The Tides of Avarice: A Sagaria Legend
(Fantasy)
By John Dahlgren
Price $14.95
ISBN #978-9814260534
460 Pages
Rating 5-Stars
“A Fantastical Swashbuckling Fantasy Adventure!”
Young Sylvester Lemmington is a mild
mannered librarian and archivist in the peaceful land of Foxglove, where the
citizens only worry is the ruthless town mayor. Then one night, the lemming
encounters a dying pirate on the shore of the Great Wet Without End. The
pirate, a mean-looking ferret named Levantes, leaves a portion of a map in the
hands of the young Sylvester. It was a map that would lead the lad and his
loved one, Viola on a dangerous and deadly mission across the ocean aboard a
pirate ship with the worst rogues to ever fly the Jolly Roger skull and
crossbones. At the end of the journey no one would ever be the same again.
The world of Sagaria is populated with
intelligent animals, and the pirate crew is a mixed bag of ferrets, skunks,
weasels, rats, mongoose, and other assorted vicious creatures, and led by the
notorious fox, Cap’n Rustbane, a murdering rascal who will stop at nothing to
get the three portions of the map in his own possession.
Children from nine to ninety-nine will love
this wonderful fantasy yarn as it unravels over this huge volume. Every kid
whoever fought imaginary pirates on the bank of some muddy river bottom will be
pulled into the tale as he fights along side Sylvester to protect the virtue of
his love, Viola and her mother.
Tom Johnson
Echoes Magazine
JOHN DAHLGREN ADAPTS
CLASSICAL FANTASY STORYTELLING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Swedish award-winning
author heads to U.S. for first ever book tour overseas
December 2012 – A
librarian lemming took readers on a nautical pirate’s adventure in The
Tides of Avarice, landing in a fantasy world set three hundred years
earlier in John Dahlgren’s second young adult novel Sagaria. The
Swedish author travels over seas himself for his first U.S. book tour in winter
2013.
As a trained psychologist, it’s no surprise most
of the high praise Dahlgren has received for his writing focuses on the
three-dimensional characters he’s created. Readers are
particularly entranced by Tides villain Cap’n Rustbane’s
constant mood shifts as a highly intelligent yet brutal man suffering from
schizophrenia.
“Each character is unique and I’ve tried to get
into their heads – definitely a work related hazard, being a psychologist – to
see how each and every one of them would react when facing an unexpected
situation,” Dahlgren said. “They also learn a lot about themselves during their
adventures together.”
Having grown up close to the vast and untamed
landscapes of Scandinavia, Dahlgren was influenced from an early age by
the Nordic sagas and mythologies. The enchanting environment is evident in his
young adult tales that re-introduce the Victorian writing style and a touch of
cozy fairytale surroundings.
Dahlgren also spent time researching the books at
natural history museums to compare animal sizes and traits, in Stockholm to
study a well-preserved ship from the 17th century,
and all throughout the caves, mountains and castles of Switzerland.
“Even when writing fiction and fantasy, things
have to make at least some real sense. Otherwise, the story collapses
and the reader’s interest lost,” Dahglren explains. “As Mark Twain once said,
‘The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make
sense.’”
Tides became a Fantasy
Fiction finalist in the International Book Awards and Silver Medal winner in
Fantasy Fiction from ForeWord’s
Book of the Year Awards. The magazine said the debut was “as cheering and as
engaging a swashbuckling yarn as any a pirate lover could imagine.” Readers
were just as pleased with Dahlgren’s second novel Sagaria, which
re-releases as a three-part eBook series in January 2013.
Hugo and World Fantasy award-winning author John
Grant describes Dahlgren as “constantly inventive,” and Bestsellersworld.com calls him “a
masterful storyteller.” Lifestyle Magazine said Tides is
“reminiscent of a furry version of Pirates of the Caribbean. The
characters are endearing and the story has both depth and soul.” Book blogger Ray Mears said she found herself
“outflanked” by Dahlgren, thinking she knew where the story was going, “only to
find it took a completely unexpected turn. That hasn’t happened for a while.
Buy it, read it,
love it. Yarghhhhhh!”
Dahlgren studied creative and fiction writing at
Oxford University. A member of the Swiss Psychologist Federation, he has also
written nonfiction articles for numerous scientific journals and a Swedish
magazine.
