An evil omen clouds the sky. A song of lore returns. Can one man's quest save the world?
Voran can't help but believe the rumors. As blight ravages he countryside and darkness covers the sun, the young warrior of Vasylia hears of an ancient spirit that devours souls. He feels powerless to fight the oncoming devastation until an angelic creature entrusts him with a long-forgotten song. Legend has it that such a song can heal the masses, overthrow kingdoms, and raise humans to the divine. . . .
Armed with the memory of the song, Voran must hunt down the dark spirit before it achieves its goal of immortality. His quest takes him through doorways to other worlds and subjects him to ordeals against seductive nymphs and riddling giants. Voran't journey is a trial—of faith in a world of doubt, love in a world of selfishness, beauty in a world of ugliness.
With each step of the journey, the strength of the villainous spirit grows, as does Voran's fear that the only way to save his world is to let it be destroyed.
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The Song of the Sirin is an epic fantasy retelling of the Russian fairy tale "Prince Ivan and the Grey Wolf." It is written in the tradition of the classic Christian fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and George MacDonald.
It not simply the tale of a quest, but of the struggle between good and evil in the human heart and the search for beauty. I enjoyed the emotional depth of the characters and seeing them make their choices, both good and bad. The novel grew into an intense, epic ending, of the type that I rarely find in books anymore. If you like epic fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien, or fairy tales, you will enjoy this book!
– Zoe Zamora, Advance Reader
A city ruled with an iron fist. A swordsmith just trying to survive. A choice that could heal the world…or plunge it into ruin.
Llun the smith is an artist at heart, content to make the most beautiful swords, nails, and horseshoes in his city. But when his smithy is visited by the grand inquisitor of the secret police, his peaceful life is at an end.
He is offered a perfect job–to be the exclusive smith of the new order. Endless luxury, good food, and the freedom to create–it’s everything he ever wanted. But it comes with a price. He has to make a metal flask as a gift to the mysterious new ruler of his city. Seized by a strange inspiration, he instead creates an object of great power that can heal thousands… or lead to a war that would never end.
An epic fantasy novella sequel to The Song of the Sirin. Early readers have called it “The Lord of the Rings meets 1984.”
“The Curse of the Raven is a very worthy sequel to the Song of the Sirin. There is beautiful imagery, captivating characters, and a masterful sequencing of events. There were times when I found my eyes tripping over words trying to read as fast as possible to find out what happens next.”
– Rebecca Rovny
A land destroyed by war. An army of giants on the rampage. Can a crippled girl heal the world before it dies?
All 16-year-old Khaidu ever wanted was her own hunting eagle. Her ten brothers laugh at her. After all, the rule-bound world of the Gumiren nomads has no place for a girl hunter, much less a crippled one. But Khaidu has a secret. Mastering the ancient magic of eagle-binding, she captures the largest eagle her tribe has ever seen.
Except her eagle isn’t an eagle at all. She’s a dying queen under an enchantment. Khaidu’s binding unlocks an ancient curse of blood and loss. As the curse turns Khaidu’s people against each other, the bond between eagle and hunter shatters. Desperate to find her lost eagle, Khaidu will brave monstrous beasts, face an army of shape-shifting giants, and cross the known world…only to be faced with a terrible truth.
If Khaidu cannot save the queen in time, the world itself may die with her.
Inspired by the Russian fairy tale “Finist the Bright Falcon,” The Heart of the World features complex characters, gorgeous magical landscapes, and unexpected plot twists. If you like creative twists on myths and legends and classic fantasy, then you’ll love Nicholas Kotar’s sweeping tale.
“I couldn’t wait to read this third installment of Nicholas Kotar’s tale of Vasillya, and I was not disappointed! The characters and their “threads” are expertly woven into a tapestry of surpassing beauty, complexity, and depth; each warp and weft combining into a pattern richer and stronger than the individual yarn would seem capable of making.”
– Katherine Tolf
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In a world where everyone is on guard against being "preached at," the only way to remind people about eternal truths is to tell a good story. And, like Tolkien and other Christian writers, I believe that this is best done by writing a story that shines a light "that is so lovely, we want with all of our hearts to know the source of that light." (Madeleine L'Engle)
And so I write fantasy, a genre especially attuned to tell those difficult truths people have forgotten about. I hope to entertain readers who love classic fantasy like The Lord of the Rings, but who aren’t afraid of a little darkness and honesty about the human condition. I also strive to edify seekers after truth and beauty (like myself) and to console those trapped by modernity by offering a fresh take on traditional values and storytelling.
That’s part of the reason why my writing is so inspired by Russian fairy tales. Those tales have profound, even spiritual meaning that makes them worth rereading again and again. In fact, as Russian philosopher Ivan Ilyin suggests in his wonderful lecture “The Spiritual Meaning of Stories,” they are indispensable for those of us who have lost our ability to see and appreciate the beautiful and transcendent in life.
