In the Shadow of Mountains: The Lost Girls

The Androktone Trilogy #1

by David George Richards

Anne Jenkins is a PE teacher with a girl’s hockey team in her charge. How she ends up in a forest on the planet of Ellerkan pursued by Knights in armour with nets and swords she cannot imagine. Knocked out, the next time she wakes up she finds herself in a castle dungeon with the Crown Prince of Halafalon and only half of her girls. Prince Carl was as arrogant as he was charming. But he had a particular habit, a habit that would come close to killing him. Prince Harold had planned a pleasant afternoon on a picnic, now he was despatched by his father, the King, to search for his missing elder brother. It would be another futile venture, ending with Carl being discovered in some tavern, or in the arms of some wench. Lord William L'Roth should have been King. He knew it, and everyone else knew it. Now, when the artifact was complete, he would make it so. Sir Henry L'Crief shared Lord L'Roth's cause, and at one time he would have feared the consequences of his treason against the King. But with his wife at his side and the artifact to call upon, he now feared nothing, not even L'Roth himself. Sir Henry's wife was not his real wife, but she was an unusual lover. Concubine, mistress, some even called her his pet. It was an apt description. She was large, malevolent and ever hungry. She was called Gil-Yan, and she was a dragon. Five years before, Rolf L'Epine had been on a hunt with the Crown Prince. What he saw that day so horrified him that it changed his life forever. Since then, his life had been peaceful. Now that was set to change. Ancient technology, a war that spanned the galaxy and the consequences of a barbaric tradition returned to haunt them all, and even threatened to eat them...

372 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 26, 2007

About the author

I was born in Manchester in the North West of England in 1957. Although I have moved around a bit, Manchester is still both my physical and spiritual home. I am a Northerner. I am also married to Rosanna, and have been since 1988. I have an imagination that began when I was very young and never waned. I also like reading and so it was no surprise I suppose when I started writing. Because I am an unknown who has never been picked up by either an Agent or mainstream Publisher, I am a bit of a one man band. I even do my own covers and have become a bit of a digital artist as a result. I started writing when I was young and very bad. Now I am older and a lot better. My writing has improved too. I write science fiction, fantasy and romance stories. I also like to mix and match with romance in science fiction and so on. Female characters feature very prominently in my stories, many of them in strong and attractive leading roles. The reason for this is that I like women, a lot. In fact I adore everything about them, so it is no surprise that I enjoy reading stories where women feature prominently and that I should also enjoy writing stories where women feature prominently. It gives my stories a female bias, but I think they are better for it. I also like every character, even the monsters and villains, to have a realistic reason for being and doing what they do. Like reality, everything blurs. There is no right or wrong, just different viewpoints that lead to conflict. But I also like my out and out villains to be really bad. If you like science fiction, thrillers and romance stories with particular emphasis on leading female characters that are exciting and adventurous, look no further. You can also visit my website at www.booksandstories.com.

Reviews

[Lynxie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from David in return for a review. I was given the opportunity to pick out of his selection of books and I was pleasantly surprised with my selection.

In the Shadow of Mountains: The Lost Girls is a book packed with adventure, romance, discovery, fantasy and science fiction. It had a really good mix of all of them, so no, one point felt too full on, or left behind.

I liked the main characters, Rolf and Soo-Kai. I liked most of the characters, even the bad ones. They felt well developed and realistic, even though the world they found themselves in was quite different to ours.

I did think the story was a little too long for a first book. There is A LOT to take in and at times it was a little confusing to keep all the characters straight (in particular all the girls from the hockey team).

I would have liked a little more detail in some of the high action/gritty bits, as at times it felt a bit glossed over.

Having said that - I would recommend reading this book if you'd like to be thrust into this world of aliens, androktones, knights, kings and princes.

One thing I noticed:

11% - 'Always the ova would receive too little from Rolf, to twotoo much, and always...'