Futility of Defense (A Paladin's Journey) Heroic Fantasy/Hero's Journey by Bryan Cole ➱ Book Tour with Author Interview, Guest Post & Giveaway
Futility of Defense
Book 2 of A Paladin’s Journey
By
Bryan
Cole
About the Book:
Publisher: Tellwell Talent
Publication
Date: June 30,
2023
Paladins are nothing but trouble. When Krell,
an uneducated nobody with a stubborn streak as wide as the sea, hears the call
from ReckNor, the capricious god of the seas and skies, the attention of the
rich and powerful turn their gaze toward him. Paladins are notorious for
upsetting the balance of power, to the detriment of any who don't worship their
deity.
When Krell stands against the might of the sea
devils and emerges victorious, concern and interest turn to fear—fear of their
secrets and plans being revealed and exposed, of the ruin that often follows in
a paladin's wake. Now he stands in defense of a pitiful town at the edge of
nowhere, even as the sea devil menace grows more dire for each day that passes.
For as deadly as the sea devils are to Krell,
his past choices and the consequences of his actions may be deadlier still . .
.
Purchase
Links:
Excerpt:
The commander’s face relaxed into an expression of superiority. He looked
down his nose at Krell. “I have little reason to worry, Krell. My men are
expertly trained soldiers of His Grace Mavram Hudderly, long may he reign, and
servants of His Majesty King Fideon the Second, long may he reign.
Whatever peril you have faced is now over.”
“I see,” said Krell.
“Me too,” said Dorn. He turned to Krell, pointing at the commander. “He’s
an idiot.”
Krell nodded in agreement, while the commander’s face flushed in anger.
“Commander, the sea devils are predators, swift and violent. Their claws
and teeth are like daggers, and they use them freely. When they smell blood,
they fly into a berserk frenzy. If you run, you die as they catch you from
behind. Your horses are of little use against them, since they would simply cut
them down. Then eat them.” Krell shook his head. “Have you or your men ever
faced sea devils before?”
What Readers Are
Saying:
A fantasy saga filled with interesting, complex characters, and dynamic
relationships alongside captivating battles and systems of magic, Bryan Cole's
FUTILITY OF DEFENSE is a worthy and ambitious sequel that takes Krell's story
in an intriguing direction. ~Jessica Thomas for IndieReader
"Packed with engaging action and a fellowship of entertaining
characters, this is a classic yet original hero's journey laced with fresh
magical rules and immersive storytelling, which is ideal for long-time fans of
high fantasy, offering a familiar fantasy landscape while carving its own path
due to Cole's detailed attention to character-building." Self-Publishing
Review,
Guest Post:
Consistency in storytelling
One of the unfortunately common things I see is stories that forget the contrivances they’ve introduced. Classic examples of this are shows that forget that cell phones exist, leaving me in a position of thinking “why don’t these morons just call the police?” This is an example of worldbuilding and story being disconnected. A different aspect of this is when characters are granted powers or capabilities, and then in subsequent chapters or books in the series completely disregard this introduced capability. The Time Turners in the Harry Potter universe are a good example of this, and an excellent example of why introducing time travel is extremely difficult to do in a way that will not immediately destroy any future tension in your story.
This consistency is something I find I need in the media I consume and informed a lot of my writing style. I wanted to write a story focused on consequences, both within the same book and across books. This means that plot threads introduced – whether Krell pursues them or not – don’t just vanish without impacting the world.
And not all consequences need be dire! When characters do the right thing, when they quite literally stand between terrible monsters and those they’re trying to save, there should be a reaction to that from the background characters. The world needs to be consistent with the fact that the main characters exist and should change based on the actions they take. I reflect this in the attitudes of the people of Watford, some of whom know Krell personally, and in others who have only heard stories that roughly align with the truth. Everyone in Watford knows them to one degree or another. Which is consistent with our world. If I single-handedly rescued a school bus full of kittens from the fifth floor of a burning office building, I have to believe people in my own town would know my name, at least for a time. If I kept doing similar noteworthy and seemingly impossible things, then I would expect my notoriety to grow.
This is a double-edged sword for characters in books. Fame can come with all sorts of perks – access to powerful individuals, goodwill and free drinks, and many other benefits. It also means, however, that the stories will be mined for information by their antagonists. Krell is widely known by a different name – Darkblade – meaning that none of his enemies are going to be surprised when he conjures his weapon. Indeed, they’ll not only be ready for it, they’ll be expecting it, as a final confirmation that they have the right person!
Finally, the world should not be static. Krell and his companions in Futility of Defense are coming to realize the broader scope of the challenge before them, and are seeking to learn more about it. That attracts attention from those who eye Krell warily. Paladins in my setting are notorious for upsetting the balance of power. As Krell begins probing into the affairs of others, those antagonists will react accordingly to the threat that Krell poses to them. That may mean sheltering their operations or even temporarily shutting them down, or it might mean assassination.
Either way, book three is in the works and already pretty fun! Or, perhaps I should say ‘fun?’!
Author Interview:
Tell me a little bit about your main character of this book.
Krell, the main character, as a backstory was lost at sea as a child, washing up on a deserted island. This has shaped a lot of who he is, including his utter lack of knowledge about the world. That is very intentional – it allows me to narratively explain things to Krell, so the reader can learn as well. It also allows Krell to stand out in his interactions with others, since all the societal norms and biases that every other character has. It gives him a narrative perspective that can be fun to play with.
Other than that, he’s a paladin – called by ReckNor, lord of the seas and skies. ReckNor values freedom as one of the lesser understood aspects of his worship and therefore is singularly unhelpful when explaining anything to Krell. Also intentional – it lets me as the author have Krell stumbling around in the dark, trying to figure out why he was called and what his purpose is supposed to be.
What is your “day” job if you are not a full time author?
I have a full-time career in enterprise software, with a specialization in performance testing. Principally in roles that involve presenting and public speaking. I would estimate I’ve created more than a thousand PowerPoint presentations and have presented more than 30,000 times. A good presentation involves using lots of stories and analogies, which was a surprisingly transferrable skill when becoming an indie author! You can probably find a lot of webinars with me presenting online if you’re curious about my presentation style.
What is the hardest thing about being an author?
Marketing. For me, writing the book and editing were absolute joys, a hobby that I love that I’m happy to share with the world (most of whom seem to like A Paladin’s Journey). Marketing though… I don’t know how to go about marketing, and it’s a strange new world for me. It is very separate from the writing process, and much less enjoyable. But it is so important! Nobody will ever find my books if they don’t see them anywhere.
What book changed your life?
The Deed of Paksenarrion, by Elizabeth Moon. For me, it was the first fantasy epic that I read that really highlighted to me the fantastic character archetypes of what being a paladin could be, and directly inspired me – eventually – to write a story of my own.
What were some of your favorite books growing up?
There are so many to choose from! Whether it is DragonLance Chronicles, The Wheel of Time, Lord of the Rings, or countless other works. I read tons of Star Trek and Star Wars, and history books. So many history books, with a special interest in World War 2. The works of John Keegan in particular were very fascinating to me. Beyond that, my tastes were best described as eclectic and random. I am a reader at heart – if there’s text, I’m going to consume it, whether in book form or on the back of a cereal box. This has created in me a deep sense of curiosity, hence my passion for understanding history, because that explains why today is the way that it is!
How often do you base your characters on real people?
To an extent, every character is based on someone I know, or at least aspects of them. A great example would be talking about Sheana, Dahlia, and Verbena, who are all just different facets of the same person. Dahlia’s private nature, Verbena’s towering intellect, Sheana’s bravery – just different aspects taken from someone I love and translated onto the page. However, there needs to be some variance, since people in the real world rarely involve themselves in life-or-death struggles (certainly nobody I know!). This shift in mindset, combined with personal power that can at times be on-par with entire battalions of modern infantry will necessarily have an impact on who they are. I take these facts, and imagine everything I can about them, with what I know of the real person underpinning it.
What’s the most difficult thing about writing a novel?
For me, it was keeping the desired endpoint in mind as I progressed through the story. There were many re-writes for Futility of Defense because the characters had their own ideas about what they’d do in a particular scene, which altered subsequent scenes. Coming up with events to keep the story moving toward where I wanted it to end without having the characters act inconsistently from prior depictions is always challenging, and in many cases caused the end the shift in context. During two of the rewrites, it shifted very dramatically!
What are common traps for aspiring writers?
There are any number of common pitfalls I could mention – don’t tell, show, being a good example. Instead of stating how a character feels, show it through expression or other avenues. When Krell meets Darvin in book 2, Krell becomes angry – and readers should understand this because his brow furrows and his face flushes red, not because I say Krell became angry. Those sorts of traps are discussed in multiple places, and there are any number of great resources I could recommend. The one that I think I haven’t seen discussed as much is knowing how the story is going to end and guiding the characters and scenes toward that endpoint. This is also true for a series spanning multiple books, like A Paladin’s Journey. I know precisely how the series will end and what happens to the survivors. However, each book needs to be a self-contained story as well. You can’t write one story and chop it into three pieces and sell it as a trilogy – you need to have complete story arcs in each book individually as well as across the series. Spending time thinking about how things are going to end is vital and perhaps overlooked. Finally, I would say the most common trap is underestimating how difficult marketing is going to be.
Do you read your book reviews? Do they please you or annoy you? Do you think you can learn a lot from reading criticism about your work?
First thing’s first, a message for authors: It is never okay to comment on your reviews. Good or bad, a review is not for you, they are for other readers. A review represents someone’s personal experience with your book, and no matter what they felt about it they are sharing their personal opinion. This is not to say you cannot REPORT a review if it contains inappropriate language or personal attacks – the review should be about the book, not about you, but you don’t report the review to the reviewer, you report it to the site hosting the review, and that’s the end of it. And only if it is deliberately offensive toward you or otherwise hateful to people or groups of people. A review can absolutely trash your book and express total hatred toward it. All this to say yes, I read every single review I receive. I’m very grateful that people took the time to write a review – it’s probably the most difficult part of the author process, just getting feedback from people in the real world. I’m fortunate that most of my reviews are very positive, but even the negative ones could contain some useful information that I can take in to try to become a better author. Much as I might like to engage with reviewers and talk with them about why they did not like parts or all of my books, that is up to them to reach out to me to start that conversation, not the other way around.
What’s next for you?
Onward to book 3, where our protagonists deal with their actions and outcomes of books 1 and 2, and the consequences of them really start to catch up to them. The intention and focus of the story is that they’ve outgrown Watford and are venturing out into the broader – and much more dangerous – world at large. While I know exactly how book 3 is going to end I as yet have no idea how the characters are going to get there! Tristan, in particular, is causing rewrite after rewrite because he isn’t putting up with the nonsense I’m trying to throw at him!
About the Author:
Bryan
Cole is the author of the Paladin’s Journey series. New to the writing world,
he spent years working in the enterprise software space, focused on quality
assurance and delivery of software applications. Which is weird, because that
has nothing to do with writing fiction.
For
that, we need to go back – way back – to his first experience with Dungeons
& Dragons. His friend Chris brought over the box set for Myth Drannor,
eager to play. Together, they realized they had no idea what they were doing,
because neither of them owned a copy of the Players Handbook, Dungeon Master’s
Guide, or the Monster Manual.
From
those incredibly awkward beginnings, a lifelong passion for epic science
fiction and high fantasy adventure was born. Everything from his grade 4
teacher letting him stay after school to play a video game where you were the
wizard on a quest, defeating monsters by answering math problems, to some truly
memorable movies like Willow that showed him a world bigger and more exciting
than the real one.
Of
course, Star Wars and Star Trek have had a major influence on him. Want to get
in good with Bryan? Lead with a Star Wars meme.
From
one of the good movies. Otherwise your plan will backfire.
Bryan
is also an avid gamer, and enjoys video games, board games, and tabletop
roleplaying games.
These
days, he lives in Toronto with his wife and daughter, and his adorable cat.
Contact
Links:
Email - fat.paladin.contact@gmail.com
Website - https://www.fatpaladin.ca/
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0BFV7T7PR
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/FatPaladin
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/fatpaladinbooks/
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22517522
Giveaway:
#FutilityofDefense #APaladinsJourney #BryanCole #Fantasy #HeroicFantasy #HerosJourney #BookTour #AuthorInterview #GuestPost #Giveaway #quillinktours
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