Showing results for "patrick" in Coming of Age

From celebrated fantasy author Den Patrick comes Witchsign, the first novel in a fresh and exciting new fantasy trilogy. It has been seventy-five years since the dragons’ rule of fire and magic was ended. Out of the ashes, the Solmindre Empire was born. Since then, the tyrannical Synod has...

Steiner, blacksmith, hero, has taken a hammer to the Empire, freeing the dead and children with withchsign alike from their fiery prison. Now he plans to finish what he started. Kimi, dragon-speaker, princess, must seek her father’s court and win the support of his armies before news of her escape dooms her people. Silverdust, ancient, dead, journeys to the heart of the empire as a prisoner - to meet the Emperor for what he hopes will be the final time. Kjellrun, witch, killer, still reeling from the loss of her uncle when she is ripped from her family, fears this power within her.

Florida, 1982. A nine-year-old watches as his dead father's possessions are hauled away: his clothes and tools, his faux-leather recliner. His sensei says it's a perfect time to turn his weaknesses into weapons. His PE teacher says he runs like a pregnant ostrich. His mother takes out a personal ad. Everyone is trying to teach him a lesson but he is, it seems, a slow learner. Meanwhile, with each passing day, his father recedes, growing less and less plausible, almost a myth.

These eight short stories are works of fiction but reflect the author's real personal experiences while undergoing compulsory military training during his youth in apartheid South Africa. The stories are all based on real events but the characters are the products of creative imagination, however rooted in reality they might be. Listeners will enjoy a range of humour and unusual incidents - frequently hilarious - along with perceptive insights into the trials and tribulations faced by a young man seeking an identity in a confusing world of military discipline and rigid conformity.