Guest Post & Giveaway: World-Building on the Sly by Will Hahn

World-Building on the Sly

by

Will Hahn

How I love world-building, Lord forgive me. But readers don’t, do they? I described it once this way. “Like a flu shot, your readers have to have it, but they complain whenever they detect the smallest pinch. We amuse them with a distracting joke, promise it won’t hurt, and try to get it over quickly. Your book is better for it- but don’t hold your breath waiting for appreciation.”

Map of the Lands of Hope

So what’s the solution? Don’t look at me! But in Judgement’s Tale, I have a novel advantage I’m trying out (that’s literary humor there, it’s a 200k monsterpiece!). In Part One we meet characters from across the Lands of Hope, in the PoV-per-chapter style that folks are getting accustomed to nowadays. But some of my characters are actually Sages. One of them, Cedrith, meets Solemn Judgement, the main character and an alien here. So there’s a familiar path to introducing Judgement- and the reader- to his new world.

Beyond that, though, Judgement is a studious and literate fellow, drawn to some of the oldest and most unnerving subjects in the restricted Dark Archives. Worse yet, he insists, though he’s a newcomer, that a young knight praying before the founder’s statue is in grave danger of murder, in a city where no law has been broken in 4,000 years. More study, to find the truth before ancient customs are shattered.

This gives the tale an air of mystery, and I swallowed hard when I saw how many scenes were taking place inside a library. But then I thought of The Name of the Rose and was comforted- plus this is epic fantasy have no doubt. A liche schemes to reawaken the curse of undeath and the clock is ticking while this guy just reads and reads.

I hope you enjoy Judgement’s Tale Part One, Games of Chance when it releases July 4^th. Maybe you’ll see a world being built without realizing it!

Coming July 4! 

For twenty centuries the Lands of Hope prospered from their Heroes’ peace, but suffer now from their absence as a curse thickens over the central kingdom known as the Percentalion. An immortal omniscient conspirator schemes to escape the extra-worldly prison restraining his tide of undeath, using a demonic ally in a plot to bring back hell on earth. Solemn Judgement steps onto these Lands both a stranger and an orphan, driven to complete the lore his father died to give him.

In a world beset with increasing chaos, the bravest Children of Hope must take mortal risks. A young woodsman’s spear-cast, a desperate bid to save his comrades; the Healers Guildmistress’ cheery smile, hiding a grim secret and a heavy burden of guilt; the prince of Shilar’s speech in a foreign tongue, a gambit to avoid bloodshed or even war. As a new generation of heroes, scattered across the kingdoms, bets their lives and more, Solemn Judgement- soon to be known as The Man in Grey- must learn to play… Games of Chance: Part One of Judgement’s Tale.

Find the Tales of Hope at all major online retailers:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Scribd
And at iTunes search under “Wm. L. Hahn”

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Will Hahn has been in love with heroic tales since age four, when his father read him the Lays of Ancient Rome and the Tales of King Arthur. He taught Ancient-Medieval History for years, but the line between this world and others has always been thin; the far reaches of fantasy, like the distant past, still bring him face to face with people like us, who have choices to make.

Will didn't always make the right choices when he was young. Any stick or vaguely-sticklike object became a sword in his hands, to the great dismay of his five sisters. Everyone survived, in part by virtue of a rule forbidding him from handling umbrellas, ski poles, curtain rods and more.

Will has written about the Lands of Hope since his college days (which by now are also part of ancient history). With the publication of Judgement’s Tale Part One, Games of Chance, he begins at last to tell the tale of the Land’s most unique hero, The Man in Grey.

CONTACT LINKS

Will Hahn is the chronicler of the Lands of Hope tales.
The Plane of Dreams- See the trailer!
The Ring and the Flag-  Try the Audio Book at Scribl!
Fencing Reputation-

Three Minutes to Midnight-
The Book of Tales-

Will Hahn at Smashwords
Will’s Amazon Page

Will’s B&N Page

Will's Blog Thoughts- Including tales of a happy childhood (which continues), hopes for a writer's journey, and analysis of Classics You've Never Read

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