A Dream of Storms

In the Shadow of the Black Sun #1

by William J. Kenney

The leaves were falling in Elfwhere, but autumn had never come to the land of the Elves. It was a sign. The dark one, Mournenhile had returned, reborn into the world of Kirkaldin. He was thought destroyed twelve years ago during the Battle of the Black Sun.

Hagan Marindel had emerged from that battle a hero. The world sang his praises and showered him with gifts. He had rejected it all, instead returning home and going into a drunken seclusion. He had become a hollow, wretched shell of his former self.

Until now.

The Stone Troll, Gorin, carried out an impossible quest, to retrieve Hagan and return him to Harquinn, where the mages rule. Hagan had sworn an oath, all those years ago, and Gorin would hold him to it.

Reluctantly, Hagan sets out once again for that ancient city and the coming war, pulled back into the life he had vowed to forget. This time, he has his younger, inexperienced brother D'Pharin to protect and a small group of companions: Windenn, the Woodwarden, Vasparian, Wood Elven General from Elfwhere and Shindire, arrogant High Elf from across the Sleeping Sea.

Armies march across the Edge of an unimaginable size, filled with unknown creatures and the vile Pith, determined to destroy their world. The servants of Mournenhile are everywhere, always hunting, searching for the hero of the Black Sun.

Can Hagan become that hero once more, redeeming himself and protecting the land from the coming horde?

A vivid rendition of the classic story of the battle between good and evil, A Dream of Storms is book one of the In the Shadow of the Black Sun series.

Genres: Fantasy

286 pages, Paperback

First published September 3, 2011

About the author

William Kenney is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly dark epic fantasy and has also written in the horror genre. Kenney began writing while in high school, trying his hand at novels in the science fiction and fantasy genre. After reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, he began to focus on epic fantasy. In the year 2000 Kenney wrote A Dream of Storms, the first book of the In the Shadow of the Black Sun trilogy. This book was eventually published in July of 2011, with its sequel Shards of S'Darin being released a year later. 2014 saw the release of the final book in the trilogy called Mournenhile.

With co-author Stefain William created the Chronicles of Maidenjade, a dark fantasy grimdark-type series taking place in a rough and perilous city. Two books have been published as of this writing (2020); Maidenjade and Maidenjade Book 2, The Shadows of Winter.

William Kenney has also written 2 books in his Tales of Embremere series aimed at younger readers. Book one is entitled Embremere, with Return to Embremere being its sequel.

Kenney has also published a horror novella called Undergrowth as an homage to H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote a tale of the zombie apocalypse called Die Dead Enough as well.

William Kenney is also an accomplished artist, having painted the covers to his own books as well as many by independent authors. He currently lives in the St. Louis area, is married and has two children.

Twitter- @WilliamJKenney
Blog- AuthorWilliamKenney.blogspot.com

Reviews

[Midu Hadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book for free from Making Connections group to read and review. Get your copy here
When a book ends and you yell out: "Did he have to die?" then you know you liked the story.
That the author can write is evident, the story grabbed my attention from the very beginning and kept me engrossed through out.
Yes, it had a Tolkeinish flavor to it and at times came perilously close to LOTR but the author skilfully turned those scenes into his own- the horses sent by the Wind.
Of all the characters, Gorin was my favorite.
One other thing that I really liked was that we were spared the condescending attitude of the Elves- they were an old race but the Mages & Trolls were given equal importance.
The burden that the Elven king had to carry..beautiful concept.
S’Darin and his story-another unique part of this story.
I could go on and on about the things I liked but I'll just say, fans of epic fantasy, you've gotta read this book!!

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book was so not what I was expecting. It was so much better. So much better, that I instantly want a paperback version so that I can re-read it whenever I want. I have given this book five stars because it is simply a great, great read, a book that I personally enjoyed thoroughly. I love fantasy novels and this book contains all the things that I love: adventure, mystery, great characters, a believable world and most of all a damn good story. It is obvious that the author, William Kenney dedicated so much time to this book because every single bit slots into place perfectly; the characters, the world, the storyline, the dialogue etc, all done brilliantly.

