Wings of Twilight

by Hans Cummings

It was a typical day for the crusader Lord Strom Lightbringer, killing draks, stamping out wickedness, and making the world a better place for the righteous. During the course of his crusade, he discovered the location of the fabled Twilight Dungeon, a den of evil shrouded in mystery. No one ever returned from that vile place, so no one knew what lay within. With purpose, Strom and his companions set off to meet their destinies. It was a typical day for Sarvesh, the demonic-looking leader of the Twilight Dungeon's defenders, enjoying beer at the pub, flirting with a snake-haired woman, and dealing with invaders to their home. An exceptional goblin proved to be a harbinger of coming changes, and he found his easy life turned upside down. When the worlds of men and monsters collide in Twilight Dungeon, the lines between man and monster blur. Wings of Twilight is the exhilarating first book in The Foundation of Drak-Anor duology. Wings of Twilight is the debut novel in a series that will visit all corners of a world filled with myth, monsters, heroes, and villains. Adventures in the World of Calliome will take readers on a journey where not all heroes are good, not all monsters are evil, and sometimes the world itself has a role to play. Author Hans Cummings has immersed himself in fantasy literature and tropes and real-world history and mythology for nearly thirty years, seeking to incorporate that experience into an engaging fantasy world nearly twenty years in the making.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

254 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 9, 2011

About the author

Hans Cummings is the author of the Fantasy duology: The Foundation of Drak-Anor: Wings of Twilight and Iron Fist of the Oroqs, the Scars of the Sundering trilogy, as well as the Zack Jackson science fiction series. Two of his short stories appear in Fear the Boot’s Sojourn speculative fiction anthologies. He is Nuvo's Best of Indy — Best Local Author 3rd place Honoree for 2014 and 2015 and won 2nd place for 2016.

Hans is a volunteer for the tabletop gaming industry ENnie Awards and maintains a gaming blog http://doctorstrangeroll.wordpress.com in addition to his writing blog http://vffpublishing.com.

Hans earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Indiana University in 2006. He grew up in Indiana, Germany, and Virginia and returned to Indianapolis when he was 21. He currently lives in Indianapolis with his wife and stepdaughter. His hobbies include tabletop and computer gaming, smoking meat, and igniting young people's curiosity and passion for science and exploration.

Reviews

[K.M. Herkes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars, for those who like precision ratings. A bump above "I liked it," but not quite enough to round up to four stars for Amazon.

Wings of Twilight is delicious chewy brain candy that doesn't taste quite the way its looks would lead you to expect. Think of it as a trick jelly bean -- not one of the awful ones-- a tasty, fun one that looks like butterscotch but surprises you with tart lemony essence instead.

This is pure, straightforward D&D-style fantasy. The dual plot pits the monsters who inhabit a dungeon against a party of adventurers seeking treasure and victory against evil. The author puts a fun spin on it by letting readers see both sides of the impending conflict. The monsters are dealing with betrayal within their ranks, so their story is a kind of police mystery, while the adventurers' quest to reach the dungeon involves a clash between moral absolutes and the muddy ambiguity of real life.

But don't let that high-falutin' description put you off. Wings of Twilight is a fast, light read full of humor, action, jokes and set pieces that let the characters develop.

Well. Development might be stretching it. I did mention the D&D-style aspect, right? The characters' personalities and abilities are defined by species and vocation, and they behave according to moral codes based on those options. This isn't a story to read for deep insights into the nature of life, love, and Deeper Meanings. It's a book that wants to be read for comfortable fun. It does exactly that.

One thing I must mention; just as even the best jelly beans leave a sticky odd aftertaste in my mouth, this story did require swallowing down some cloying "not-this-again" stereotypes and plot ideas. Nothing pushed the envelope of my tolerance for problematic genre stuff, but if gender-based jokes old enough to have gray whiskers and questionable (in my mind anyway) relationship advice rile you up, this series might not be the best fit.

There are mysteries, tragedies, and discoveries, the character interplay is entertaining, and the plot wraps nicely in ways that leave plenty of room for future stories to grow. In summary, a good afternoon's fun. And yes, I have the next one on my reading list.

