AUTHOR BLAST – Russell Meek
It was the windswept deserts and ancient routes of the Middle East that set me on this journey. A 23yr old photographer, hitch-hiking acrossSyria in what is now a war zone, driving the King’s Highway through Jordan, skinny dipping at midnight in the Dead Sea, and standing inspired by the magnificence of Petra as dawn rises. That was the beginning of a year long journey that took me from the Saharan desert to the Guatemalan jungles and the thirty meter high swelling seas while crossing the Atlantic to do so. It was an adventure that has never left me and, in 2007, those adventures began seeping their way into the pages of ‘The Khalada Stone’ adventure fantasy series.
After 8 years living in the UK and photographing throughout Europe and the Caribbean, I returned to my native New Zealand, where I now live by the beach. I travel as much as I can for work and for inspiration, shooting the cover of A Brother’s Bond in China and A Dark Heart Rises:I in Southern Spain.
BOOKS:
Battle raged on the desert sands of the Great Depression. A land of tribal warriors, scattered and leaderless, was finally united under one mind, a man proclaimed as Husam al-Din, the Sword of the Faith.
On the dark day of his death, al-Din’s priests tore his mind apart, preventing his treacherous wife, Maymunah, from taking control of the armies. They disappeared beyond the borders of the known lands, taking with them six harmonic stones containing the mind of al-Din, leaving the tribes leaderless and united only by faith.
Revenge vowed, Maymunah set her descendants on a quest to recover the lost stones. Centuries passed as nothing was found, until twenty generations later, in an ice cave deep in the Meil’vohllen Mountains, Hallen made a discovery that would change the world forever.
Unable to contain the power of the stones, Hallen’s mind was lost, and for three further generations the daughters of Maymunah have only heard whispers in the wind…
The Madness of Hallen is the first of four epic fantasy novels, following the lives of two brothers in their quest against the rightful heir to the mind of Husam al-Din.
Johsala, the once powerful stronghold of Husam al-Din, has faded, its influence over the desert tribes long since replaced by the towering minarets of Sira’an.
Yet creeping in the dark catacombs beneath Sira’an are those who seek to undermine its authority, men who desire to reclaim Johsala’s throne. Promises of power have been made, but they have all been deceived, their ambitions twisted by Na’ilah, blood heir to the mind of Husam al-Din.
Unaware that their presence alone could tear Sira’an apart, Ohrl and Faerl slip quietly into the city. Now their desperate escape from the Brotherhood serves only one purpose, to break the bonds of those who govern Sira’an, and once more bring war upon the desert tribes.
Allegiances will be formed, and blood must be spilled before a new leader can rise, but hidden from all remains a darker foe, an ancient power long forgotten within the sunken forests of the mighty Ji’ruk.
A Brother’s Bond is the second of four epic fantasy novels, following the lives of two brothers in their quest against the rightful heir to the mind of Husam al-Din.
The brothers’ bond is failing.
Recaptured by the Brotherhood and lured by his beloved Baeta, Faerl is desperate to uncover the source of the priests’ power, and to atone for abandoning his brother in the slave markets of Ashqa’at. For Ohrl is alone, adrift in the desert at the mercy of the third ring.
Eager to undermine them both, Kha’atib begins his final journey toward Johsala, leading Sira’an’s army once more. Though his voice fills the air upon each rising dawn, he will soon discover a power far beyond his call. Be it by faith or by blood, Kha’atib must win the loyalty of the desert men if he is to claim the secrets buried deep beneath Johsala’s walls.
Yet beyond the great cliffs across the Inner Sea, a power stirs within Nazh-rndu’ul. From a battered ship long adrift from Njall’s shores, Na’ilah, blood heir to the mind of al-Din, stares upon the island of Qhabir Sama’ad. A new enemy has awoken, one that she has feared all along. She has no time to lose, for night is falling, bringing with it a long and desperate darkness that will cast a shadow over all.