The one thing I enjoyed about this book; the originality. It deals with the good versus evil theme but there are some characters introduced who are not all that they seem, and I do enjoy reading about complicated characters. I know that all fantasy novels are similar, as I believe they all draw inspiration from one another but I do enjoy when the author takes time to bring to life new races, new creatures, new types of characters etc. There are elves and there are mentions of the dwarves (which I very much hope to hear more of, please!) but there is also the monstrous creatures of evil – the Pith and their savage lizard mounts; the Inquitis, vile and evil magical creatures, the servants of their malevolent master Mournenhile. My favourite depiction by the author is the characterisation of Gorin, a Stone Troll. In many novels Trolls are described as being wicked, evil creatures mainly used by evil, but not in this book (and I love it). They are the servants of good, and you don’t get a more friendly, loyal Troll than Gorin. He is the epitome of loyalty and friendship evident in his protection over D’pharin and his love and worry for Windenn the Woodwarden. And just because he is made of stone doesn’t mean his heart is; numerous events throughout this novel reflect his humanity, a great technique by the author in my opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed the evolution of the great, heroic character of Hagan Marindel. At the beginning of the novel we hear of his great deeds and heroic qualities during the Battle of the Black Sun but this is highly contrasted by his status as a reclusive drunkard, who hides away in the hills with only dogs and women as his companions. He is whisked away (well it does take some persuasion) by Gorin at the command of Councilcrane, to be brought to the city of Harquinn, an obvious dark omen of war in the near future. Throughout the journey he begins to experience a renewal, a rebirth and begins to accept his status as ‘Lord’ Hagan, the saviour of good. I really liked how the author used a simple mercenary man as the prominent protagonist, who has to conquer his inner demons to become the man that he used to be; the valiant hero that he was inevitably born to be. He is loyal and brave and these qualities are constantly shown in his interactions with the other characters.

The authenticity of this book really astounded me. Everything just seemed flawlessly believable, and the dialogue especially added to this. It just seemed to flow effortlessly, the language suited the text and the storyline perfectly, things that I appreciate in a fantasy novel. This is a brilliant effort on the part of the author and I truly believe that this should be read by eager fantasy fans as they will surely enjoy it. I am very glad that I got to read this book, and got to know about it because it was brilliant. A great story that had me sitting on the edge of my seat, worrying over the characters and the ending (what an ending!) has made me very, very eager to read the next novel in this new (and promising!) series, a series that deserves its place on my bookshelf next to my fantasy favourites.

[Xan Rooyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm an avid reader of fantasy so I had certain expectations going into this one.

While the story got off to a slow start with a seeming jumble of characters I found difficult to connect with, the writer falls into stride after a couple of chapters for what becomes a fairly dark foray into a fantastical world complete with stone trolls (something new) and age-old fantasy favourites, elves.

While I found the pacing problematic making some parts a little tedious, the writer shines with world-building, creating what I'd hesitate to call Tolkienesque since it is rather unique, but also brings to mind the sweeping vistas of Middle-Earth. A huge plus were the pronounceable names of people and places!

A good start to what I think will prove to be a swashbuckling series.

[Gary Vanucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imaginative High Fantasy at its Finest!

I have read a good deal of fantasy in my life and I will tell you that A Dream of Storms is not what I expected. Honestly, it was better.

There are many things to keep going in any fantasy genre to suspend your belief for a few moments here and there and William does it like a pro. This novel is on par with anything in the genre for sale today in my opinion. His characters have depth, emotion, and motivations and the journey is worth it.

From the beginning, William pulls you in with vivid imagery, emotional scenes and likeable characters. One thing I look for in a fellow writer are characters with which you can relate on certain levels and William does this nicely. Even more of a credit to his writing is the detailed landscapes and settings. His scenes and descriptions paint a picture of imaginative storytelling on par with the best of the best.

His story takes twists and turns that are a bit out of the ordinary and add to the overall enjoyment of the story’s progression. Just when you assume you understand a character’s motivations, he tosses in a twist that throws you for a loop! All of the characters are well-written and unique, with as much depth as is necessary, which is to Mr. Kenney’s credit. Trying to keep everything straight in an imaginary world can be a challenging task and he does this flawlessly. I will not spoil the ending of book 1, but it certainly is a cliff hanger! I am looking forward to breaking out book 2, which he just released called Shards of S’Darin.

