Plucked from obscurity and hurled into the burning, blood soaked sands of the coliseum, one man defies an Emperor. Rather than settle for mere vengeance and an honorable death, a gladiator rises to challenge both a Derelict Emperor and the dangerous, seething chaos from beyond its borders. Caught between the fiery passion of his master’s step-daughter and the powerful concubine of his greatest enemy, can one simple barbarian chart a course to save an Empire, save the girl, and save his own soul from the black pits of despair?
Full of the furious action and adventurous exploration of strange realms, Barbarian Emperor touches on deep themes of familial bonds, the brotherhood of battle, and the eternal balancing act that man and nation perform on the precipice between barbarous struggle and civilizational apathy. Take it for the thrill ride or ponder the still depths of the work, either way, you’ll love this story of one defiant man and his struggle to find himself, his destiny, and his one true love.
Is this book intended as a serious adventure or a comedic parody? I ask because the cover looks like it’s supposed to be funny.
It’s a serious adventure. I don’t go in for Current Year Poe’s Law cowardice. What you see on the tin is exactly what you get – a genuine hero unashamed of his masculinity, caught between two beautiful women, and fighting for his life in a fantasy world’s version of the coliseum.
The limp-wristed ironic detachment most authors hide behind turns my stomach. If you like a thing, admit it – don’t strike a kitschy pose just in case you’re called out for liking something that goes against Current Year mores. So I wrote an unabashed adventure story and stuck the kind of picture on the cover that we’re not supposed to admit we like in these modern and enlightened days of PoundMeToo. Screw that – I’m having too much fun pursuing old school action and excitement to feel silly for hot babes and brotherly camaraderie and high octane thrills.
I assume there’s a bit of sorcery/magic to spice things up, Jon? That’s how it sounded on Geek Gab (to me, anyway).