The
Merewyrm's Tooth
Animal
Kingdoms Book 1
by
Oliver Paglia
Genre:
Epic Fantasy
Faharen
was a contented enough young lad, living a simple farming life with
his adopted kin the Manxii, on the North Western Plain of the Animal
Kingdoms.
After
a mysterious blight begins to ravage the pastures of his homeland, he
must embark on a perilous quest only he can complete; to cross the
Great Forest, entering the Realms of Men to retrieve a piece of ivory
with healing properties from a legendary monster, the Merewyrm; a
creature so ancient it predates both man and animal kind.
Not
long into his journey, it dawns on Faharen that he is part of a much
larger, darker world than he thought existed and must mine hidden
depths he wasn’t aware he possessed to survive.
Created
by the gods to divide fallen men from the faithful animals and
forsaken by them long ago, traversing the Great Forest will not be
easy, for it hides many malevolent creatures such as the Satyrs to
name but one; a half man, half cloven hooved beast that knows only
spite and treachery!
With
the body of a man and the heart of a Manxii, Faharen must do what is
deemed impossible; cross the worlds to save his people.
Gauntlet
of Wrath
Animal
Kingdoms Book 2
Residing
in a monastery far to the east of the North Western Plain, troubling
nightmares stalk Faharen’s sleep as he seeks inner peace and
answers to profound questions, stirred up by his quest for the
Merewyrm’s tooth.
But in the Realms of Men, all is not
well.
Out of the deserts to the south, like a sandstorm on an
ill wind, a force of occultists, led by an armoured giant calling
himself the Ferra Demiurge, or Forged Lord, wielding the strongest
ever blades made of a mysterious metal, have taken the Achaean lands
by coup and sorcery. Their ambition and greed is insatiable and the
Demiurge will not be satisfied until the entire known world is his,
including what lies beyond the Great Forest.
With the worlds
of the Animal Kingdoms and men alike set in flux by recent events,
the ancient prophecy of the wild men seems to be unravelling.
Now,
all those standing against the Achaeans will be tested in their
defence of the sacred. Some will conquer, some will die, but all will
struggle to survive.
Oliver
Paglia is a writer/filmmaker and was born and bred in Hampshire,
south England, where he grew up on a small farm in the picturesque
Test valley countryside. He now lives in Reykjavik, Iceland with his
veterinary nurse partner, Snæfriður Stefanssdottír. For many years
Oliver has worked as a videographer in England and has a substantial
portfolio of commercial and artistic film work spanning a broad
variety of subjects.
Oliver’s
artistic preoccupation is with the mythic; it is his view that it is
one of the highest forms of artistic expression. It can be vague, yet
illuminating, without a contemporary context yet insightful as to the
human condition, absurd yet wise and dark yet moral. The legends of
old are the stories that resonate with us on all levels.
As
the late Professor Joseph Campbell put it, “The myth is the public
domain and the dream is the private myth. If your private myth, your
dream, happens to coincide with that of the society, you are in good
accord with your group. If it isn’t, you’ve got a long adventure
in the dark forest ahead of you.” Also, “Myth must be kept alive.
The people who can keep it alive are the artists of one kind or
another.”
And
that is what Oliver hopes to do, to keep myth alive in his own modest
way.
GUEST POST
What inspired you to write this
book?
I was
watching a documentary about the hidden code Michael Ward had found
in the Narnia books, and the entire world came into my head in a
flash. Scared the hell out of me!
What
can we expect from you in the future?
I
currently have three books in the works, the most important being of
course the third and final part of the Animal Kingdoms trilogy, and
have an independent short film in post production as well, based
loosely on the original Mad Max: Road Warrior films.
Do
you have any “side stories” about the characters?
Many! I
just haven’t written them down yet.
Can
you tell us a little bit about the characters in the books?
In the
Merewrym’s Tooth: Animal Kingdoms Book 1, the story centres almost
entirely on the adventure of the central character Faharen, as he
crosses the sacred divide of the Great Forest between the worlds of
men and civilised animals, to find the Merewyrm’s tooth; a magical
object that can cure a mysterious blight that has tainted the soil of
his homeland. He is an unassuming enough young man, but is well aware
that he is fundamentally different to his adopted kin, the Manxii; a
race of creatures that stand upright, but have horns, wool and
hoof-like extremities.
In Book
2, ‘Gauntlet of Wrath’, the breadth of characters increases quite
considerably, good and bad alike.
The
central bad guy, the Ferra Demiurge, or Forged Lord; a giant of a man
sporting a suit of armour and a sword the length of a man made of a
mysterious dark metal. Above all, he desires power, which he pursues
relentlessly with an entourage of black robed sorcerers behind him.
I think
one of the most interesting characters for me, is the tribal shaman
Aquppak. Think of him as a Native American meets Obi Wan Kenobi. HE
is wise, compassionate and a great mentor to the younger men around
him.
How
did you come up with the title of your first novel?
Wyrm is
an old English term for serpent or dragon, and mere relates to water;
so the mythical beast of the first book literally means a
‘Water-Dragon/Serpent’.
What
did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I
enjoyed the development of the characters and the world they inhabit.
Who
designed your book covers?
My book
covers are drawn by the wonderful Icelandic conceptual artist, Börkur
Eiríksson.
If
you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your
latest book?
Not as
it stands, no.
Did
you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?
I´m
constantly learning, it never stops. Mostly, how to be a better
writer.
If
your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?
An
unknown young actor
Anything
specific you want to tell your readers?
Your
imagination is one of the most important things you have.
What
is your favorite part of this book and why?
The
intensity of the action and battles, and how the character overcome
adversity.
If
you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it
be? And what would you do during that day?
Aquppak
the shaman; it would be great to get in touch with nature through a
man like that.
Are
your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely
from your imagination?
Entirely
from my imagination, believe it or not!
Do
your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have
the reigns of the story? Convince us why you feel your book is a must
read.
Oh, I
CERTAINLY feel I have the reigns on my stories. My book is mythic and
myth, in my opinion, is the highest form of art., that’s why books
like mine should be read. Whether its a good myth or not, I leave up
to you to decide.
Have
you written any other books that are not published?
Yes,
but they aren’t quite finished yet.
If
your book had a candle, what scent would it be?
Earth,
water, air and fire!
What
did you edit out of
this book?
I don’t
do much editing. I first cut my teeth writing screenplays, which
require you to be very efficient as a writer, so there isn’t much
fat on my stories.
Is
there an writer which brain you would love to pick for advice? Who
would that be and why?
I’d
love to get some writing tips from Robert E. Howard, the creator of
Conan the Barbarian. His style was best described as ‘electric’
with ‘sparks flying off the page’. Some of his opening paragraphs
are just sublime.
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