[Gary Henson · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can read my review on my writer's blog at https://garyalanhenson.blogspot.com/p...
I like this book a lot, so much so that I immediately bought the second book to continue the story.

[Stephen O'Reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

So good can’t wait to start the next one
Thank you for this story
Nail bitting end
I so need revenge

[Tim Trent · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thing about fantasy books is that so much must be described. The art is to show us rather than tell us, and our author achieves that balance well. The mark of a good fantasy writer is to involve the reader in the story as the world unfolds, and so it is with this book. I'd love to know more lore, but I suspect that comes in the remainder of the series. I want to know how names are made, for example.

That leads me on to the names of the characters. Often awkward in fantasy, names can make or break a tale. In this tale the names are there, obviously fantasy names, yet unobtrusive.

We have glorious good versus evil plot, and we move at a heady pace. There's necessary gore and guts, a love interest or two, the occasional traitor, wondrous and gruesome creatures.

The writing gives us well crafted characters. The corps of heroes becomes three dimensional very fast. At least one secondary character develops from a 2 dimensional cipher into a fully fledged character almost imperceptibly.

At the end of this volume we aren't left with a cliffhanger... or are we? There is an obvious draw to the second volume. We have unresolved character destinies to explore, we have an event I refuse to spoil, too. Even so, I can be content to read this tale as a stand alone story... probably!

[Ross Kitson · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Kenney's first novel in the 'In the Shadow of the Black Sun' series never failed to impress. The story follows a 'retired' hero, Hagan, who is convinced to return to his former life at the request of Councilcrane, the rulers of Kirkaldin. He journeys to the city via a circuitous route, taking his brother D'Pharin and an old comrade Gorin (a Stone Troll, with him. On the way he discovers that an old foe has risen once more, and is threatening the Elven kingdoms.
Kenney's strength is two-fold. His world building is excellent. It is skillfully done, rarely intruding on the action, and filled with wonderful details: the Woodwardens; the mysterious Wisp; the decrepit city of Overbrook; the Talon; Elfwhere; the Inquitis, demonic creatures. It hangs together with a real depth, a sense of history that is vital for good fantasy to work.
The second strength is in the characterisation. The heroes are well written- the reluctant Hagan, embarressed by his past, the eager yet naive D'Pharin, the haughty Shindire, and the noble troll Gorin. They quibble, joke, love and bounce off one another in a continually intriguing way. And without great characters it really doesn't matter how rich the world-building is.
There is enough in this book to hook you into the series, enough loose ends to tug you into book two. Its tone is dark, but not as gritty as Abbercrombie or Martin. The action is realistic, but not excessive.
Anything I'd change? Occassionally the dialogue and narrative feels a bit stereotypical ('The warriors of Rathnok were as a wall.')and the POV can be a little jumpy, yet these are minor points in a stunning debut. I'd urge all fantasy fans to buy this, not least for the amazing cover!!

[Masquerade Crew · Rating 3 out of 5]

BEC'S REVIEW


This is one of those stories that is both slow and fast. It is slow in that at points not much seems to happen in terms of the writing, and yet fast at other points, and in that everything happens in the space of a few days. As a fantasy story is has much potential and yet something about it causes it to fall just short of that potential. Sure there are Elves, Mages, Trolls and great Heroes, not to mention a quest and yet something is missing.

That’s not to say this isn’t an interesting book. I did enjoy reading it however I doubt I’ll go out of my way to obtain the next in the series. There were certain points I enjoyed a lot but at the same time there were some points I found dull or confusing. At times the inclusion of a glossary (a common inclusion in many fantasy stories) might have helped clear up the confusion. For instance, one of the characters is a “Woodwarden” and yet I cannot recall what a Woodwarden was, if it was mentioned at all. There were other names and terms that could have been explained and a glossary would have helped to keep track of which M name is which on the side of evil in this story.

If you’re a fan of fantasy stories then do give this a go. It is certainly enjoyable overall and despite having some problems is, for the most part, entertaining. However if you are new to genre or after an enthralling that drags you in and doesn’t let go then perhaps this is not the one for you. For while it is good it sadly falls shy of its potential to be truly great.

