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Annwn Cycle #1.5
The Twilight Dragon & Other Tales of Annwn
SIGNED EDITION! RARE AND HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE: Signed by writer Shawn Speakman! Cloth-bound with beautiful cover by Todd Lockwood! Upon finishing his debut novel, The Dark Thorn, author Shawn Speakman knew he would return to its world of Annwn. He does that here in The Twilight Dragon & Other Tales of Annwn. Four short stories anchor this collection of magic and darkness, conflict and shadows: Where an ancient dragon seeking a cure for his dying race returns to the Misty Isles of his birth--to devastating result. Where an unfettered knight enters Rome's Vatican to end the threat of a vampire--who bears the darkest of secrets. Where an Arch Druid tracks a witch--who in turn chases a thief who has stolen dangerous books of shadow magic. Where a musician is coerced to return to a past she abhors--to confront a shattered gargoyle whose past is just as hated. All four short stories play a role in and are preludes to The Everwinter Wraith, the sequel novel to The Dark Thorn. As a bonus, the first three chapters of The Everwinter Wraith are also included in this collection. Annwn will never be the same again.
- GenresFantasyShort Stories
182 pages, Unknown Binding
First published December 25, 2014
11 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
Shawn Speakman
32 books727 followersShawn Speakman grew up in the beautiful wilds of Washington State near a volcano and surrounded by old-growth forests filled with magic. After moving to Seattle to attend the University of Washington, he befriended New York Times best-selling fantasy author Terry Brooks and became his webmaster, leading to an enchanted life surrounded by words.
He was a manager at one of the largest Barnes & Noble Booksellers in the country for many years and now owns the online bookstore The Signed Page, manages the websites for several authors, and is a freelance writer for Random House.
He also contributed the annotations for The Annotated Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks, published in 2012.
Shawn is a cancer survivor, knows angel fire east, and lives in Seattle, Washington.
He was a manager at one of the largest Barnes & Noble Booksellers in the country for many years and now owns the online bookstore The Signed Page, manages the websites for several authors, and is a freelance writer for Random House.
He also contributed the annotations for The Annotated Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks, published in 2012.
Shawn is a cancer survivor, knows angel fire east, and lives in Seattle, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 13, 2015
Author, Shawn Speakman returns to the pen and paper to bring us additional stories in the world of Annwn. A world that came to life in his first novel of the Annwn Cycle, The Dark Thorn. He mixes urban fantasy and traditional epic fantasy writing in what I consider a masterful debut. Through out his writing, you can feel the strong influence of author, Terry Brooks permeating through the narrative. The Twilight Dragon Other Tales of Annwn contains four short stories that foreshadows events that will occur down the road on the Annwn Cycle series. These stories are: The Twilight Dragon, The Unfettered Knight, The Arch Druid's Grimoires and the White Rose Thief . It also contains the first 3 chapters of the The Everwinter Wraith; the sequel to the Dark Thorn.
The Twilight Dragon
By the end of The Dark Thorn it is clear that dragonkin in the world of Annwn is in peril of extinction. It is one the pivotal tasks that the main character of the story, Richard Mcallister, takes upon himself to solve. The events of The Twilight Dragon precede the events of The Dark Thorn and serves two important purposes. First, it shapes the role of a very important character, Cardinal Seer Donato Javier Ramirez and his involvement with the dragonkin plight, it also introduces the dragon Anrhydedd. Anrhydedd is in our world looking for a way to save the dragons of Annwn. Captured by the Catholic church and now questioned by Donato Javier Ramirez as to the location of the Elves in our world. This is the setting of the story. What happens next will have profound impact on the events of the Everwinter Wraith as I already can tell from the first 3 chapters of the book. The story has action, twists, betrayal and most importantly foreshadowing implications of what is to come next. I enjoyed it very much and it is a really good start in the collection. A good page turner that gives is a bit more into the world of Annwn and into the life of a pivotal character in the series.
The Unfettered Knight
This story is first included in the anthology Unfettered. I already read it but this is such a good story that I gave it a re-read. It is a good imaginative story that precedes The Dark Thorn. It helps to understand the role of the hero of The Dark Thorn, Richard Mcallister. Charles Ardall is the Unfettered Knight, the Heliwr of the Yn Saith. In a nutshell, he is the person responsible to keep the world of Annwn and our world separated and in harmony. There are gates between our world and Annwn. These gates are guarded by knights of the Yn Saith. These knights have magical powers given to them by artifacts from Annwn which in turn, help them on their role as defenders of the gates. But when one the knights fail to protect the gate, then the Heliwr is responsible to re-establish the balance and send back to Annwn whatever fey crawled into our world. The story of the Unfettered Knight is full of action, adventure and wit. It is by far my favorite short story in the world of Annwn so far. There are plenty of surprises for the reader and I am not here to spoil them for you but I what I can tell you is that it will keep you enthralled throughout. If you want more details in this story please read my review of Unfettered.
The Arch Druid's Grimoire
You can see the strong influence of author Terry Brooks in this story. Shawn Speakman borrows the concept of Brook's Shannara series, the Druid, and brings its own version of it into Annwn. A magic user possessing great knowledge in a quest to preserve that knowledge to fall on the wrong hands makes for a strong character. The Arch Druid Aengus Doughal wants to retrieve the long lost Arch Druid's Grimoires. The grimoires were in possession of Phillip Plantagenet, a tyrannical regent in the world of Annwn. The events of this story happened right after the events of the Dark Thorn. Without spoiling it for you, the circumstances were ideal for the Arch Druid to retrieve the grimoires but to his surprise, there were other parties interested in the grimoires as well. And so the adventure begins, Aengus will attempt to retrieve the grimoires from a cunning thief and a witch. The details of what happens after are for you to read. I can tell you, that as in his previous short stories, Mr. Speakman has an innate ability to keep you turning pages with action packed scenes and a good solid plot. There was a witch in the Unfettered Knight and there is a witch in this story and let me tell you, witches are up to no good.
The White Rose Thief
To capture the feelings of a person born different and the difficulties that it entails in writing is no an easy feat. Much more difficult is to get the reader to feel attached to the character and to feel for the characters dilemmas. And even much harder is to do it in a short story but in The White Rose Thief, the character of Rosenwyn White gives you that and more. I love rogue type characters in a fantasy setting. And seriously, who doesn't? Everyone loves a good thief! It is what it is. But for me, a female thief with a difficult background and a redemption story is like the caramel hard top on the creme brûlée. It is just that good. So smartly, Shawn Speakman gives us Rosenwyn White. She has a turbulent past and even a more darker secret that she was born with. Redemption doesn't come easy and as she is pulled back into her turbulent past the story gives her yet another opportunity to make up for all of it. Our musician/thief is put into the plot to retrieve an artifact guarded by one of the most powerful beings in Annwn. The end was surprising. There are witches again. There is fighting and action. There is a glimpse of redemption and I hope a great many further stories surrounding our female protagonist. All I can say that after reading this last story in this collection, I can see how cleverly things will intertwine in the Everwinter Wraith.
The Everwinter Wraith: The first 3 Chapters
This is one of those things readers are heavily divided on. To read or not to read the beginning of a book when you surely don't have all of it in your hands. So, I found courage and dive into the first 3 chapters of the Everwinter Wraith included in this collection. What followed is the fantastic beginning of the second installment of the Annwn Cycle series. The book begins with our protagonist, Richard Mcallister attempting to reach Tar Ebolyon, the keep of the dragons. I got a glimpse of the repercussions of the events at the end of The Dark Thorn and how delicate the situation with the dragons is. There is something sinister happening at Tar Eboylon and Mcallister is instructed to find the Elves in our world. The artifacts mentioned in the short stories preceding this book, as I expected, are going to be pivotal in the development of the rest of the series. I also got a an idea on how complicated things will become for the Helwir. Speakman puts his protagonist in difficult situations from the very beginning creating an atmosphere of tension and action that only leads to page turning. Now, I am sitting here wanting to read more and I can't! Good things come to those who wait and I can't wait to read the The Everwinter Wraith.
The Twilight Dragon
By the end of The Dark Thorn it is clear that dragonkin in the world of Annwn is in peril of extinction. It is one the pivotal tasks that the main character of the story, Richard Mcallister, takes upon himself to solve. The events of The Twilight Dragon precede the events of The Dark Thorn and serves two important purposes. First, it shapes the role of a very important character, Cardinal Seer Donato Javier Ramirez and his involvement with the dragonkin plight, it also introduces the dragon Anrhydedd. Anrhydedd is in our world looking for a way to save the dragons of Annwn. Captured by the Catholic church and now questioned by Donato Javier Ramirez as to the location of the Elves in our world. This is the setting of the story. What happens next will have profound impact on the events of the Everwinter Wraith as I already can tell from the first 3 chapters of the book. The story has action, twists, betrayal and most importantly foreshadowing implications of what is to come next. I enjoyed it very much and it is a really good start in the collection. A good page turner that gives is a bit more into the world of Annwn and into the life of a pivotal character in the series.
The Unfettered Knight
This story is first included in the anthology Unfettered. I already read it but this is such a good story that I gave it a re-read. It is a good imaginative story that precedes The Dark Thorn. It helps to understand the role of the hero of The Dark Thorn, Richard Mcallister. Charles Ardall is the Unfettered Knight, the Heliwr of the Yn Saith. In a nutshell, he is the person responsible to keep the world of Annwn and our world separated and in harmony. There are gates between our world and Annwn. These gates are guarded by knights of the Yn Saith. These knights have magical powers given to them by artifacts from Annwn which in turn, help them on their role as defenders of the gates. But when one the knights fail to protect the gate, then the Heliwr is responsible to re-establish the balance and send back to Annwn whatever fey crawled into our world. The story of the Unfettered Knight is full of action, adventure and wit. It is by far my favorite short story in the world of Annwn so far. There are plenty of surprises for the reader and I am not here to spoil them for you but I what I can tell you is that it will keep you enthralled throughout. If you want more details in this story please read my review of Unfettered.