[Kevin Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't normally give such enthusiastically high praises, but if you love a good fantasy, and especially enjoy good writing and originality, then Hans Cummings has packaged it up quite nicely in Wings of Twilight. This isn't just for fantasy lovers, however; anyone who enjoys a very well written story is bound to love it as well.

One of the main characters, Sarvesh, is a towering, black-winged demon who marshals the forces that protect the Twilight Dungeon from nearly constant dwarven, human, and elven attacks. Storm Lightbringer - representing the main threat to the underworld - is an egotistic do-gooder who is determined to rid the world of evil once and for all, possibly destroying the precious balance between good and evil that he knows nothing at all about. The characters at play are many, but their roles and ambitions are well balanced and masterfully woven into an admirable work of fiction that kept pages turning with increasing speed from start to finish.

I really enjoyed the variety in characters in this work, ranging from fire-summoning demons like Sarvesh, to minotaurs, medusas, goblins, Oraqs, two-headed giants, sorcerers, and the list goes on! To add to this rich mixture, the characters themselves are lifelike in their individuality, and the dialogue is rich and well spiced with enough comedy to cause me to burst out laughing while devouring the main story. The forces of evil are actually portrayed with a such a strong sense of character and purpose that I actually found myself rooting for the bad guys just so I could see what would happen once they were victorious.

Try as I might, I couldn't come up with much to complain about here to balance out the high praises I give this book. It truly is well done, and most deserving of the perfect rating I give it. Just so we're clear, I don't know the author, and I always give my honest opinion in reviews, but my opinion in this case is that Hans Cummings' work has bestseller written all over it.

Thanks for the superb adventure, and I'm very much looking forward to the next book in this series!

[K. Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a delightful, light-hearted read. It starts from the point of view of the dungeon inhabitants, and when we see their lives presented as having jobs, and doing their dungeonly duties, I'm immediately reminded of something of a cross between Terry Pratchett (although perhaps not something so overtly cheeky as that) and the old video game Dungeon Master.

I read this over Christmas... my first purchase with a new kindle. (slight spoilers follow)

The plot moves straightforward enough, and the world around the dungeon becomes a comfortable home to live in as a reader, especially over the winter holidays. It quickly became obvious that the story centers around The Monsters Aren't Monsters and the Heroes Aren't Heroes… but there were some pleasant twists to both sides to keep it from being too straightforward. Of course, with such frothy fantasy, I became just as interested in the lovers trysts developing amidst the monster community (although picturing the logistics of how a demon-like thing and a serpentine medusa gets it on is perhaps something one does not spend too much time pondering), and amidst the hero party.

This was a perfect read while sitting in front of a warm fireplace, eating stocking chocolate, and drinking a dark Belgian Ale. If you're looking for some light-hearted pulp, a distinct enough flavor to separate it from generic fantasy, and something not demanding heavy thought, Wings of Twilight is underpriced at $0.99. I've bought the follow-on and put it in my "stack".

No real flaws with the book for what it aspires to be, but one plot twist made me raise my eyebrows. The lesbian relationship between the elf and human women in the party seemed quick, and written for further froth effect. But, it's easy to forgive considering the book doesn't try to be more than what it is: a light-hearted fantasy adventure from the "other side's" point of view.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wings of Twilight by Hans Cummings is a fantasy that is part questing adventure and part kingdom with a twist. The author keeps us entrenched with a good storyline, well develop characters with the same flaws and concerns that everyone can identify with in ourselves or people we know.

The kingdom in this book is the Twilight Dungeon is a realm consisting of some of the monsters we fear from mythology only to show them in a new light with many of the same problems and concerns as everyone else. The twilight Overlord, a demonic figure with a skull for a head, has many of the same concerns of any ruler. Sarvesh, ; Ick, Soterios, Bargle; Kale; Delilah and Kazi & Meriz make up the twilight defenders, a group sworn to defend the dungeon with also facing the everyday concerns of the average person.

The main premise of the story follows a questing party consisting of Storm Lightbinger, the brave knight; his squire Runt; Yuri Siota, a thief; Tasha, a sorceress and Lorelei, an Elvin mystic as they journey to vanquish the evil creatures inside the Twilight dungeon. Along their journey the questing party run into some situations that cause some of them to question the virtue of their leader.

One thing the author does really well is bring the places and people of the story to with his vivid descriptions and believable dialog. A great example of this is when the group stop at the town of Celtangate for the winter with his description of the inns, tavern and surrounding village along with the interactions between the questing group and the locals.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys fantasy books especially those involving mythical creatures, magic and questing. If those are qualities that you enjoy you will spend hours wanting to absorb every detail.

I give it five stars

[Amy (I'd Rather Be Sleeping) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've really got mixed feelings on this book. I do like the idea behind it. Basically, it is a role reversal version of a typical dungeon crawl style adventure. The brave human warriors, out to rid the world of evil, are now the bad guys while the vile monsters are really just creatures that want to be left in peace.

That's all good, but there was little wiggle room beyond that for the villains and heroes to move in. If the story pegged you as one, that's what you were and I was really hoping the line would be blurred - where each character had good and bad aspects and they all lived in that grey area. There were no subtle clues whether someone was a good guy or a bad guy. In fact, this story has all the subtlety of a jackhammer.

During the first introduction of our human, Strom, he shows misogynistic tendencies, and eventually proves himself to be a racist and pretty much deserving death. Honestly, I had hoped that this book really would blur the lines like it promised, but the lines in this book were as clear cut as they are in most fantasy novels - it's just that the groups stand on different sides of the line.

On a final note, I do know that this was a self-published book, but I really wish the author would have gotten himself a good editor. There were several times when I had to reread a description of something because it made no sense at all, as well as there being a handful of grammar mistakes and capitalization errors that - even for someone like me - were easy to pick up on.

(Originally posted on my blog: http://pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com/)

[Ben Erickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. From the beginning to the end, there was always something that grabbed my attention and made me want to continue reading it. There was enough about the fantasy setting that was familiar to those who have even a passing familiarity with Dungeons and Dragons, but Cummings was able to put his own unique twist on things to keep it fresh.

I won't spoil much about the plot, but it's readily obvious in the first few pages who the real heroes of this book are. It's weird to root for the monsters that you've always been told are the "bad guys," but it's Cummings masterful touch and questioning of these conventions that makes for such a great story. It never feels trite or forced, but he does it in ways that at the same time feel as natural as they are humorous to those familiar with the lore he's poking at (but at the same time, won't feel over the heads of those aren't).

This is a fantastic outing for a first novel, and I can't wait to see where he goes with the world of Calliome. Absolutely worth picking up if you're looking for a good fantasy story.

[Matthew Sargent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wings of Twilight is as high fantasy and D&D-inspired as they come, but with the great twist of focusing on the middle managers who keep the "evil dungeon" running smoothly. The writing is a bit heavy on the lore dumps, light on character development, and has some pacing issues, but the interesting premise along with a healthy dose of humor, heart, and action helped make up for the weaknesses. I would definitely read the sequel.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshing. Just what this fantasy geek needed...

Wow. This book had me literally laughing out loud. I'd call it a "reverse dungeon crawl" with lots of laughs. I immediately liked the characters and genuinely cared what happened to them. The setting was a lot of fun and very interesting. I can't say enough of good things. This book was a very good change up from the traditional "good vs. evil."

Wings of Twilight was very entertaining; I couldn't put it down! Highly recommend. I walked away from the book wanting more and can't wait to read another of Mr. Cummings' books.

[Hans Cummings]

A bit of self-promotion: this is a book I wrote. I did read it though: finished my final proofread of it on October 7, 2011 after nearly a year of work. I spent the last year proofreading, revising, having it edited (I did NOT self-edit, not as a primary editing job anyway), revising again, more proofreading...

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic! It has great characters that you care about, an interesting setting, action that flows well and, in my opinion the most important quality a work of fiction can have, I never once felt like reading it was anything other than enjoyable.

I will recommend the hell out of this!

[Ralph Brunjes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read

If you like this type of thing , you will defiantly like this book. Full of weird monsters , goblins, elves, humans and any other type of thing.
Lots of fighting and love .

[Noah Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really, really, did enjoy this. I also made seek out Dungeon Keeper 2 on GOG.com.