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, so fantasy novels are not my thing. But I was told in no uncertain terms by my Husband that I should at least have a go, so I found this, having seen some stuff about it on Twitter. I've read some great "urban fantasy" and in my youth I did enjoy the Zanth novels by Piers Anthony so this looked like it might be a good place to start. I made the right choice. Mr Kenney has created a most tremendous character in Hagan Marindel..and the world he inhabits is superb in its imagining - I was drawn in immediately, and never looked back. You have dwarves (not enough of them!) and Elves, Trolls (who are not so evil after all it seems - I rather adored Gorin) as well as some beautifully depicted evil "monsters". Apparently I'm told, all staples of a good fantasy novel. The story flowed tremendously well, not one boring bit did I find and no skimming required. I devoured every word over a few days. You don't need a great amount of plot synopsis to know if it might be for you, basically Hagan is a hero who has taken to the drink, leaving his heroic side behind... but when a dark cloud approaches he is forced to pick up the mantle once again and sets of on a journey back to Harquinn, the ancient city, and he has a motley crew tagging along with him, of which the character Shindire was my favourite! The war is coming and come hell or high water, Gorin is going to be in it! Now...where is Book 2?

[C.p. Bialois · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the case in a majority of fantasy stories, we’re introduced into a rich world where I found it easy to lose myself in the story. A Stone Troll named Gorin begins the book on a quest for the Hero of the Black Sun, the final battle fought between the forces of good and evil a dozen years earlier. Upon entering the small town of Lauden, the troll quickly befriends the former hero’s brother and the pair go to convince Hagan to pick up his sword once more to face the growing forces of evil threatening their world.

As you all know, I’m not one to give out spoilers so I’ll leave the rest of the story to your imagination or kindle. The thing about this book that I enjoyed was its closeness to JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. While it paralleled the world of Middle Earth, A Dream of Storms found a way to make the story its own while following the pattern set forth in the classic series. We’re introduced to the other characters gradually, and are given the opportunity to form a bond with them. For me, it’s one of the most important things in a story to be invested in the characters and care when they live or die.

As a veteran of many a fantasy novel, I’m looking forward to finding out what happens in the rest of the series and the fate of Mournenhile.

[Benedict Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a lot of fun reading this book. The characters are all very believable, (the stone troll is my favorite) and the monsters are frightening.

Perhaps the best thing of all were the names. I don't know where he got them from, but Mr. Kenney has come up with some great ones, making everything, from people, to places, to villains that much more memorable.

There's a definite Tolkien flavor to the story, but at the same time, it is definitely a creation all its own. My only complaint is that I wish it was longer.

William Kenney has delivered a great story with a Dream of Storms, and I look forward to reading the next installment in this series.

[Vanessa Booke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Dream of Storms by William Kenney is a wonderful book that is highly entertaining. I am not much of a fantasy reader unless it's paranormal fantasy, but I really found this book fascinating. The cover art is fantastic and it really matches the story which I can't say for most novels. Overall, I found the writing great and the characters are well written. You know it's a good book when the characters are what really drive the adventure. This a great start for a series and I look forward to reading the next book!

[Barbara Senteney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorin is a Stone Troll and they usually stay out of the business of other races but the Mages of Councilcrane have asked him to find Lord Hagan the hero of the war of the Black Sun, and deliver him to them for a quest to fight when the Dark Lord Mournenhile returns.
This story has a lot of world building but gets juicy once it gets going. I slowly got nto it but by the end I was hooked and had to go on. So now I am into book 3 so I highly recommend this series.
I especially enjoyed the magic, and it's explaination of how it works.

[Daniel Zazitski · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Kenney has created an epic fantasy world simular to J.R.R Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and other fanasty authors. A Dream of Storms which is first book of In The Shadow of the Black Sun series kept me turning the page in antipication of what would happen next. I highly recommend you get this book and read it.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Likeable (or hateable LOL), believable characters; classic good versus evil plot, solid storyline; interesting and exciting without being overdramatic or dry. I'll be looking for more from this author!

[Rae Waller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Promising concept, but I just couldn't get past the first couple of chapters because the proofreading was so terrible. Hyphens and em-dashes are constantly mixed up, the narration explains everything instead of showing, and the point of view can't stay with one person for more than a paragraph.

[Dorothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great first time novel..can tell a lot was put into this. Believable characters, great storyline, you cant wait to find out where you are going next..anxiously awaiting the next installment...

[John Hoddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable fantasy with some really original ideas. Looking forward to reading the sequel!

[Michael Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable and captivating fantasy with well developed characters, and some unlikely alliances. Magic, stone trolls, elves, and a reluctant hero attempt to stop evil from spreading into their realm. I recommend to any fantasy fan.

[Jon Singleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

*For Evil to Triumph, Good men must do nothing..."

Wow! What a complex story in this! Classic tale of Good vs Evil. And the old adage holds true. Hagan did nothing and Evil has come back! Find out what happens.

[Penumbra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book through the Making Connections ARR Group for an honest review, thank you.

The book blurb does a good job of explaining what this book is about and who the characters are so I won’t go into that. There is also so much that happens in this book, I would spend too much time describing everyone and everything. The author easily took me into another world of magic and war with creatures known and unknown.



I don’t often read epic fantasies like A Dream of Storms because I find them too wordy with unusual words that I can’t keep track of, but I didn’t have a problem with this book. The author did a good job of keeping the characters, places and events spaced well apart so that I didn’t feel overwhelmed.

The planning out of the plot and all the events that happened in the book was done well. Everything wove together and was connected to something else. If there were plot holes I didn’t notice them. The pace moved along nicely so I didn’t have trouble keeping my attention on the story. The one spot where the pace did slow down however, is when Hagan and his companions arrived at Elfwhere. In trying to describe how beautiful and serene the place was, the author used too much description that went on for too long, plus there was hardly any dialog or action. This made it hard for me to keep my mind on the story.

I enjoyed the characters, the banter and companionship between them. They were believable with their fears and flaws and also their positive attributes. The one aspect that bothered me was that the author had many of the characters cry or weep a bit too often, especially Hagan the war hero. Sometimes Hagan seemed more like a weepy teenage girl and that isn’t the image I imagined for a war hero. I think the crying and weeping could have been used more judiciously for a horrific or shocking event like when the author killed off Hagan’s brother at the very end of the book. Why author? Why??? He was one of my favorite characters *sob* . When Hagan cries for that event, then it would be more of an impact because we know how devastated he would feel.

My next point is something that, for me, affected the book the most and is the main reason I marked it down. The POV changes happen randomly and we end up jumping around from character to character. Sometimes we don’t even know which character’s eyes we are looking through for a couple of paragraphs until we read “this person thought.” The POV changes would have had more impact if they were chapter by chapter, or used paragraph separators or skipped a bunch of lines. Most of the time the POVs flowed from one paragraph to the next and were quite annoying because it happened so frequently and I often couldn’t figure out which POV it was. I also felt like the oddly switching POVs reduced the tension of the story and cut down on its epicness.

One technical issue was that the fonts shifted between serif and sans-serif. At first I thought there was a pattern; the dialogue in serif and the rest of the story in sans-serif. But that’s not the case. The type just changes randomly. Someone needs to go through this and fix the coding.

Finally, can I say “CLIFFHANGER!” in caps?

In the end, I would reduce the story to three stars because the odd changing POVs are very annoying. The font strangeness could easily be fixed. But because the story is captivating and held my attention throughout, except for the time in Elfwhere, I’ll give this book 4 stars. Just please, do something about the POV switches.

[Vik · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know what to make of this, I thought it wouldn't be as good as it turned out but the characters and story are thrown at you at high speed which makes it kind of hard to keep track of some of the developments.

The story is a typical fantasy romp with a hero (who is a bit of an anti-hero), trolls and an arch evil nemesis. The world builds up bit by bit but the story seems to move a lot faster than the picture you build up of the world, I think some back story a la Tolkien would really have helped it along.

Later on the characters begin to be developed a little bit deeper and I started to get a little bit more into it. There's also an unexpected twist at the end and I'm still unsure on whether I liked this book or REALLY liked it.

In the end I think if you're into fantasy then you need to try this yourself as you can see people either loved it or gave it 3 stars like myself.