The Arch Druid's Grimoire
You can see the strong influence of author Terry Brooks in this story. Shawn Speakman borrows the concept of Brook's Shannara series, the Druid, and brings its own version of it into Annwn. A magic user possessing great knowledge in a quest to preserve that knowledge to fall on the wrong hands makes for a strong character. The Arch Druid Aengus Doughal wants to retrieve the long lost Arch Druid's Grimoires. The grimoires were in possession of Phillip Plantagenet, a tyrannical regent in the world of Annwn. The events of this story happened right after the events of the Dark Thorn. Without spoiling it for you, the circumstances were ideal for the Arch Druid to retrieve the grimoires but to his surprise, there were other parties interested in the grimoires as well. And so the adventure begins, Aengus will attempt to retrieve the grimoires from a cunning thief and a witch. The details of what happens after are for you to read. I can tell you, that as in his previous short stories, Mr. Speakman has an innate ability to keep you turning pages with action packed scenes and a good solid plot. There was a witch in the Unfettered Knight and there is a witch in this story and let me tell you, witches are up to no good.
The White Rose Thief
To capture the feelings of a person born different and the difficulties that it entails in writing is no an easy feat. Much more difficult is to get the reader to feel attached to the character and to feel for the characters dilemmas. And even much harder is to do it in a short story but in The White Rose Thief, the character of Rosenwyn White gives you that and more. I love rogue type characters in a fantasy setting. And seriously, who doesn't? Everyone loves a good thief! It is what it is. But for me, a female thief with a difficult background and a redemption story is like the caramel hard top on the creme brûlée. It is just that good. So smartly, Shawn Speakman gives us Rosenwyn White. She has a turbulent past and even a more darker secret that she was born with. Redemption doesn't come easy and as she is pulled back into her turbulent past the story gives her yet another opportunity to make up for all of it. Our musician/thief is put into the plot to retrieve an artifact guarded by one of the most powerful beings in Annwn. The end was surprising. There are witches again. There is fighting and action. There is a glimpse of redemption and I hope a great many further stories surrounding our female protagonist. All I can say that after reading this last story in this collection, I can see how cleverly things will intertwine in the Everwinter Wraith.
The Everwinter Wraith: The first 3 Chapters
This is one of those things readers are heavily divided on. To read or not to read the beginning of a book when you surely don't have all of it in your hands. So, I found courage and dive into the first 3 chapters of the Everwinter Wraith included in this collection. What followed is the fantastic beginning of the second installment of the Annwn Cycle series. The book begins with our protagonist, Richard Mcallister attempting to reach Tar Ebolyon, the keep of the dragons. I got a glimpse of the repercussions of the events at the end of The Dark Thorn and how delicate the situation with the dragons is. There is something sinister happening at Tar Eboylon and Mcallister is instructed to find the Elves in our world. The artifacts mentioned in the short stories preceding this book, as I expected, are going to be pivotal in the development of the rest of the series. I also got a an idea on how complicated things will become for the Helwir. Speakman puts his protagonist in difficult situations from the very beginning creating an atmosphere of tension and action that only leads to page turning. Now, I am sitting here wanting to read more and I can't! Good things come to those who wait and I can't wait to read the The Everwinter Wraith.
July 29, 2016
A fun collection of short stories that hearken back to the best of '80s epic fantasy (with a splash of modern urban fantasy thrown in for good measure). If you're a fan of Terry Brooks, Stephen Donaldons, Barbara Hambly, or Raymond Feist, you'll find a lot to love about Speakman's stories set in the fey land of Annwn. Speakman has a flair for action, gorgeous set pieces, and doesn't skimp on the magic. In other words, it's right up my alley.
I haven't read Speakman's The Dark Thorn, but, outside of the first story, I didn't have any issues enjoying the tales here, though they're clearly setting up events to come in the second book of the trilogy, The Everwinter Wraith.
My only real complaint is that I would have liked to have seen more women in the stories. The final story, The White Rose Thief, the standout story in the collection, features a cast chock full of strong, interesting women, which makes their exclusion from the other stories more obvious.
Recommended for anyone looking for adventure, fun, and good ol' fashion epic fantasy. Loved it! Greatly looking forward to going back to The Dark Thorn and joining those waiting eagerly for The Everwinter Wraith.
I haven't read Speakman's The Dark Thorn, but, outside of the first story, I didn't have any issues enjoying the tales here, though they're clearly setting up events to come in the second book of the trilogy, The Everwinter Wraith.
My only real complaint is that I would have liked to have seen more women in the stories. The final story, The White Rose Thief, the standout story in the collection, features a cast chock full of strong, interesting women, which makes their exclusion from the other stories more obvious.
Recommended for anyone looking for adventure, fun, and good ol' fashion epic fantasy. Loved it! Greatly looking forward to going back to The Dark Thorn and joining those waiting eagerly for The Everwinter Wraith.
March 15, 2019
Loved the short stories !! My Favorite was the Unfettered Knight.
October 26, 2022
Four tales set in the world of Shawn Speakman's Dark Thorn novel. I enjoyed these short stories more than I enjoyed the original novel which bodes well for my future forays into Annwn.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews