Indie Book Club discussion

The Merchant and the Menace is now in paperback.


The Merchant and the Menace has made its way to the bookstand.

A year of fine sales and solid reviews have finally kicked one of Amazon's Best Selling Fantasy Series off the digital screens and onto the good old papyrus.

BOOK I of THE SERAPHINIUM:

The Seraphim. Beings of power, created to guide the world in times of trouble. They live their lives of near immortality in servitude to a lesser creature, man.

One rebelled. Amird, the Hand of the Creator, bridled at the sovereignty of his lord. In defiance he murdered a brother and was cast into the Mists of Chaos.

Millennia passed as the Deceiver plotted his return. Backed by the might of a seemingly unstoppable army of Ulrog Stone Men and their fire-eyed Malveel Lords, Amird plans to wrest control of the world from the Creator and rain violence on the humans he once served.

All that stands between Amird and his triumphant return are the remnants of battered human armies and the hope that Seraphim, loyal to the Creator, still roam this world.

Kael knows little of this struggle. His quiet village lies deep in the Southlands, unchanged and unchallenged by the wars raging in the frozen North. In fact, the boy longs for a bit of adventure and freedom from the boring routine at his father’s inn.

Freedom comes at a cost. Kael’s first journey outside his secluded village results in a tragedy so deep it destroys the boy’s sheltered world and immerses him in the struggle.

Revelations surface. Kael uncovers a past linking him to legends. He grapples with a present that spins from his control. Lastly, he confronts a future that demands he tap long dormant power and stake a claim in the defense of the human races.

Kael’s first step toward that future lies through the darkness of the Nagur Wood, and the boy is unaware of the darkness that prowls the Nagur!

A few reviews:

5.0 out of 5 stars This author is a ringer, October 14, 2012
By William Klein-pells

Books 1 through 3 of the Seraphinium series ended much too soon. The characters are interesting and consistent. The plot twists are legion. A writing style reminiscent of Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings.

As a former editor I was elated to find the books seem to be professionally edited with hardly any sentences I would question or change.

I've asked to be on Daniel McHugh's mailing list so I can keep reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Old and the New in the Next Great Fantasy Series June 4, 2011
By John M. Pryor

If you like David Eddings and Terry Brooks, then this is the book for you. Like Eddings, McHugh loves to play around with old philosophical and religious ideas, dressing them up in new clothes for a night on the town in the 21st century. Like Brooks, McHugh is enchanted by the same tropes all fantasy lovers are enchanted by: elves, a young hero shepherded by a mysterious but wizard-like guide, and big battles with swords and magic. But McHugh is no Tolkien-lite. He has provided his readers with some fresh creations that fill the imagination with vivid pictures and scenes, reminding the reader why fantasy is such a beloved genre.



Find the Amazon paperback edition at:
The Merchant and the Menace