The Gwambi Tetralogy
This series draws as much from J. R. R. Tolkien and Indiana Jones as it does from Charles Dickens. With a focus on immersive world-building that features fully developed fantasy races, deeply religious colonists, and labor riots, “The Gwambi Tetralogy” is black-powder, epic low fantasy, bordering on magical realism, with a faith-based, and character-driven plot.
These pirates who just kidnapped Ella seem to think that she knows the location of the Gwambi’s Lost City of Gold. Sure, her father died looking for the Gwambi city, but that doesn’t mean she knows anything about it. Her mother wouldn’t even let her read the one book they owned on the lost Gwambi city. Mind you, she read every other book in the house -- every other book in the parish -- so she knows a thing or two. The question is, can she do anything with all that head knowledge? I mean, does it matter if she can positively identify the difference between a gnome, a leprechaun, and a nymph, if she can’t defend herself when they are trying to stab her in the gut? And let’s not even start talking about the sorcerer…
Book 2: My Father's Ghost
Haeli can handle anything. She has to. She has spent her whole life wedged between the inexorable power of the Company and the chaotic politics of the indigenous nymph tribes. There is nothing life can throw at her that she cannot overcome with a smile on her face. That was until her Da gave her the Gwambi keys... and told her to RUN. Is her family’s wisdom and her faith in God enough to protect her from two pirate crews, a vengeful griffin, and a sorcerer? Ella can’t help her either — she’s too busy dealing with the fallout of the increasingly violent labor strikes. And that was before she awakened the ghost...
Book 3: My Father's God
Target: Winter 2024
Clerans must protect his village. It’s the easiest thing ever. All he has to do is fire the cannons, and no one ever gets past the Entwerp battery. But now he is being sent out to board a highly explosive fireship and steer it away from the battery. How hard could that be? I mean, the only time the battery is vulnerable is during the lowest tide of the year. Oh wait, it is the lowest tide of the year. And if Clerans can’t stop the fireship, then Longfinch’s pirates will murder everyone in the village. And why doesn’t he call for reinforcements? Well, the reinforcements are tied up trying to prevent the strikers from burning down the national bank.
Book 4: My Father's Will
Target: Summer 2025
After finding God, things couldn’t be better for Ernest. I mean, it would probably be better if he wasn’t trapped in the ancient Gwambi catacombs, with no food or water to speak of. It would also be better if Clerans wasn’t about to be skinned alive by the pirates, or if Martyn wasn’t slowly bleeding to death from a traumatic head injury. But no fear, there is someone else trapped in the catacombs with them, someone who — if he doesn’t kill them — has the medical knowledge necessary to save Martyn’s life: Killjelly…
