Rowen Locke has achieved his dream of becoming a Knight of the Crane, and he now bears Knightswrath, the legendary sword of Fâyu Jinn. But the land remains torn, and though Rowen suffers doubts, he would see it healed. His knightly order is not what it seems, though, and allies remain thin. When Rowen and his friends seek an alliance with the forest-dwelling Sylvs, a tangle of events results in a midnight duel that teaches Rowen a dangerous lesson and leaves him with a new companion of uncertain loyalties. The sadistic Dhargots still threaten the kingdoms, but another menace lurks in the shadows, playing a game none can see. As Rowen struggles to prove his worth—to his allies and to himself—chaos raises its hand to strike. A price must be paid, and not even the wielder of Knightswrath will remain untouched.
The Dragonkin Trilogy Box Set Wytchfire: In the dragon-haunted land of Ruun, Rowen Locke has been many things: orphan, gravedigger, mercenary. All he ever wanted was to become a Knight of Crane and wield a kingsteel sword against horrors he's known since childhood. But that dream crumbled—replaced by a new nightmare. War is overrunning the realms, and in a world where no one is blameless, the time has come for one disgraced man to decide which side he’s on. Knightswrath: Rowen Locke has achieved his dream of becoming a Knight of the Crane, and he now bears Knightswrath, the legendary sword of Fâyu Jinn. But the land remains torn, and though Rowen suffers doubts, he would see it healed. His knightly order is not what it seems, though, and allies remain thin. When Rowen and his friends seek an alliance with the forest-dwelling Sylvs, a tangle of events results in a midnight duel that teaches Rowen a dangerous lesson and leaves him with a new companion of uncertain loyalties. The sadistic Dhargots still threaten the kingdoms, but another menace lurks in the shadows, playing a game none can see. As Rowen struggles to prove his worth—to his allies and to himself—chaos raises its hand to strike. A price must be paid, and not even the wielder of Knightswrath will remain untouched. Kingsteel: Rowen Locke has won the battle. But from the shadows comes an ancient enemy--a calculating and merciless foe who has been waiting centuries for the chance to strike. Despite all he has already suffered and sacrificed, Rowen finds himself mired in a war bigger and more terrible than anything he could have imagined. The world’s only hope lies in Knightswrath, whose hard-won powers he has only begun to understand, let alone control. Calling upon unlikely new allies, Rowen must raise an army to defeat the vengeful Dragonkin before everything he loves becomes a smoldering ruin.
Three years after the War of the Lotus, alliances have already begun to unravel. As Rowen Locke struggles to maintain peace, troubling news reaches him from every corner. Persecution of the Shel'ai has reignited in the south, spurred on by a fanatical priest. To the north, the Isle Knights are withering under the leadership of mad Crovis Ammerhel. Old friends fight each other when not drowning their sorrows in taverns. A new threat emerges from across the sea, dispatched by the same exiled Dragonkin who have been plotting their revenge for centuries. Rowen and his companions soon realize that the target is the Dragonward itself: their one and only defense against an evil so vast even Knightswrath could not vanquish it.
Rowen Locke has won the battle. But from the shadows comes an ancient enemy--a calculating and merciless foe who has been waiting centuries for the chance to strike. Despite all he has already suffered and sacrificed, Rowen finds himself mired in a war bigger and more terrible than anything he could have imagined. The world’s only hope lies in Knightswrath, whose hard-won powers he has only begun to understand, let alone control. Calling upon unlikely new allies, Rowen must raise an army to defeat the vengeful Dragonkin before everything he loves becomes a smoldering ruin.
A brief but bloody civil war has ended with the Knighthood in tatters. The dead haunt Stillhammer and choke the waters surrounding the Lotus Isles. At great cost, Rowan and his companions healed the breach in the Dragonward, but too late, they learn that a potent enemy has already slipped through. Nekiel, the one foe even Fâyu Jinn failed to slay, is on the move. Rowan and his friends, joined this time by an ally of terrible power and questionable motives, must brace for an epic battle. They race north onto the frigid Wintersea in search of the ultimate game piece that will grant victory to whichever side claims it first: Khyrshar, the last dragon.
In a land haunted by the legacy of dead dragons, Rowen Locke has been many things: orphan, gravedigger, mercenary. All he ever wanted was to become a Knight of Crane and wield a kingsteel sword against the kind of grown horrors his childhood knows all too well. But that dream crumbled--replaced by a new nightmare. War is overrunning the realms, an unprecedented duel of desire and revenge, steel and sorcery. And for one disgraced man who would be a knight, in a world where no one is blameless, the time has come to decide which side he's on.
Nekiel has fallen, his blood darkening the Wintersea, but victory came at great price. Knightswrath lies shattered. Many of Rowen’s trusted allies have been slain. Hatred of magic spreads once again, this time in the form of the Inquisition. A true dragon, the first seen in ages, has been unleashed, and her great wings sow panic as they blot out the sun. But these troubles pale before an even deadlier truth: Nekiel was merely the puppet of Fohl, the sinister Undergod, who has already claimed a new host. Now, a war-weary Rowen must hunt this new dark disciple, even as the Inquisition stalks his allies, and the Undergod proves to be the cruelest adversary Rowen has ever faced.
After living half of her life on the run from a monster, Carlie Jenkins makes her way back to find peace in the Texas town where she spent the happiest years of her life. With the help of her best friend, Carlie settles in and begins working to rebuild the relationships that she had in Rojo before the night she had to leave it all behind. Sam Duke learned to live without Carlie, and now that she's back he will do anything to keep her. With the help of his family and his club he works to keep her safe and home forever.
Like most publishers, we at Brick Road Poetry Press list submission guidelines on our website. Additionally we go beyond the guidelines to include lists of "characteristics we like" and "characteristics we dislike." In Damnatio Memoriae, the winner of the Brick Road Poetry Prize, Michael Meyerhofer gives the impression of having gone down that list to check off each item one by one with almost every poem in the collection. As to the characteristics we dislike, he avoids them all including no "intentional obscurity or riddling," no "highfalutin vocabulary" or "lack of recognizable theme or topic." Without a doubt, these poems reveal wise insights on the human perspective, but never at the cost of being overly serious, scholarly, or mysterious. The reader of these poems faces no risk of boredom-quite the contrary. Imagination and a beguiling tongue-in-cheek tone are the trademarks of Michael Meyerhofer's poetry. His work hits all our "like" buttons as it speaks in "a coherent human voice," though not always his own or the one you might expect, but one with "a sense of humor" that uses "words and language as [a] springboard for playful exploration." In many of these poems, the speaker possesses an inquisitive mind with an avid interest in history and even pre-history, fueled by the Discovery and History channels, Google searches, and museums. These poems dramatize a mind capable of straddling centuries, combining in the same breath an ancient scene with a contemporary evaluation, as when in the title poem, "Damnatio Memoriae," we encounter a Roman "slave/who fell from a twine-wrapped ladder/that OSHA would never condone." Such use of anachronism strikes us as both clever and funny. In "The Original Swastika," we're guided briskly through history, spotting the association-laden symbol in cultures as varied as the Romans, early Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Navajos, and finally, "on the hoods /of German sedans." This whirlwind tour succinctly reminds us that the meanings of symbols morph over time and across cultures and that our recent memories and associations tend to obscure the resonances assigned in prior eras. His persona poems conjure speakers from worlds we know and from worlds we wish we knew, and every scene, setting or experience is depicted intensely with concrete imagery and drama. At first blush, "Dear Students," appears to argue for the conceit that writing poetry today rises from the same impulse that produced Stone Age cave paintings. Yet the poem does so much more than simply propose a comparison. It actually delivers a vivid experience from the point of view of a Paleolithic hunter, as if to say poetry is about beauty, guilt, and survival. Although many of these poems pursue history, the contemporary perspective and the everyday moment are not neglected. In "For Tanya, Whose Fate Remains Unknown," the speaker receives a phone call about "bad news" concerning a daughter he doesn't have. The surprise of the erroneous call sets off a poignant daydream of what peril the "daughter" Tanya might be suffering, and then an even deeper imagining of memories that might be slipping away from Tanya as she bleeds. These poems wake you up with their surprising twists, with the intensity of their speakers, and with the inventiveness of their lines and concepts. Sometimes these poems even risk offending the reader by tampering with archetypes, as in "Hansel's Redemption" where the question of what ever happened to Hansel and Gretel is answered with a scandalous narrative. As you may have guessed, Damnatio Memoriae easily asserted itself as the winner of our inaugural Brick Road Poetry Prize. We're proud to be publishing it and further encourage you to seek out Michael Meyerhofer's other books immediately. Keith Badowski & Ron Self Brick Road Poetry Press Columbus, GA
Poseidon Malone is on his annual retreat at his grandfather's one-room cabin. Since separating from the U.S. Navy as a SEAL, he and his unit have established a legit motorcycle club in coastal Georgia. Life is good but he's lonely and the easy women that come around when they have a party just aren't cutting it any more.He never expects his 'one' to pass out at his feet.Lillianna Rose is on the run from her best friend, as well as her fiancé. Finding out that they've been cheating on her isn't the straw that breaks the camel's back, however; no, it was their nefarious plot that sent her on the run.When her car breaks down in the North Georgia mountains, she sets out on foot in one of the worst snowstorms recorded. When she wakes up, she finds her future.**Suitable for ages 18+ due to strong language and adult content**
