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The Lords of Harbendane
 Two heroes, a kingdom in peril, the treachery of barbarous neighbors, wild tribes raiding across the frontier ... the stage is set for an epic fantasy. Rogan Dahl, the colonel of Harbendane's elite regiment, crosses enemy lines to secure the services of a powerful shaman -- and meets a young scholar. Tristan Carlin was a warrior till boyhood injuries ended his soldiering. Now a teacher, he meets Rogan in a village infamous for thieving, and Tris has a grim problem. The two are soon swept up in the storm of events leading to the greatest battle of their age. Fortress Althea is the beating heart of Harbendane, and plans for its downfall have been drawn. The northern tribes are united with the ambitious warlord of Galshorros. Althea is almost undefended before massed armies, and amid preparations for war Rogan and Tristan are bound in an illicit romance as dangerous as any barbarian threat. The road to war will take them to the frontier, where wild tribes harass the regiments, battle is bitter -- and against the odds love flourishes like a winter rose. Their struggle ends at the fortress where Rogan grew to manhood, in a ravel of swordsteel and magic, ambition and vengeance ... and the love that won out against the odds. There are seasons for peace and seasons for war. This is a season for survival. COVER NOTES: There are seasons for peace and seasons for war. This is a season for sheer survival. Rogan Dahl and Tristan Carlin meet by chance on a rainy night, and are soon caught up in the storm of events leading to the greatest battlefield of their time. Their accidental encounter is the pivot-point around which the future revolves, for the great land of Harbendane -- and for their own lives. The fortified city of Althea is treasured as the living, beating heart of Harbendane ... and the plans have been meticulously drawn for its downfall. The wild, savage tribes of the far north are in league with the cruel, ambitious warlord of Galshorros, and Althea lies almost undefended before massed armies. In the midst of this, Rogan and Tristan are caught up in an illicit love affair that could be death for them both.  Read the first 10% of this novel right here, in PDF format
(Caveat: material in this free sample is not suitable for juniors. Consider yourself warned!) Novel length: 145,0000 words Rated: adult (18+; sex, violence, language) ISBN: 978-0-9758080-9-2 Publication date: November, 2008 Publisher: DreamCraft Price: $6.99 - ebook; $17.99 - paper (NEW LOWER PRICE) Cover: Jade
READER REVIEWS: THE LORDS OF HARBENDANE REVIEWED BY GEMMA J. Very seldom do I review a novel, because very seldom does one read one that is genuinely worthy of a review -- and I don't mean that as any slur on modern fiction, or gay fiction. But today such reams of fiction are being published (or more properly. e-published) every day that one could only review 2% of what one reads, which in all probability would represent less than .01% of the overall outpouring of e-literature. In other words, it's the rare, rare book which falls into the top 5% of one's reading, and merits the review! And suffice to say, THE LORDS OF HARBENDANE is one of these few. This is not the first Mel Keegan novel I have read, but it's the first in a long while. I read some of the paperbacks in the 1990s, produced by a small British publisher, and at the time I might have been impressed by the quality of Keegan's writing, but I was equally under-impressed by the quality of the publication as a whole. The Gay Men's Press seemed to bear some allergic aversion to proofreading, and they had an uncanny knack for placing jackets around very adult literature which would have been more fitting on juvenile fiction whose target marketplace was the 12 - 15 readership. Therefore, I must admit that I borrowed the old paperbacks from a friend, and never did buy copies. How wonderful, then, to discover the current reissues of the old works, along with a great many new ones, all of which are produced to far higher standards that we've seen before. Imagine! Covers which reflect the true nature of the books, and publication qualities which are, with very rare exception, quite the equivalent of the standards one has come to expect of the mainstream. THE LORDS OF HARBENDANE is the first Mel Keegan fantasy it's been my pleasure to read. Surfing the lists at Kindle, I was surprised and delighted to find Keegan there ... my blushing confession would be that I haven't even thought of the dear man's name in over a decade. Imagine my further delight to see that he broke free of GMP, found a publisher without some odd aversion to proofreading, and an art editor with a far greater eye for the complementary cover! Here is a novel which succeeds on so many levels. To begin with, it is a full novel, rather than the modern-day work, which tends to be thin indeed, corresponding to the brief SF and fantasy pulp paperbacks of the 1960s, and perhaps shorter still. HARBENDANE is a major work which, in pocket-size paperback, would surely be around 400pp. In other words, a work into which one can sink the teeth, submerge oneself and enjoy for a time somewhat longer than a train or bus ride. Mr. Keegan has an exceptional eye for detail, for the creation of characters, scenarios and plots. After reading several of the other reader reviews appearing on the internet, I know I'm very far indeed from alone in saying that one rarely reads stories which are as finely-wrought as THE LORDS OF HARBENDANE, with such depth of background lavished upon even the most peripheral of character. For myself, I derive one more pleasure from this work. My personal backgrounding is in literature and theatre, and I suppose I notice more than other readers when characters speak in their own distinct voices. With Keegan's dialogue, one can quite literally hear it as if it were performed by voice artists. Such a joy. The plot of THE LORDS OF HARBENDANE is at once straightforward and convoluted, in that it begins simply before the details and twists begin to weave themselves into a tapestry of pre-Raphaelite complexity; yet the reader is introduced to each new complication in the lives of the protagonists with such alacrity that it's only as the final page is turned that he or she realizes, looking back over the book, how intricate it all became. The heroes in this instance are Rogan and Tristan, who remind me a little of Dermot and Robin, in FORTUNES OF WAR -- though the similarities are entirely superficial. Like Dermot, Rogan is a soldier, big, tough, and from foreign fields. Like Robin, Tristan is a scholar, smaller physically and imprisoned in a domestic situation that is far from desirable. There, the similarity ends, for these characters in HARDEBDANE are indeed unique, and the scenario of this fantasy is very different from anything I've ever read -- and in the last three decades I'e read a great deal of fantasy. You don't need a blow by blow synopsis of the plot from me here, so I'll focus on the themes. Two young men blunder into each other, and everything in the world seems set against them building any kind of life together ... a kingdom is at war with its savage neighbours, vastly outnumbered and in horrific peril. Set against these two frames, the tale of Tristan and Rogan, and the unfolding history of the land of Harbendane, are seamlessly interwoven. Without spoiling the ending for you, I can a least assure you, it all works out very nicely indeed. This is an outstanding novel, which says much when one has come to expect a lot from the author, following such novels as FORTUNES AND WAR, which I borrowed and devoured in the old paperback form, fifteen or so years ago. And now, I'm going back to Amazon Kindle, and I'll be reading THE SWORDSMAN this evening! From the reviews one sees of the story of Jack and Sebastian, I think I have another great pleasure in store! |
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