The Black Phoenix Cycle: Book I: Artaria - Tapa blanda

Artaria This is the story of Lars, the warrior and hero for throughout the ages. His story begins when he is still, admittedly, an unknown and unimportant boy. On a predestined night the very foundation of his life is broken when two armored warriors arrive on dark steeds to capture him. His home in the forest, the only one he has ever known, is burned to the ground and his grandfather, the only family he has ever known, is murdered. Thus Lars embarks on an adventure across a diverse and fantastical landscape of drakes and wyverns, and of warring nations and errant knights. He will cross from adolescence into manhood. He will meet a prince turned vagabond and the spoiled son of a tribal chief. In the midst of battle he will befriend a gruff swordsman and will be reunited with other friends thought long abandoned. Unfortunately for Lars and for those he will come to know, the adventure does not stop there. An ancient enemy From Beyond the Grave has crossed over to the reality of the living. A mysterious man of impossible years has come to fight on the side of light and life but his means to victory may be so dark and ruthless that Lars does not know if he too is an enemy. And a woman from another world and another era will cross the very stars to find him. Epic in its scope and spanning worlds and history, the Black Phoenix Cycle will take you to the nightfall of an interstellar civilization, and back through time to its pinnacle. And through all the millennia, two enemies will play out a game where the barrier between the living and the dead is ruptured and those closest to them...regardless of love, loyalty, or sacrifice...are merely pawns. The Cycle begins...on Artaria.

Neil Martin was born in 1973 and was raised in northern Ohio. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree (Classical and Medieval Studies, and History) from Cleveland State University in 1995. He makes a living in the computer technology industry but his interest since grade school has always been the medieval and fantasy genres. The Black Phoenix Cycle is his first published story and has served as a means to develop his writing style and to experiment with various themes, plot devices, and aspects of dialogue. He still lives in the Midwest with his wife and son.