The Warlock's Chair. A place of magic and adventure. Long ago when the world was young the Faerie races ruled far and wide across the lands of the Earth. Then with the coming of Man, they disappeared into myth and legend. But they had survived. Hidden away in the secret places known only to a few humans. An ancient prediction told that there would come a day when the evil known as Ravengaard would return to seek revenge on those who had imprisoned him. And that once again the Faerie Folk would be forced to come out of hiding and confront their old nemesis. The prophecy also foretold of three children whose lives would forever become entwined with those of the Faerie Folk. They would appear in their time of need. That time is now... **** DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ****

************************************************************************************** An outcast rogue must break a curse put on his fate, or die on his nineteenth birthday. To survive, he'll need the sword of a maiden, the aid of an immortal, and the power of forbidden magic that could cost him the only girl he ever loved. ************************************************************************************ *** THE JACK OF SOULS won a Silver IPPY this year! *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the PNWA Competition in Fantasy! * *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the Southwest Writers competition! * *** A "Featured Book" on Wattpad! * *** Now a "Staff Pick" on Kickstarter! * *** Available on Amazon in paper, hardback, and ebook ! * *** My contract with Kindle Select won't allow me to post more than 3 chapters here, but... *** Sign up for my newsletter on stephenmerlino.com for alerts when it's free on Amazon! * MY INSPIRATION I wrote this out of pure love of trickster rogues; I love the wit over brawn motif -- Odysseus over Achilles, Raven over Eagle -- so I like to play with it in my stories. In JOS I set the rogue and con-artist Harric against a foil of warriors in a land threatened by magic and civil war. Whenever possible I turn familiar tropes on their heads: instead of a handsome young Lancelot, I cast a broken-down ex-champion addicted to pain-killing herbs; instead of a dashing Squire Brian, the old knight reluctantly takes an ambitious young woman as squire. Similarly, I re-imagine the standard medieval milieu by infusing aspects of two of my favorite historical periods, Elizabethan England, and The American Frontier. Both eras boast a kind of nationalistic arrogance that borders on hubris, and a magnificent spirit of resourcefulness and re-invention that is fun to play with. SERIES The Jack of Souls is first in a series. I am posting parts of the sequel here now (The Knave of Souls), to help me refine the story.

Teenage Gerent is thrown into a world of magic where he is expected to be a hero, but he was never a hero, just a clutz and a disappointment. Now with magic to contend with as well can he ever get things right? Unintentionally he starts on the trail of his unknown father but will he ever get home to his twin brother and his mother again?