Who should read The Wolf of Helocene? Everyone! It’s approximate target audience is mid teens, but anyone should be able to enjoy it.
One of the objectives of this novel was to embed some of the less cheesy conventions of the popular ‘dark fantasy’ / ‘paranormal romance’ genre within a fully realised, gritty fantasy world. In other words, to try to remove the cliches of ‘dark fantasy’ (werewolves (yawn), vampires (yawn), passive female protagonist) and ‘epic fantasy’ (silly names, excessive world-building, uber-powerful magic), whilst retaining the strengths of each.
Only one way to find out if I succeeded…
A note on versions: The Wolf of Helocene has been around for quite a while now. I completed the initial draft in 2005. At that point it was a novella. Thereafter I rewrote it, almost doubling its length, and printed a few copies in 2006. Then the manuscript stayed in a dark and forgotten folder on my laptop marked ‘misc’ for some years, until I rediscovered it in late 2010. I rewrote it again, added probably 30% content (mainly at the end of the story), tidied up a few things and deemed it fit for human consumption. No doubt I will add to it again at some point (or write the sequel). But in the meantime, enjoy The Wolf of Helocene v3.0 – now with 30% extra!
More news, reviews and updates soon.