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Dragonband Tales #1
Crossroads of Draston
In the Age of the Dracon-esti, darkness and war ravage the continent of Draston. The dragons that once ruled the skies have died off and other horrors have since taken their place. To the south, dark rumors have surfaced of armies being massed, led by the Wicked Eye. The elves are slowly dying off, refusing to change with the winds of time. The dwarves have sealed themselves beneath their mountain, battling creatures from the depths. In this broken land, with the oncoming tides of evil, adventurers still search for lost treasures, companionship and a chance for their names to be put into songs of legend.
These untold tales will introduce you to the bright and vibrant world of Harthx and its adventurers: a curious gnome reads a forbidden book; a nord endangers himself in an attempt to unite the five clans; a vampire searches for a way to regain his soul; two sisters search for a murderer in a forgotten city.
Eleven exciting short stories, four talented young authors, one epic start to the Dragonband Saga!
These untold tales will introduce you to the bright and vibrant world of Harthx and its adventurers: a curious gnome reads a forbidden book; a nord endangers himself in an attempt to unite the five clans; a vampire searches for a way to regain his soul; two sisters search for a murderer in a forgotten city.
Eleven exciting short stories, four talented young authors, one epic start to the Dragonband Saga!
- GenresFantasy
422 pages, Paperback
Published January 13, 2017
4 people are currently reading
492 people want to read
About the author
Joel Norden
4 books46 followersJoel Norden was born and raised in Napoleon, Ohio. Where he still lives with his loving wife and two wonderful daughters.
His childhood was spent running and playing--often with homemade wooden swords in hand--through cornfields, down in the creek and within an old barn where he got into plenty of trouble with his siblings.
Joel, his brother Jacob, and sister Gigi, all got into fantasy at a young age. Learning to play Rolemaster, and reading series such as Dragonlance, which fueled their imaginations into creating the Dragonband setting.
Years later, Joel showed off Dragonband to his good friend Charles Beason and told him about his dream to own a publishing company. That talk lead into hours and hours of research, and many late nights. From that conversation Knights of the Northwest Publishing was formed, and with it came the Dragonband series.
His childhood was spent running and playing--often with homemade wooden swords in hand--through cornfields, down in the creek and within an old barn where he got into plenty of trouble with his siblings.
Joel, his brother Jacob, and sister Gigi, all got into fantasy at a young age. Learning to play Rolemaster, and reading series such as Dragonlance, which fueled their imaginations into creating the Dragonband setting.
Years later, Joel showed off Dragonband to his good friend Charles Beason and told him about his dream to own a publishing company. That talk lead into hours and hours of research, and many late nights. From that conversation Knights of the Northwest Publishing was formed, and with it came the Dragonband series.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 19, 2018
The Crossroads of Draston by Aaron Wulf, Jack Gabriel, and Joel Norden was a fantastic foray into the imaginative world of Dragonband, a world populated with interesting locales, deep characters, and dangerous monsters. I loved my walk in this Dungeons and Dragons-esque world. Each chapter followed a different character, giving me a fun tourist-like taste of venues around Dragonband. The different authors did a fantastic job of creating fun plots and building a realistic and interesting realm that I would love to explore further in the future!
August 24, 2018
“Crossroads of Draston”, Vol. 1., Joel Norden, Aaron Wulf, Anna Warkentin, Jack Gabriel, (eds).
Review by Roy Hunt
This is an anthology of short stories by various writers including ‘The Librarian’ by Jack Gabriel, ‘In search for a soul’ by Aaron Wulf, and ‘All about the Adventure’ by Aaron Wulf and Anna Warkentin. “Crossroads of Draston” is well written and creates worlds populated by vampires, monsters, orcs, elves and all sorts of magic mystical creatures. The three I have chosen to review are ‘The librarian’, ‘In search for a soul’ and ‘All about the adventure’.
The first, ‘Librarian’, by Jack Gabriel, involves an elf called Wiggum who works in the library in a town called Evesburg. The library is full of magic books and the insatiably curious elf cannot help himself, he opens one book that has always fascinated him; it contains magic spells. It is a ‘book bound in rough leather with frayed stitching—stamped with faded ruins’. Wiggum evokes one of the spells in the book and inherits a power any human would love to have: the power to totally control another creature by the power of thought alone. Well, not totally control, because the giant winged beast that emerges after Wiggum unwittingly evokes the creature flies with reckless abandon and keeps banging its giant bulk into things. Oh, yes, it also eats people and creates a ‘wet crunching sound’ as it chews into flesh and bone. The evil, ominous creature is beautifully brought to life and sent chills down my spine.
The second story I have chosen is ‘In search of a soul’. There is a message for many in this story, I would think, as the hero, Ryddle, attempts to put right past wrongs. But in his case, this is particularly difficult, because he is a vampire and wishes to give up his power and become human again. But this will put him and his wife, Ismha, who lives with the vampire community, in mortal danger, and with his vampire powers gone, he will not be much help. A moral story, do what is right and suffer terrible consequences, or remain as you are, full of power, but an evil, horrid creature. He does not ‘wish to live as this shell of a man any longer’.
The third story I liked the most was the last, ‘All about the Adventure’. I liked this story immediately because it started with a weary man called Galin, bone-tired and all dirt, making for an inn called the Lucky Millar’s Inn. I love stories about weary men in ancient inns drinking tankers of lovely cold frosty-headed beer; probably because I also love old inn’s and cold beer. He also eats a plate of meat and cheese; simple fair, you can’t beat it. Galin is a monster hunter down on his luck and badly needs a bit of paid work. It soon comes when a man in the inn hires him to kill a monster that is destroying his sheep. While there he picks up Milo, a travelling bard who wants to immortalise Galin by writing songs and poems about him and by extension, Milo as well. They also meet a lovely young girl called Albree, ‘A young woman in a simple blue dress. Her brown hair ... curled softly around her face’; Whom Galin immediately falls for. But Albree has a suitor, a mean, vicious man and a lot more cunning that many of the dumb monsters Galin has killed.
There is probably a full book in many of these stories or even an online game, if you are a games designer. These stories are all well written and create worlds of the imagination which can be great escapism. If you’re into that, this anthology is well worth some of your ever more precious reading time.
Review by Roy Hunt
This is an anthology of short stories by various writers including ‘The Librarian’ by Jack Gabriel, ‘In search for a soul’ by Aaron Wulf, and ‘All about the Adventure’ by Aaron Wulf and Anna Warkentin. “Crossroads of Draston” is well written and creates worlds populated by vampires, monsters, orcs, elves and all sorts of magic mystical creatures. The three I have chosen to review are ‘The librarian’, ‘In search for a soul’ and ‘All about the adventure’.
The first, ‘Librarian’, by Jack Gabriel, involves an elf called Wiggum who works in the library in a town called Evesburg. The library is full of magic books and the insatiably curious elf cannot help himself, he opens one book that has always fascinated him; it contains magic spells. It is a ‘book bound in rough leather with frayed stitching—stamped with faded ruins’. Wiggum evokes one of the spells in the book and inherits a power any human would love to have: the power to totally control another creature by the power of thought alone. Well, not totally control, because the giant winged beast that emerges after Wiggum unwittingly evokes the creature flies with reckless abandon and keeps banging its giant bulk into things. Oh, yes, it also eats people and creates a ‘wet crunching sound’ as it chews into flesh and bone. The evil, ominous creature is beautifully brought to life and sent chills down my spine.
The second story I have chosen is ‘In search of a soul’. There is a message for many in this story, I would think, as the hero, Ryddle, attempts to put right past wrongs. But in his case, this is particularly difficult, because he is a vampire and wishes to give up his power and become human again. But this will put him and his wife, Ismha, who lives with the vampire community, in mortal danger, and with his vampire powers gone, he will not be much help. A moral story, do what is right and suffer terrible consequences, or remain as you are, full of power, but an evil, horrid creature. He does not ‘wish to live as this shell of a man any longer’.
The third story I liked the most was the last, ‘All about the Adventure’. I liked this story immediately because it started with a weary man called Galin, bone-tired and all dirt, making for an inn called the Lucky Millar’s Inn. I love stories about weary men in ancient inns drinking tankers of lovely cold frosty-headed beer; probably because I also love old inn’s and cold beer. He also eats a plate of meat and cheese; simple fair, you can’t beat it. Galin is a monster hunter down on his luck and badly needs a bit of paid work. It soon comes when a man in the inn hires him to kill a monster that is destroying his sheep. While there he picks up Milo, a travelling bard who wants to immortalise Galin by writing songs and poems about him and by extension, Milo as well. They also meet a lovely young girl called Albree, ‘A young woman in a simple blue dress. Her brown hair ... curled softly around her face’; Whom Galin immediately falls for. But Albree has a suitor, a mean, vicious man and a lot more cunning that many of the dumb monsters Galin has killed.
