared. No one knows where he came from or how he arrived. But they know he has power. This is no ordinary sojourner, they whisper. He may be the answer to ancient prophecies of doom and deliverance. Or he may just be Gideon Dawning, a graduate student from Texas, in over his head in a world beyond time...

For more info on Gideon's Dawn and my views on novel writing, read my recent interview with Science Fiction & Fantasy World. Just click on the link: http://www.sffworld.com.

And here's a second interview, conducted by Mike Nappa of Nappaland.com, on the topic of Faith & Fantasy. Just click your heels together and say, Take Me to Nappaland!

Get a sneak peak of the entire Prologue of Gideon's Dawn. Just click here: GD Prologue (Note: This is an Adobe PDF file.)

Read this great article on the writings of Tolkein and Lewis, and their thoughts on using fantasy as an instrument of Truth. It's titled, "Looking for God in the Lord of the Rings."

Speaking of LOTR, if you want to experience an amazing website, you really should check this out: www.lordoftherings.net.

     The Words!
     They tore at his heart, ripped through his thoughts, raping him of sanity. He felt he must speak them before they destroyed him altogether, before he lost the capacity to speak at all.
     He outstretched his arms toward two horizons, and set his glare on the Pearl that yet rested so placidly, so meekly, atop the Staff. Even in the fury of his growing madness, he wondered why it did not speak; why it did nothing in its own defense. Perhaps what Abaddon said was true. Perhaps the Pearl was not so mighty as it claimed.
     Drawing in the deepest breath of his life, he lifted his head, and yelled the Words that had ripped his mind away.
     "Lusifen vadestro shon ak Jeo Perlein! Vadestro shon ak Jeo Perlein sic atros et accustros! Damonoi terradestro shon ak todras veot!"
     The world fell silent as the Words echoed toward the East. Then the world was black. The vortex was gone. The people were gone. The plains had turned to nothing. Gideon closed his eyes and forced his breathing to slow--calming his thundering heart. The Words were gone now, expelled in the fury that had ravaged his sanity, and he felt a measure of peace returned to him.
     After a moment, he opened his eyes, but saw only blackness. He felt suspended in a shapeless void, his Words having torn away the world--or having torn him away from it. He didn't know which. There was no sound save the rasping of his own breath, and the incessant pounding of his heart.
     Deep in his mind, he questioned whether by some chance he were dead. Perhaps the voice, the voice of Abaddon the Destroyer, had tricked him, convincing him that the Words he spoke to destroy the Pearl and draw all of its power into himself might actually have done nothing more than end his own life.
     Or worse yet, the Words might have banished him to some netherworld existence, a place that is not a place.
     Deep-stirring rage surged in Gideon as he thought of this. It would be just like the Destroyer to gain a victory through such deceit. But the High Lord wasn't Abaddon’s true enemy; the Pearl was. So long as the Pearl lived, Abaddon would be forced into subjection to it. That vile spirit wanted the Pearl destroyed, probably even far more than even Gideon could conceive.
     Then, quietly, gently, a light appeared within the void, looking like a distant star in the night sky. He focused on it, and his heart leapt in recognition. This was the power coming to him--the power Abaddon had promised in return for the Pearl's destruction. The power of the Pearl itself.
     The light began to move toward Gideon, slowly at first, then racing, faster and faster, growing ever brighter until it silently filled his whole world. As it drew nearer, he leaned forward and stared into its immeasurable brilliance. He wanted to see the power, the limitless power, coming to reside in him, coming to be his alone.
     It was just as the voice had promised, he assured himself. Just as Abaddon had said.
     But as the light came close, it changed. What was a distant star took on the shape of a flaming sword, emblazoned with pure fire that burned hotter than even the world could bear. But there was something else. Gideon could see something more than the sword. Someone was holding it. Someone more brilliant than the sun, and far more terrible.
     And that someone was coming...for him.
     "Noooo!"