Old-world dark fantasy emerges from developmental hell

Old-world dark fantasy is a go-to genre for readers who love Game of Thrones, just to toss out a name, but you can easily list a few others. 

You may’ve heard of an old-world dark fantasy or two that I’ve written. No? Be sure to check out my Cymraeg Tales series for a taste of my style. But what if I told you I had one book idea that’s spent about a year or so in developmental hell?

Developmental hell. I despise that term, mainly because it implies that an idea for a book had perished into the shadow realm. That it’ll never carry on “Through the Fire and Flames,” if you wanted to associate it more with hellfire and brimstone. 

Instead, I prefer the term purgatory, since those ideas never die. They just go to sleep or get stuck in limbo until something, or someone, motivates them to come out of the woodwork. Well, that happened on Tuesday, May 6th, when I read an article at The Freedom Scale over on Substack. 

Christopher Cook’s work over there is awesome, so I encourage you to check it out. But his article, Depopulation Agenda = The Next Dark Age gave me a pause. The content in that article is chilling, and it reminded me of this particular old-world dark fantasy’s outline, and where I planned to take it when I got around to giving it a whirl. 

A few comments led to a commitment, and now, it’s game on

I wasn’t shy to mention the proposed work, and a few readers, plus Christopher himself, encouraged me to give it a go. That was all the motivation I needed, so right then and there, I added it to my repertoire of works. 

So, what’s this work about, and how did it materialize? It all started back in August 2024, when the song I’ll Be Your Hero by Rhapsody of Fire crept up on my Spotify playlist – okay, so maybe not entirely a year ago. That song was nothing short of epic and memorable. So much, that I played it about a dozen times that day, and with each passing round, a plot formulated. 

I know I said this a while back in an email campaign to my old-world dark fantasy readers, so I’ll give you the raw, unedited skinny from sheer memory:

A peasant boy sees the heir to his oppressive kingdom’s throne, and is immediately taken by her. The boy grows up and becomes an outlaw. He and his fellow outlaws engage in a terrorist attack that captures the heir, the same girl the boy fell in love with at first sight years ago. His band of outlaws wants to hold her hostage for a ransom, but only when they get the ransom, they plan on killing her. Now, the boy’s got a decision to make. Save the girl he loves, but who may not love him back, or let his gang kill her when the time comes. 

Not horribly different from Cymraeg Tales…

If you like Cymraeg Tales, chances are, you’ll love this old-world dark fantasy, which I’ve decided to call Ashes of the Throne. The only real difference is that it’s not “short” dark epic fantasy, as Cymraeg Tales clocks in between 65,000 and 70,000 words per book. Not the longest as far as epic fantasy goes. 

That’s not the case with Ashes of the Throne, and the outline I concocted proves it. Oh, and before I forget, you’re getting similar themes here, too, that are rich in libertarian meaning and, per usual, offer a sound critique of statism. 

But the plot is darker, and there’s one major twist involved that will turn everything upside down. The question now is, are you ready to join me on this creative journey? If yes, be sure to subscribe for free to my Substack newsletter, where I talk about my Original Six elemental magic series dubbed the Renegades Epic, my expanded Elementals Universe, and now, Ashes of the Throne.