The Rebel Goddess Comes To Town
Imagine you can do anything, go anywhere.
Explore new worlds, reach backwards and forwards in time. Shrink and swell, become a bird, a fox, a beetle. Or a beautiful woman … Wouldn’t that be groovy … One would think so … but …
Too much freedom and power can be a bad thing. Most of us mere mortals know that. But not Aggy. Our rebel goddess must learn the hard way when striving to make a name for herself in the heavens. Trying vainly to impress her imperious mother while causing general havoc. She’s out of control. Her reckless capers could break the universe in half. All because of a man. That grubby archer called Eltayn. And she didn’t even like him. I mean, a human? Who would? But …
The way he made her feel ….
Goddess sketch by JRR Tolkien Artist Roger Garland
Introducing Archer’s Moon
The new Ansu novel, and series, prequel. Throughout the next few posts I’ll be sharing excerpts from the tale – it’s a big one. And some sneaky snark about a few of the characters within. A motley collection of anti-heroes, villains, fallen nobles, and artful thieves. Doomed lovers, desperate despots and world-weary warlocks. Slavers and torturers, conquerors and assassins. Gods and demons. And spritely spiteful spirits.
So let’s start with Argonwui, the rebel goddess. Top of the Trouble List. Aka, Aggy, and Saryna (When in guise as a woman.)
It was the boredom that started it all. Stuck up there in smoky dreamy Laras Lassladden, twiddling her thumbs, listening to her ghastly sisters squabbling. Banned from anything adventurous. Not to mention dropping below and visiting the tempting green planet called Ansu. Her mother’s favorite realm.
They don’t understand her. Aggy’s seen as a child but she’s 3000 years old, f.f.s. Itching for action, something to do. I’ll pay a visit below. No one will notice––I’ll not be gone long …
And so it starts, the maelstrom …
Kraken sketched by Roger Garland
A new world in turmoil
Her grandfather, the World Weaver, made Ansu and moved on across the cosmos. Left it to his children to manage. Aggy’s parents and elders. But they’re a lazy lot and things slipped. Bad vibes crept in from chaos and the Void. Then humans appeared, and it got worse.
No one liked these short-lived upstarts. The Aralais in their golden towers used them as slaves. The Urgolais dragged them below the mountains and pulled them apart. The Faen (her mother’s favorite faery folks) haunted and ambushed them in forest and glade. The gods ignored them or played the odd trick.
And if that wasn’t bad enough …
Aggy as the sultry, silver-haired stunner, Saryna decided she’d take one as a lover. A hunter she trapped in the faerie woods. Just for larks … A bit of fun. But the dimwitted archer didn’t get the joke. And that was where it all fell down.
And everyone got involved …
Resulting in war, rebellion, invasion, sorcery and deception. And that was just the first few weeks. Much worse was to come, but I dare not share that here.
Here’s an excerpt from the forthcoming book when Aggy tries to convince her mother she’s got everything under control. https://bit.ly/ArchersMoon1
A Word on Dawn of Legends
It started with the story of Gol back in a caravan during a wet, drafty summer in blessed Cornwall. We lived near Bude on the north coast. Loved it, many good years until Rae got sick. The growth––I never mention the c word––killed her in 2012. It was that summer before, while I was trucking for milk and she was convalescing––our house, let out for renters––that I penned this dark and brutal epic.
A prehistory to my book, The Shattered Crown/Lost Prince. Looking back on that time, the story of Gol played on my mind. I needed to change it, but deemed it far better to move forward, writing new Ansu tales than trample ground already trodden. So I left Gol be for a dozen years.
Now in 2025 (I could never do math,) I’m returning with a refurb. The story line to Gol has expanded into a brand new Ansu prequel. A forthcoming tetralogy comprising 4 separate tales (Including a newly tightened and reedited Gol.) The first of which, Archer’s Moon, will be available on June 10th.
Click the link to view and preorder your Kindle copy on Amazon! https://amzn.to/4klapUp The following books will follow in 2026, 2027. I very much hope you’ll stick around and join me on this homecoming voyage.
Thanks for reading, my friend! Please leave a sunny comment if you enjoy my rambles 🙂
Jim
