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Dreadmark Covenants #1
Dread Child
Is the birthmark on a young boy's arm just a smear of discolored skin, or the nexus of an ancient curse?Ket is the half-breed son of a Scairn bondservant and an unknown Duchies man. To him, the birthmark on his arm is just a smear of discolored skin. But the wizard Kainborne sees in it the Dreadmark, a portent of both evil and greatness. With his mother murdered, and him kidnapped by Kainborne's assassin, Ket must survive the enemies about him. But can he survive the curse of the Dreadmark?
298 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2024
14 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
J.L. Doty
24 books88 followersJim is a full-time SF&F writer, scientist and laser geek (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, specialty laser physics), and former running-dog-lackey for the bourgeois capitalist establishment. He's been writing for over 30 years, with 15 published books. His first success came through self-publishing when his books went word-of-mouth viral, and sold enough that he was able to quit his day-job, start working for himself and write full time--his new boss is a real jerk. That led to contracts with traditional publishers like Open Road Media and Harper Collins Voyager, and his books are now a mix of traditional and self-published.
The four novels in his new hard science fiction series, The Blacksword Regiment, are scheduled for release in July 2020. Right now he’s fleshing out ideas for the next book in The Dead Among Us, he’s writing another episode in The Treasons Cycle, and he’s working on a new fantasy series The Deck of Chaos.
Jim was born in Seattle, but he's lived most of his life in California, though he did live on the east coast and in Europe for a while. He now resides in Arizona with his wife Karen and three little beings who claim to be cats: Tilda, Julia and Natasha. But Jim is certain they're really extra-terrestrial aliens in disguise.
The four novels in his new hard science fiction series, The Blacksword Regiment, are scheduled for release in July 2020. Right now he’s fleshing out ideas for the next book in The Dead Among Us, he’s writing another episode in The Treasons Cycle, and he’s working on a new fantasy series The Deck of Chaos.
Jim was born in Seattle, but he's lived most of his life in California, though he did live on the east coast and in Europe for a while. He now resides in Arizona with his wife Karen and three little beings who claim to be cats: Tilda, Julia and Natasha. But Jim is certain they're really extra-terrestrial aliens in disguise.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 21, 2023
I was given an ARC version of this book in exchange for a review so here goes.
This book is write up my alley. It follows the premise of a young boy as he travels through his universe and is destined for great or horrible things. In this book the character is Ket. I have liked these types of stories as far back as when I was a youngster and was reading Feist's "Magician" and fell in love with Pug. The book was a little slow in the beginning, but the last third was a "I need to call in sick to work and finish this thing" type of read. I will be looking forward to the future books.
Now for what I would improve or didn't like. It wasn't until more than half way through the book that the author detailed what was happening in the world. In the world there are three regions that abut each other and they are slowly moving to war. I had some problems figuring out which people were from which region and that was causing me some concern. I would have really loved a dramatis personae that would list things. Kind of like Game of Thrones listing who was with what house. That was confusing to me, but not a deal breaker. It might have also helped if each chapter mentioned where the characters were.
Well worth reading and I will be buying the future books.
This book is write up my alley. It follows the premise of a young boy as he travels through his universe and is destined for great or horrible things. In this book the character is Ket. I have liked these types of stories as far back as when I was a youngster and was reading Feist's "Magician" and fell in love with Pug. The book was a little slow in the beginning, but the last third was a "I need to call in sick to work and finish this thing" type of read. I will be looking forward to the future books.
Now for what I would improve or didn't like. It wasn't until more than half way through the book that the author detailed what was happening in the world. In the world there are three regions that abut each other and they are slowly moving to war. I had some problems figuring out which people were from which region and that was causing me some concern. I would have really loved a dramatis personae that would list things. Kind of like Game of Thrones listing who was with what house. That was confusing to me, but not a deal breaker. It might have also helped if each chapter mentioned where the characters were.
Well worth reading and I will be buying the future books.
Want to read
August 14, 2024This is not a full review. I read through the beginning of all 300 SPFBOX contest entries. This was a book I wanted to read more of.
A conquering lord is beset by visions that he cannot escape, becoming more disillusioned with every victory in the prologue of this detailed fantasy.
Despite the cover, the prose here is steady and strong, reminding me of George RR Martin’s penchant for detail and character introduction. It is dry in an engaging way, giving the setting an added sense of severity.
So far, I have a sense of the setting only: something quasi-medieval with manors and lords, etc. But the immediate details of ch1 and its bustling kitchen are very concrete.
At least one non-human character is introduced, a kind of elvish mountain folk that our pov character things of as sub-human. Good detail here.
The pace, at least for now, is slow, but it is engaging nonetheless. We haven’t yet met our MC (not surprising since this starts with a prologue), but the prologue introduces a strange, vision producing mark that is bound to show up again elsewhere.
The exact nature of those visions is unclear from the prologue. Apparently they’re confusing and disturbing, but offer no insight whatsoever. For now, they’re just an oddity. Maybe something more here would have been more engaging.
We're told the pov character of ch 1 has zero interest in sex, & yet he, thru our 3rd person close narration, twice emphasizes the breasts of its 2 female characters. This feels both like overt male gaze writing & a mistake because of our scene MC’s frame of reference.
I can’t say just what the plot will be from the opening. I can’t say what these visions portend, nor their significance, but that doesn’t seem an issue. I’m engaged by the prose. I’d like to know what happens next. I’m in.
A conquering lord is beset by visions that he cannot escape, becoming more disillusioned with every victory in the prologue of this detailed fantasy.
Despite the cover, the prose here is steady and strong, reminding me of George RR Martin’s penchant for detail and character introduction. It is dry in an engaging way, giving the setting an added sense of severity.
So far, I have a sense of the setting only: something quasi-medieval with manors and lords, etc. But the immediate details of ch1 and its bustling kitchen are very concrete.
At least one non-human character is introduced, a kind of elvish mountain folk that our pov character things of as sub-human. Good detail here.
The pace, at least for now, is slow, but it is engaging nonetheless. We haven’t yet met our MC (not surprising since this starts with a prologue), but the prologue introduces a strange, vision producing mark that is bound to show up again elsewhere.
The exact nature of those visions is unclear from the prologue. Apparently they’re confusing and disturbing, but offer no insight whatsoever. For now, they’re just an oddity. Maybe something more here would have been more engaging.
We're told the pov character of ch 1 has zero interest in sex, & yet he, thru our 3rd person close narration, twice emphasizes the breasts of its 2 female characters. This feels both like overt male gaze writing & a mistake because of our scene MC’s frame of reference.
I can’t say just what the plot will be from the opening. I can’t say what these visions portend, nor their significance, but that doesn’t seem an issue. I’m engaged by the prose. I’d like to know what happens next. I’m in.
November 17, 2023
I was given an ARC for an honest review, and just wow. This is my type of read, and the type of story Doty does well! The start got a bit choppy with multiple POVs, but the choppiness was prolly more me having to stop and start reading as life happened, than bad writing. By 40% though I couldn’t stop or put it down anymore and had to keep going! Just wow
And ughhhh now I have to wait for the next one!
This ended way too soon :(
And ughhhh now I have to wait for the next one!
This ended way too soon :(
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews