Welcome to Gahan Hanmer's virtual book tour of his book, The Kingdom on the Edge of Reality. Below you will find the author's bio, book info, book summary and review. Hope you enjoy!
Gahan Hanmer enjoyed a colorful career in the theater as actor, director, designer and technician, and also wandered extensively searching for love, happiness and truth. He unintentionally became a grown-up raising two beloved daughters and now lives in the high chaparral desert of California.
Book Info:
ISBN #: 978-1937293642
Page Count: 360
Copyright: April 2, 2012
Publisher: Two Harbors Press
Price: $14.95
Book Summary:
Sometimes it's funny how fast things can change, and sometimes it's not ...
Welcome to Albert Keane's beautifully designed medieval kingdom nestled in a completely isolated river valley in the Canadian wilderness. Peaceful, happy, and prosperous, it takes nothing from the modern world, not so much as a single clock.
There is a castle, of course, and a monastery. There is even a pitch dark, rat-infested dungeon - because you simply have to have one if you are trying to rule a feudal kingdom!
Farmers work the land, artisans ply their trades, monks keep school and visit the sick, and nobody (well, almost nobody) misses the modern world at all.
So why has Jack Darcey - actor, wanderer, ex-competitive fencer - been tricked and seduced into paying a visit? And why hasn't anyone told him that the only way to leave is a perilous trek across hundreds of miles of trackless wilderness without a compass or a map?
Because a tide of fear and violence is rising from the twisted ambitions of one of King Albert's nobles, and Albert's fortune teller believes that Jack could turn the tide - if he lives long enough ...
Mandy's Review:
Cover/Title
If I were to see this book on the store bookshelf, I would not pick it up based on the cover art. The title would be the draw for me in picking up this book to see what it's about.
Plot/Main Characters
When the book opens, Jack is talking to the police about a house he has inherited, but has not gone to see in many years. He encountered a ragtag group of men who were using his house as a base of operations. After the men have been evacuated and the police leave, Jack sits on his porch and reflects back over his life.
During his reflections, a man shows up and asks him to come with him to Albert's old homestead. Albert is a man that Jack went to school with and accidentally befriended. Albert's parents were extremely wealthy and left it all to Albert when they died. Jack wasn't wealthy, but was accepted by Albert's parents as one of the family. Jack hadn't seen Albert in many years so he is not inclined to accept this man's offer of visiting Albert. The man doesn't take no for an answer, though, and Jack finds himself in the back of the car heading to Albert's.
Arriving at Albert's home, Jack sees all the old familiar faces and some new ones. There's an auction going on that is confusing to Jack since the wealth Albert's parents left him should have been enough to cover him until he passed. Nobody will tell him what is going on and Albert is nowhere to be found. Instead, Jenna, Albert's girlfriend, offers to take Jack horseback riding to help get his mind off of what's going on.
Jenna is a free-spirited woman who loves to shock people out of their humdrum lives. Despite her relationship with Albert, Jenna seduces Jack and they become intimate that night. The next morning, upon Albert's return, Jack sneaks off to his bedroom so Albert is unaware of their lovemaking.
At breakfast that morning, Albert tells Jack enough about what's going on to entice him, but not enough for him to refuse to go. Albert has created a kingdom in the Canadian wilderness. A kingdom full of peasants, servants and knights. Albert is king and Jenna will be queen as soon as they return to the kingdom and her coronation takes place. Jack agrees to visit Albert's kingdom since he has been told he will be allowed to leave if he wishes.
Once they arrive on the outskirts of Albert's kingdom, a bonfire is created to burn all of their modern clothes. New ones have been crafted inside the kingdom and are available for them all to put on. Jack is amazed at the transformation from modern world to an old-fashioned kingdom. The shock of going back in time, without the use of a time machine, is mind-boggling to Jack. The more time spent in the kingdom, though, the more the modern world passes away.
Jack becomes knighted and begins his role as a fencing instructor. He meets the people of Albert's kingdom and learns the real reason why he's there: He is there to defeat the evil Duke.
Overall
I love the twist on an old fantasy story. To have a modern-day kingdom that is ruled and ran as the original kingdoms of old is ingenious. This is a captivating fantasy story that I would recommend to all fantasy-lovers.
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Mandy, thanks for the in-depth, detailed review. Your recommendation to readers who love fantasy novels means a lot.
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