In a time when only one god's influence remained on the continent and magic had all but disappeared, a terrible demon lord appeared. It was said that the Demon lord was the vilest, ugliest, most barbaric being to have ever walked the earth: Laughing in the face of death time upon time again, taming the horrible man-eating dragon, causing the whole continent to be driven into chaos and war, killing innocents upon innocents, all the while remaining immortal. The Demon Lord laughed while covered in blood, basking in the glee of despair. However, no one knew where this demon lord had come from, or who it was. This is the legend of the Flower Demon Lord, and what really happened. Are you prepared? Ellie flower suddenly becomes the Ciel of the Dark Element, steadily seeing her golden hair and green eyes turn a deathly silver and creepy golden, respectively. Her skin is becoming sickly pale, and she only sees death ahead of her... Deciding to take things into her own hands, she goes on an adventure, friends tagging along, to become the Light Ciel and prevent her own death. However...Why are stories of a Demon Lord following behind her every move? A story showing the discrepancy between the stories of Legends, and actual reality.

************************************************************************************** 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.