A return to hard-hitting, gritty sword and sorcery with an iconic and inspiring main character, the Rayden Valkyrie Tales are a growing collection of stand-alone novellas that will elate fans of the genre!
The Prowling the Darkness Blog Tour features reviews, interviews, guest posts, video, and top ten lists! As a novella, Prowling the Darkness is a shorter and quicker read for reviewers too!
BLURB
Dark rumors and whisperings of unholy sorcery bring Rayden Valkyrie to the remote city of Sereth-Naga.
There she finds a populace cowering in fear of the city’s ruthless, mysterious rulers, who remain behind the high walls of their citadel.
An even greater mystery surrounds the city.
Something is prowling the darkness.
Something that has kept the enigmatic rulers for centuries from escaping Sereth-Naga to spread their wickedness to other lands.
Prowling the Darkness is a stand-alone novella that is part of the Rayden Valkyrie Tales.
Links for Prowling the Darkness
Barnes and Noble Link for Prowling the Darkness: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prowling-the-darkness-stephen-zimmer/1131360526?ean=2940161456958
Why Sword and Sorcery is Perfect for a Character Like Rayden Valkyrie
I have received feedback from many readers who have come to love the Rayden Valkyrie character despite them not being avid readers of fantasy or sword and sorcery. I have always believed that readers of any genre can connect with Rayden Valkyrie in a profound way, but I also feel that the sword and sorcery genre is perfect ground for her stories and a character like her.
Sword and sorcery tales tend to follow a more linear narrative with an affection for heroic main characters. The plots thrive on the adventures of an individual, as opposed to the more broad-ranging plots like you find in genres like epic fantasy, which lends itself well to ensemble casts.
The genre also has a tendency to contain darker edges when it comes to the plots and various things encountered. Sword and sorcery realms have raw, unforgiving natures that often are brutal in their severity. The strong prey relentlessly on the weak, and those with wicked hearts find fertile ground to grow in power. Blood flows and the innocent die in savage ways.
The nature of the sword and sorcery genre, in my opinion, is what helps a character like Rayden Valkyrie really stand out. While she is a gritty, fearsome warrior, Rayden also has a strong honor code, empathy, and compassion. She is a genuine light in the darkness who faces her world with eyes wide open while simultaneously defying its harshness and cruelty.
She chooses to stand against the most wealthy and powerful, even kings, queens, emperors, and empresses, and defend those who are poor, weak, or lack influence. Rayden, as a person, is a rarer kind of anomaly within her world.
Many of her qualities stand out in stark contrast to the world that she lives in, and her possession of those qualities reflect the exceptional inner strength that I find makes her a heroine for all times and ages. The contrast is key, and the genre provides the foundation for it.
The predominance of individual adventures in the genre is ideal for the manner in which I am telling a large part of Rayden’s story; in stand-alone novellas, set at different periods in her life.
Rayden is a restless wanderer who is on a very personal lifetime quest, and her travels take her to lands far and wide within her world. The five stand-alone novellas currently available, Blood of a Queen, Winds of War, The Sun’s Caress, Across Desert Plains, and Prowling the Darkness, are all set in different lands, and the Dark Sun Dawn trilogy of novels explores even more geography in Rayden’s world.
Along the way, she faces a host of challenges and adversaries. The sword and sorcery genre provides fertile ground for creating intense, ominous scenarios, filled with situations where Rayden is pitted against opponents of great power who test both her inner and outer strengths to the limits. In another way of saying it, the genre enables her to shine.
It is the kind of environment in which a true heroine can be forged and thrive. I invite readers to explore the Rayden Valkyrie Tales, such as Prowling the Darkness, and the Dark Sun Dawn trilogy, and I am confident that they will discover such a heroine in Rayden Valkyrie.
Author Info
Stephen Zimmer is an award-winning author and filmmaker based out of Lexington Kentucky. His works include the Rayden Valkyrie novels (Sword and Sorcery), the Rising Dawn Saga (Cross Genre), the Fires in Eden Series (Epic Fantasy), the Hellscapes short story collections (Horror), the Chronicles of Ave short story collections (Fantasy), the Harvey and Solomon Tales (Steampunk), and the forthcoming Faraway Saga (YA Dystopian/Cross-Genre).
Stephen’s visual work includes the feature film Shadows Light, shorts films such as The Sirens and Swordbearer, and the forthcoming Rayden Valkyrie: Saga of a Lionheart TV Pilot.
Stephen is a proud Kentucky Colonel who also enjoys the realms of music, martial arts, good bourbons, and spending time with family.
Author Links:
Website: www.stephenzimmer.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephenzimmer7
Twitter: @sgzimmer
Instagram: @stephenzimmer7
Tour
Schedule and Activities
8/7 Armed with a Book Review
8/7 I Smell Sheep Guest Post
8/7 Fragile Winds Guest Post
8/8 The Most Sublime Review
8/8 Breakeven Books Guest Post
8/9 Armed with a Book Interview
8/10 Horror Tree Guest Post
8/10 Sheila's Guests and Reviews Guest Post
8/11 Speculative Fiction Spot Guest Post
8/12 Literary Underworld Guest Post
8/13 Jazzy Book Reviews Video Interview
8/13 The Book Junkie Reads Guest Post
8/14 Stuart Conover's Homepage Top Ten's List
8/14 Bookish Valhalla Review
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