There is probably a full book in many of these stories or even an online game, if you are a games designer. These stories are all well written and create worlds of the imagination which can be great escapism. If you’re into that, this anthology is well worth some of your ever more precious reading time.
November 19, 2017
This is the first anthology that I have read that was in the fantasy genre. With fantasy being my favorite this book was perfect! I felt each short story was great and I thoroughly enjoyed each one. If you are a fan of fantasy you will love these stories.
November 19, 2017
This anthology reminded me so much of classic Tolkien, save for the fact that orcs are actual characters, with emotions rather than being Always Chaotic Evil-types. I always appreciate that.
January 10, 2018
An entertaining and varied fantasy collection.
‘Crossroads of Draston’ delivers a varied collection of highly original fantastic tales of elves, dwarves, mages, people and beasts, and of the challenges and struggles they face. All of the stories are well-written and engaging.
As with any anthology, some were more to my taste than others. Of all these Dragonband Tales, those that appealed to me most were ‘The Librarian’ and ‘Magic Within’.
In ‘The Librarian’ the reader is introduced to Wiggum, a delightful gnome burdened with insatiable curiosity, who discovers that even seemingly benign actions can have significant consequences. I really wanted this story to be much longer.
Alaya, the central character of ‘Magic Within’, is the kind of heroine I really love - loyal, brave, and dogged, fully committed to freeing those who are enslaved and serving justice to those who deserve it. I would really like to read the next “chapter” in her story, too.
This collection offers everything from high fantasy to more visceral and macabre stories, so there is something for all fantasy lovers here.
‘Crossroads of Draston’ delivers a varied collection of highly original fantastic tales of elves, dwarves, mages, people and beasts, and of the challenges and struggles they face. All of the stories are well-written and engaging.
As with any anthology, some were more to my taste than others. Of all these Dragonband Tales, those that appealed to me most were ‘The Librarian’ and ‘Magic Within’.
In ‘The Librarian’ the reader is introduced to Wiggum, a delightful gnome burdened with insatiable curiosity, who discovers that even seemingly benign actions can have significant consequences. I really wanted this story to be much longer.
Alaya, the central character of ‘Magic Within’, is the kind of heroine I really love - loyal, brave, and dogged, fully committed to freeing those who are enslaved and serving justice to those who deserve it. I would really like to read the next “chapter” in her story, too.
This collection offers everything from high fantasy to more visceral and macabre stories, so there is something for all fantasy lovers here.
November 27, 2017
Stories that contain Elves, Orcs, Dwarves, and Dragons are always going to invite comparisons to Tolkein; I like that the authors of these stories manage to take creatures made famous by him, and make them their own. This is a collection of stories that are all set in a full, developed world, and these give us a wonderful glimpse into slices of it.
I have to say my favorite story is the first, because I could so easily see myself in the same situation as the Gnome librarian. I often feel unread books calling me away from what I am supposed to be doing. Luckily, the consequences to me are never more than a pile of unwashed dishes/clothes, or being tired from staying up reading instead of sleeping.
This a great selection for lovers of fantasy or D & D. That they are offered in snack size bits that let me indulge in between chores is a bonus.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I have to say my favorite story is the first, because I could so easily see myself in the same situation as the Gnome librarian. I often feel unread books calling me away from what I am supposed to be doing. Luckily, the consequences to me are never more than a pile of unwashed dishes/clothes, or being tired from staying up reading instead of sleeping.
This a great selection for lovers of fantasy or D & D. That they are offered in snack size bits that let me indulge in between chores is a bonus.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
January 7, 2018
If you are looking for some stories of Epic Adventures, then go no further! I thoroughly enjoyed all of the tales in this book and especially liked how they all took place in the same realm! A Great Read!
March 10, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. The stories were really enjoyable. I couldn't seem to put the book down im ready for the next book of the tales series.
July 16, 2019
Dragonband gives fantasy readers a brand new world to explore. The Crossroads of Draston is a fun little collection of short stories that allow readers to explore this world in bite sized chunks. It was a lot of fun.
January 28, 2018
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May 18, 2020
I had a very hard time reading this. It didn't flow and seemed very awkward to read. I was uncomfortable by reading this. I now weird right, but that is how it made me feel. Good Luck!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews