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The Hawkridge Chronicles #1
Hawkridge
Colt Hawkridge thought he was content with his life on the frontier, wrangling drakes and working the ranch. Good, honest work, even if a body risks getting mauled. But when he tracks down a runaway drake calf to the edge of the Hawkridge Mountains, he discovers a danger that threatens everyone he knows, and makes an ally who seems intent on throwing him into dangerous situations for the fun of it.
With the help of a half-goblin slave girl and a sickly mage, and armed with an orewood sword housing the spirit of a dryad, Colt must escape an underground labyrinth, rescue a bunch of slaves, and save Drake Iron ranch from a horde of goblin raiders.
With the help of a half-goblin slave girl and a sickly mage, and armed with an orewood sword housing the spirit of a dryad, Colt must escape an underground labyrinth, rescue a bunch of slaves, and save Drake Iron ranch from a horde of goblin raiders.
150 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 9, 2015
1 person is currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Julian Kindred
13 books2 followersJulian has been telling stories for as long as he can remember. It all started with the tales his father would weave for him and his sister as children. Puff the Magic Dragon, Caroll’s Jaberwocky, even Falling Up, by Shel Silverstien, all served as inspiration for the young Kindred’s imagination.
Julian wasn’t even in kindergarten before he began creating his own imaginary creatures and narrating fantastic adventures for his father. His fascination with magic and beasts was further fueled by countless books, comics, and games that involved creative narration and role play. His passion for fantasy and dedication to language propelled him to change his major after starting at the University of Texas at Dallas where he’d initially gone for a BA in Arts and Technology with the intention of working with animated movies. Instead he graduated with a BA in Arts and Performance with an emphasis on Creative Writing and Literature aiming to pursue a career as an author. After graduation, Julian returned to his hometown of Houston where he was offered (and accepted) the Presidential position with The Houston Writers Guild during which he organized the annual conference, several workshops, and managed multiple weekly critique circles.
His term as President lasted for one year until he was offered the Vice-Presidential position with the Gulf Coast Federation of Writers. He successfully networked with several writers’ organizations, linking them for the purposes of workshops, events, conferences, and resources while simultaneously managing and creating more critique groups and getting his own short stories published. He served as V.P. for approximately one year with his term ending upon his decision to focus on mastering his craft by attending graduate school. Julian is currently working on his MFA in Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing at Sam Houston State University. He currently lives on a ranch in small-town, Tx, where he and his sidekick beast, Oberon, manage the grounds and keep an eye on all of the creatures lurking upon the edge of mortal comprehension - unbridled and untamed.
Julian wasn’t even in kindergarten before he began creating his own imaginary creatures and narrating fantastic adventures for his father. His fascination with magic and beasts was further fueled by countless books, comics, and games that involved creative narration and role play. His passion for fantasy and dedication to language propelled him to change his major after starting at the University of Texas at Dallas where he’d initially gone for a BA in Arts and Technology with the intention of working with animated movies. Instead he graduated with a BA in Arts and Performance with an emphasis on Creative Writing and Literature aiming to pursue a career as an author. After graduation, Julian returned to his hometown of Houston where he was offered (and accepted) the Presidential position with The Houston Writers Guild during which he organized the annual conference, several workshops, and managed multiple weekly critique circles.
His term as President lasted for one year until he was offered the Vice-Presidential position with the Gulf Coast Federation of Writers. He successfully networked with several writers’ organizations, linking them for the purposes of workshops, events, conferences, and resources while simultaneously managing and creating more critique groups and getting his own short stories published. He served as V.P. for approximately one year with his term ending upon his decision to focus on mastering his craft by attending graduate school. Julian is currently working on his MFA in Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing at Sam Houston State University. He currently lives on a ranch in small-town, Tx, where he and his sidekick beast, Oberon, manage the grounds and keep an eye on all of the creatures lurking upon the edge of mortal comprehension - unbridled and untamed.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 21, 2015
Shades of Cowboys and Aliens. The dialect was reminiscent of Ferrol Sam's Run With The Horsemen, a little difficult to understand but helps immerse you into the story.
"You some sort of crazy?"
"Probably," she replied. "I don't imagine that sanity is eternal. Everything erodes eventually."
This type of depth surfaces occasionally throughout a fantasy cowboy ride. Not my typical genre, but I thought it was very interesting.
"You some sort of crazy?"
"Probably," she replied. "I don't imagine that sanity is eternal. Everything erodes eventually."
This type of depth surfaces occasionally throughout a fantasy cowboy ride. Not my typical genre, but I thought it was very interesting.
March 29, 2015
Engaging and fun. A great mix of western and fantasy elements. A very fun read!
June 17, 2017
The Hawkridge series is a mixture between fantasy and western. At least that's what it said on the blurb. I read it because of the high ranking on Goodreads, but wasn't particularly taken with the series. I am going to write down my impressions as I read the book, so there are some spoilers up ahead (not that here is much of a storyline to spoil).
Colt is wrangling a drake. //Very nice introductory mix of western and fantasy.
He is attacked by a forest goblin with a bow and arrow, because he got to close to the forest. His horse runs away with the drake and he is forced to enter the forest as there are no hiding spots on the plain. While running from multiple goblins he comes to a cave behind a waterfall, where he hides. In this cave he finds a magical sword that was carved out of the tree of a wood nymph, who appears as a naked, especially well endowed spirit. //At this point the western leaves the building. Colt isn't even dressed in western style as the is wearing a tunic. And the playboy model/sword is a little juvenile.
Goblins have gathered in front of the cave, therefore the sword suggests heading through the caves. As he has no source of light, she guides him through the dark. //Since when do forest nymphs have perfect night vision?Besides night vision doesn't work in caves as you still need a source of light. That's why bats use ultrasound.
He comes to another cave, where apparently cave goblins have set up shop. These also have human slaves. Colt knows that he can't sneak past them. The sword suggests inciting the slaves to an uprise, overwhelming the goblins and then making their escape. //The interaction between Colt and the sword is starting to annoy me. Colt apparently isn't used to thinking and her suggestions are actually pretty bad, even though she loads them with sexual innuendo and the implication that they are pure genius. Rebelling the slaves only is effective if they greatly outnumber the goblins as they are probably unarmed and undernourished.
Colt sneaks past the goblins, constantly fearing that they will recognize that he isn't a slave as he is better dressed and fed and has shorter hair. One goblin follows him, but is distracted by the cook. //So sneaking was an option? Are we going with the all humans look the same cliche? If the have goblins at such mundane jobs as cooking, why do they have slaves? It's not like their mining.
Colt meets half-goblin Opal (I think, don't really remember), who devised this plan of sneaking the slaves out one by one, since the sword knows the way outside. Colt will cover their retreat. //We are back to sneaking, what happened to the riot?
While they run for their lives, Colt covers their retreat, killing many goblins with his magical sword, while the slaves block the cave entrance with a rock. //The sword makes his skin turn hard as a special kind of wood. But Colt's fighting is so terrible that he still gets hurt on a regular basis. I am not even going there.
Colt takes them back the ranch, where his friends are under attack. The cave exit is actually only 200 paces from the ranch. //And nobody noticed a few dozen goblins and slaves with camping equipment and weapons moving in? Colt thinks that the ranch is very defensible, because of the paddocks. They're just fences man and everything is made out of wood. You are all doomed.
His boss decides that he and Colt will ride to the city to gather a posse to defend the ranch. He also realizes that Opal's mother must be someone very important because of her posture. Colt borrows a duster and they ride of on drakes. //The western is back in force. But why are there horses and drakes? The guys don't even have guns or cars, but Old Men Aulder managed to have electricity installed in the middle of nowhere. How?
The come to the town, where the sheriff a lightning mage explains that the goblins are spreading a plague. As he fears for his nephew's health, the refuses to help the ranch, even though the plague is brought by another type of goblin. The nephew is also a lightning mage, but because of his delicate constitution never could reach his full potential. He was send here, because his parents hoped the climate would improve his health, I guess. The sword suggests to Colt that they should recruit the nephew, Anthony, to help rescue the ranch. //I think I finally spotted a cowboy hat and sheriff fires lightning into the sky using his rod, the same way one would a gun. Aah, the western references. If he gets the plague, it won't matter if Anthony's health is delicate or not. We're told he is sick and can't cast magic properly, but set out to recruit him.
Anthony was on his way anyways, because it is the right thing to do. Some fighting ensues, where the rest of the slaves are freed, the goblins vanquished and a bunch of people die, among them Anthony's uncle.// At this point I started skipping a lot, so the rest is a little vague.
For some reason Colt decides that he has to find his grandfather's lost fort, Hawkridge. He talks to Anthony and does some research. Anthony offers to accompany him. Colt sets out. On their way they meet Opal. This is approximately where the book ends.
Summary. As you can see there is not an awful lot happening. The world building is pretty weak, as the western elements are only added in to hide the fact that this is rather plain fantasy. The characters aren't terribly likeable. I won't be reading another one.
Colt is wrangling a drake. //Very nice introductory mix of western and fantasy.
He is attacked by a forest goblin with a bow and arrow, because he got to close to the forest. His horse runs away with the drake and he is forced to enter the forest as there are no hiding spots on the plain. While running from multiple goblins he comes to a cave behind a waterfall, where he hides. In this cave he finds a magical sword that was carved out of the tree of a wood nymph, who appears as a naked, especially well endowed spirit. //At this point the western leaves the building. Colt isn't even dressed in western style as the is wearing a tunic. And the playboy model/sword is a little juvenile.
Goblins have gathered in front of the cave, therefore the sword suggests heading through the caves. As he has no source of light, she guides him through the dark. //Since when do forest nymphs have perfect night vision?Besides night vision doesn't work in caves as you still need a source of light. That's why bats use ultrasound.
He comes to another cave, where apparently cave goblins have set up shop. These also have human slaves. Colt knows that he can't sneak past them. The sword suggests inciting the slaves to an uprise, overwhelming the goblins and then making their escape. //The interaction between Colt and the sword is starting to annoy me. Colt apparently isn't used to thinking and her suggestions are actually pretty bad, even though she loads them with sexual innuendo and the implication that they are pure genius. Rebelling the slaves only is effective if they greatly outnumber the goblins as they are probably unarmed and undernourished.
Colt sneaks past the goblins, constantly fearing that they will recognize that he isn't a slave as he is better dressed and fed and has shorter hair. One goblin follows him, but is distracted by the cook. //So sneaking was an option? Are we going with the all humans look the same cliche? If the have goblins at such mundane jobs as cooking, why do they have slaves? It's not like their mining.
Colt meets half-goblin Opal (I think, don't really remember), who devised this plan of sneaking the slaves out one by one, since the sword knows the way outside. Colt will cover their retreat. //We are back to sneaking, what happened to the riot?
While they run for their lives, Colt covers their retreat, killing many goblins with his magical sword, while the slaves block the cave entrance with a rock. //The sword makes his skin turn hard as a special kind of wood. But Colt's fighting is so terrible that he still gets hurt on a regular basis. I am not even going there.
Colt takes them back the ranch, where his friends are under attack. The cave exit is actually only 200 paces from the ranch. //And nobody noticed a few dozen goblins and slaves with camping equipment and weapons moving in? Colt thinks that the ranch is very defensible, because of the paddocks. They're just fences man and everything is made out of wood. You are all doomed.
His boss decides that he and Colt will ride to the city to gather a posse to defend the ranch. He also realizes that Opal's mother must be someone very important because of her posture. Colt borrows a duster and they ride of on drakes. //The western is back in force. But why are there horses and drakes? The guys don't even have guns or cars, but Old Men Aulder managed to have electricity installed in the middle of nowhere. How?
The come to the town, where the sheriff a lightning mage explains that the goblins are spreading a plague. As he fears for his nephew's health, the refuses to help the ranch, even though the plague is brought by another type of goblin. The nephew is also a lightning mage, but because of his delicate constitution never could reach his full potential. He was send here, because his parents hoped the climate would improve his health, I guess. The sword suggests to Colt that they should recruit the nephew, Anthony, to help rescue the ranch. //I think I finally spotted a cowboy hat and sheriff fires lightning into the sky using his rod, the same way one would a gun. Aah, the western references. If he gets the plague, it won't matter if Anthony's health is delicate or not. We're told he is sick and can't cast magic properly, but set out to recruit him.
Anthony was on his way anyways, because it is the right thing to do. Some fighting ensues, where the rest of the slaves are freed, the goblins vanquished and a bunch of people die, among them Anthony's uncle.// At this point I started skipping a lot, so the rest is a little vague.
For some reason Colt decides that he has to find his grandfather's lost fort, Hawkridge. He talks to Anthony and does some research. Anthony offers to accompany him. Colt sets out. On their way they meet Opal. This is approximately where the book ends.
Summary. As you can see there is not an awful lot happening. The world building is pretty weak, as the western elements are only added in to hide the fact that this is rather plain fantasy. The characters aren't terribly likeable. I won't be reading another one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews