The Fae Dealings: A Novella

Dragon-Myth Cycle #0.2

by Joseph Finley

What secrets lie behind the legends of the Fae?When Maugis d’Aygremont was a boy, his grandmother warned him about the Fae. The Fae, she said, were wicked creatures who lured men into the woods, never to be seen again. But as years passed, Maugis began to wonder if the warnings were just stories to scare unruly children. Until the autumn of 766, when he saw one of the Fae in the flesh.On the day that tore the House of Aygremont in two.Now, eleven years later, Maugis, the chief counselor to Charlemagne, is about to embark on a clandestine mission with three of Charlemagne’s paladins. An expedition that may decide the fate of Christendom.But will the dark secrets Maugis learned of the Fae in his harrowing past come to haunt him in the present—and put the entire mission in jeopardy?

118 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 13, 2020

About the author

Joseph Finley writes historical fantasy that mixes medieval history, myth, and a dash of magic. He’s a longtime fan of knights, old legends, classic fantasy paperbacks, and wandering through castles and cathedrals on his travels. Most evenings you’ll find him with a glass of wine in hand, and most mornings he’s back at it, surrounded by history books and chasing down the next story.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this and gave it my best attempt, but I couldn't. Perhaps I should just say this book isn't for me because I see others who did like it a lot - I'm happy for those who liked it! Here's why it didn't work for me.

Imagine me telling you a story about a few cardboard cut-out figures with no interesting features aside from their names which you vaguely recognise. Then I'm telling you detailed descriptions of random threatening events happening to them and which uninteresting people they meet - oh and let's not forget, we need to give the main character ass-pull wind-magic to solve every threat in the first part of the book.

That's not a winning recipe for me! I need to actually care about the characters before you pull them through random shit in order for me to care. You can't just slap familiar names or legends on pages and expect me to care! There's no introspection, the entire thing is so fact-like and dryly written it took effort to get through the first 40 pages. Only to come to a part where the main party sits down and the protagonists starts telling me about NEW characters I have yet to care about from another myth/tale! That continues until page 93 (this book is only 105 pages long) before we finally resume with the main party.

Yeah, using the names from the Paladins of Charlemagne and other historical or mythical fun-facts is cute, but it doesn't make me insta-like the characters or the story! The story and characters need to prove themselves in this BOOK. The dialogue was so dry, so bland, and everything was being told to me.

To make things worse: this story-within-story which starts around page 35 and takes up the majority of the book, doesn't interest me at all because it's about how Maugis met the sorceress who sent them to fetch the MacGuffin. During the intro you get some characters randomly saying or asking "oh who is this sorceress?" like five times and I was really wondering why the heck they were so interested in her because I WASN'T. Why does it matter who sent them to fetch the MacGuffin when we haven't even met her or found any reason to care about her? So really, there was 0% tension in this entire thing. I just don't care. I didn't care about anyone or anything happening in this.

[Lisa Maughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story begins with Maugis d'Aygremont, chief counsellor to the king. He is on his way to the wharves, when stopped by two men. The men want what Maugis is carrying in his bag, it is a leather-bound book that recorded the arcane secrets that he had spent his adult life discovering. The thieves were told by Blackbird a person they never met to get the satchel. Once Maugis removes his cloak they realize he is one of the twelve, they are paladins, the twelve peers of the king and Maugis was chief among them. He killed one surely, the other he cracked his skull. He could feel in the air an opening to the otherworld gateway, so he grabbed his satchel and headed towards the wharf. There he meets archbishop Turpin and tells him they have been found out, soon two others arrived, Roland and Bradamante, both warriors. With the mission they are on, all four of their skill sets would be required to complete it. As they make their way, he tells them how he has learned these arcane secrets.
This story is intriguing and adventurous. There is roman history, mythology references. In the book, there is a story within the story. Great book that kept me interested from the beginning.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, it is a prequel and you either can read before or after Enoch's Device and the followup story The Key to the Abyss by J. Finley. Either way you can enjoy this short story. It follows and gives some history about a character named Maugis and his troubles and journeys. I personally love his writing style and how evocative his descriptions are much like K. Kurtz, M. Stewart, GRRM, and J. Clavell. You really are transported to this place when you read.

This a a fast moving and short novella to introduce you to a wonderful author that draws on history in general to influence the fantasy. I look forward to more.

[Ellen Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular imagery and storytelling

This is an amazing setup to Enochs Device and Key to the Abyss. I like the idea of a story within the story which is told by Maugis.

I anxiously await book 3!