Amadar: A Tale of the Harven Empire

by Dave Robinson

It was supposed to be a simple job; the wizard even supplied the plans to the house. All Gwion had to do was steal a staff. Unfortunately the staff had its own agenda.

Caught between the prophecies of two wizards, one living and one dead, it is all Gwion's wits and Aetricia's sword can do to keep the two of them alive in the face of Amadar's rage. Can anyone stop the wizard before he ascends to godhood?

271 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 19, 2013

About the author

I’m Dave, and I write. I’m also a father, a reader, gamer, a comic fan, and a hockey fan.

Unfortunately, there is a problem with those terms; they don’t so much describe me as label me, and the map is not the territory. Calling me a father says nothing about my relationship with my daughter and how she thinks I’m silly. It ignores the essence of the relationship for convenience.

It’s the same with my love of books, comics, role-playing games, and hockey; labels only say what, not how or why. They miss all the good parts.

If you want more of a biography: I was born in the UK, grew up in Canada, and have spent time in the US. I’ve been freelancing for the last seven years. Before that, and in no particular order, I’ve managed a bookstore, worked in a pawnshop, been a telephone customer service rep, and even cleaned carpets for a living.

As a freelancer, I’ve done everything from simple web content, to ghostwritten novels. I’ve even written a course on trading forex online. I’ve also edited everything from whitepapers to a science fiction anthology.

Reviews

[Matt Dicarlo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dave Robinson knows his genre fiction. That's obvious from almost the very first page of Amadar and remains obvious throughout the book, which is well crafted and full of undeniable love for the trappings of adventure fiction. He plays smartly with traditional character archetypes, the standout being the titular Amadar, a hoary wizard of the sort you might find in the pages of Howard or Leiber but that is woefully underrepresented in today's fantasy. It is the world-building that really stands out, though, as Robinson crafts cities full of a misty mix of the realistic and the fantastic, of ever-presented danger and whimsy, as well as thoroughly-developed cultures that interface and clash organically through the characters and their interactions. The plot moves along at a brisk pace, driven by prophecy, hubris, and believable character reactions. It's that pulpy mood that presides over the entire adventure, hearkening back to those pocket-sized dollar novels of years past but without any of the plot or characterization drawbacks that you so often found in such disposable fiction.