What is Shadow of the King about?

A defector from Faeryland is building a new life for himself until his past catches up with him.

Is Shadow of the King a book with kissing?

Not really.

In early English folklore, elves were understood to be sexually transgressive beings. The stereotype of elves as effeminate pretty boys goes back at least 1,000 years! So if you look closely, you might see indications of activities that may or may not comport to traditional sexual mores.

But that’s not what Shadow of the King is about. Those are not my stories to tell.

My protagonist, Rune, is more or less comfortable somewhere on the asexual spectrum. We’ll see what develops for him in the next two books.

Is Shadow of the King a book with cussing?

A little bit. Maybe about the same level as a PG-13 movie. The one character who is truly a potty mouth tends to use insults and swear words more at home in a fantasy setting than the real world. And let me tell you, doing the research for that was quite educational! I almost want to include a glossary in the back so people can be authentically offended.

If you’re put off by strong language of any kind, you might wince a little bit every now and then, but what the hell? You only live once.

Is Shadow of the King isekai?

How much of a purist are you?

Shadow of the King definitely involves a protagonist from a fantastical realm being dropped in the mundane world, so by the most generous of definitions, you might think of it as “reverse isekai.”

But as I understand it, the story doesn’t play (much) with other expected tropes of the genre. Rune wasn’t involuntarily dropped in his new world, and in theory he can go home whenever he wants. It’s just that going home would be…unadvisable due to a strained relationship with certain factions of unearthly power who live there.

Nor is Rune the recipient of a “harem” of potential love interests. The very idea would terrify him! And though he has *accidentally* become a pivotal person in the history of the world he has left behind, he certainly doesn’t see himself as a “chosen one”—and neither do I.

Some isekai transition the hero to the other world by means of death and reincarnation, often after being run over by a truck. In the first chapter of Shadow of the King, Rune’s first major experience in his new world is getting hit by a car. If you want to think of that as a subtle nod to the genre, I’m not going to stop you.

Is Shadow of the King flintlock fantasy?

No, but you can see it from there.

Flintlock fantasy is a relatively new subgenre. I understand it, it doesn’t simply mean that flintlock firearms exist in a setting that also includes magic; it also nods to the kinds of social and technological upheavals that took place on earth around the year 1800. It also involves large military actions: massive armies and brilliant generals. It gives vibes of Europe in the age of Napoleon.

Rune comes from a world where the overall technological level is AD 1700, give or take. Bayonets have only recently replaced pikes in infantry formations. Flintlock pistols and muskets are fairly common, but industrialization and social foment are not. Saynim is less Napoleon and more Natty Bumppo or Daniel Boone in that regard.

Still, it is a world that has found ways to blend magic and black powder, where devastating spells and curses can be delivered on balls of lead.

It’s an interesting world, but a dangerous one.

Do you have any other questions? Ask them in the comments, and I’ll answer them in a second installment.

The shadow falls on October 1.