Books with author John Carrol

Book 1 of the Willden Trilogy.Ryallon is a vast world surrounded by chaotic energies. Humans live on a few of the continents separated by massive oceans, but many areas of the world are unexplored and filled with enormous forests, endless deserts and majestic mountain ranges. The light of two moons, Siahray and Piohray keep the night skies bright.Tathan left home at the age of fifteen to travel the world. He found adventure along the way, but it wasn’t always the sort a young man dreamed of. Most of it was much darker with dark alleys, knives, and a primal struggle for life at the lowest levels rather than dragons, maidens, knights and treasure. Fourteen years later, he has come home to the valley where he grew up.Liselle is a young woman of seventeen years whose parents wish her to marry soon. However, marriage is the last thing on her mind when she has never seen anything beyond the lonely valley where she lives. Liselle spends much of her time talking to the flowers about how she feels. They listen intently to her every word.Vevin is . . . well . . . something else entirely. His home was recently stolen from him by a terrible creature who hurt him badly. Now he is searching for a new home. Preferably something with a large area to keep his treasure . . . once he acquires some.Sir Danth is the greatest of the ancient Knights of Morhain . . . Of course, he’s the only Knight of Morhain still alive . . . sort of alive . . . only different.Rumors are spreading about a new race called Rojuun. They appeared from the depths of the mountains eight-hundred years ago with the intention of taking over the world. It is their understanding that humans exist to serve them, but are disappointed that humans don’t seem to be aware of that fact.The companions are charged with finding out more about this race of Rojuun. Will they be entranced by beautiful music flowing through the air, or will they die a horrible death in the darkest depths of the world? And exactly who, or what, is Vevin anyway?The Willden Trilogy is an epic fantasy that follows the adventures of Tathan and his companions through the Willden Forest and into the depths of the world. A new race called Rojuun has appeared in the world and is threatening to make humans their servants. It is the companions’ task to learn more and perhaps rescue a princess if they have the time.

From BBC Books. It starts with a series of unexplained events. Earth tremors across the globe. Women being driven insane by their scrambled senses. Governments and scientists are bewildered and silent. The world needs Torchwood, but there's not much of Torchwood left. Captain Jack Harkness has tracked the problem to its source: a village in Peru, where he's uncovered evidence of alien involvement. In Cardiff, Gwen Cooper has discovered something alien and somehow connected to Jack. If the world is to be restored, she has to warn him - but she's quickly becoming a victim of the madness, too... Scheduled in stores 10/02/13. (235)

Circumstances force Tathan of the Shadows out of his comfortable lifestyle in the palace of Mayncal. With no other plans, he accepts a job from an old friend that sends him into the Western Kingdoms where bounties on his head make travel a dangerous game.Obsession of Tathan’s habits and deeds has made one bounty hunter an expert on the infamous rogue. Using deadly magic and an unusual companion, the bounty hunter has set a trap for Tathan that even he will have a difficult time overcoming. But can the bounty hunter survive their own insanity long enough to accomplish the mission?The cursed fortress town of Coomican was one of the most disturbing places Tathan had ever visited. The Zombie Duke Yabert Matho controls an army of necromancers and undead who keep the corrupt city free from the control of any country. Dangerous and powerful individuals have gathered there to collect on the one who caused them trouble.Cows once spent their lives chewing cud and mooing casually about things no one cared about. All that has changed. Their greatest hatred in all of Ryallon is the one called Tathan of the Shadows. Will they ruin everyone’s plans?And what of the flowers?Join Tathan and enemies in their quest to survive in a world of magic, zombies, cows, a big squirrel and other dangers.The Crazed Series is the continuation of the Willden and Wyvern Trilogies. Beings of great power manipulate the world, sometimes to the benefit of mere mortals, but more often to their detriment. Join the odd and often unwilling heroes of Ryallon as they face threats to humanity.

Book 4 of the Wyvern SeriesWar is an everyday fact of life for peasants in the Kingdom of Paruth. Ghosts of soldiers remember battles nobody won. Skeletons of abandoned houses mourn the echoes of families long gone. Smiles are few and far between on the faces of peasants. And none of their wise sayings make any sense.Constant, dreary rain dampens Pelya’s spirits as she rides Honey through these forlorn lands. Her mission for the Cloudswept bank fell to a dead end in the dungeons under Riell Castle. Recovered papers may hold clues to the fate of the Rojuun named Rruum Tarrrii, but they’re written in an ancient language and only readable with the use of an enchanted monocle.The influence of the Black Scale Guild is far greater than she ever imagined. Their leader, Tyeromaythan-Devourer of Gods, knows who Pelya is and wants her captured. The plots that banished her from Dralin and the Blue Wyverns are directly linked to the guild, as is her current mission.Of greater worry to Pelya are her new friends Verna, Calren and an energetic wyvern by the name of Nervy. In the past, she has led friends to sorrow and death. Now, with a price on her head and her inclination to take on ever more dangerous missions, Pelya has every reason to believe she will bring these idealistic new adventurers to their deaths too.Adventure is everything Calren had hoped and more. He had more treasure than he had ever dreamed of. They had plans to visit places he had only dreamed of. He traveled with the two most beautiful women in the world. However, neither show any interest in him. And no one had ever communicated how terrible killing someone felt.Verna has begun to regret her excursion into human lands. Humans are cruel and violent. How they tolerate never-ending war is incomprehensible. If not for Calren and Pelya, she might despair of hope. Now she just needs to convince them to end all war and bring peace to the world. That shouldn’t be too hard.Nervy wasn’t thrilled with his name. He adored Verna and her friends though. Traveling with them was far more interesting than flying around the forest and running away from dragons.Clues lead the group to the lands of Lord Boagberll and his Huntmaster where the peasants have suffered worse than any other part of Paruth. They will find answers to the Black Scale Guild, the Cloudswept Bank and the Rojuun. They’ll discover even more questions. And maybe in the end, they’ll figure out how to do something about the war.The Wyvern Series is a swords-and-sorcery series following the journeys of Pelya Jornin. After leaving Dralin, she travels the world searching out injustices and her purpose in life. Along the way, she makes many friends and even more enemies.

Now that the siege of Thagnor City has been lifted, Great King Kalvan finally has some breathing room. Styphon’s House has left the Upper Middle Kingdoms to lick its wounds and make trouble elsewhere in the Great Kingdoms. However, instead of waiting for the ruling houses to realize they no longer need Styphon’s House’s support, the Temple has decided to put its own puppets on the thrones of the Five Great Kingdoms. The result is Kalvan’s greatest fear—an all-out religious war. Styphon’s Own Voice has ordered Grand Master Soton to put together another huge army, the Host of Styphon’s Deliverance, to conquer the Kingdom of Hos-Agrys. The Agrysi League of Dralm begs Kalvan for aid against Styphon’s great host, but Kalvan has troubles of his own with Nythros, the last bastion of Styphon’s House in the Middle Kingdoms. He is more worried about this threat than anything that is happening in the Five Great Kingdoms. After all, where was the League of Dralm when Hostigos was under siege? A decision Kalvan may yet come to rue….Meanwhile, Prince Phidestros has his own problems. Great King Lysandros is returning from the disastrous siege of Thagnor with his tail between his legs. But Lysandros is not going to be happy when he finds out what’s been going on in Harphax City while he’s been off fighting Kalvan—nor will Styphon’s House. Verkan Vall is enjoying the challenges of being the new King of Greffa, but in his absence things on First Level have gone straight to hell. New Paratime Police Chief Dalla Hadron is having the devil’s own time keeping the lid on the prole situation and it seems as though trouble is brewing all over Dhergabar City. After ten thousand years of peace and parasitically living off of other time-lines, the hounds of war are finally returning to Home Time Line with a vengeance!

The 128-year dynasty of the Komneni (1057 to 1185) was the last great epoch of Byzantium, when the empire had to fend off Turkish and Norman foes simultaneously. Starting with the extremely able Alexios I, and unable now to count on help from the West, the Komneni played their strategic cards very well. Though the dynasty ended in cruelty and incompetence under Andronikos I (the Terrible), it fought a valiant rear-guard action in keeping eastern Christendom alive. The Komnene dynasty saw several changes in Byzantine military practice, such as the adoption of heavy cavalry on the western model, the extensive use of foreign mercenaries and the neglect of the navy (both of which were to prove a huge and possibly fatal disadvantage). A chapter is devoted to the famous Varangian Guard, which included many Saxons in exile following the Norman conquest of England. The terrible defeat at Myriokephalon in 1176 sealed the doom of the dynasty, preparing the way for the conquest of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusaders.

Book 3 of the Wyvern SeriesAfter banishment from Dralin and expulsion from the Blue Wyverns, Pelya Jornin is now an agent of the Cloudswept Bank charged with recovering valuables. The job allows her to travel the world while keeping her skills sharp. Past failures have led to a vow to travel alone so as not to endanger lives of those she cares about.When the bank offers her an assignment to rescue one of the mysterious Rojuun, she jumps at the chance to learn more about them. Rumors of Rojuun attempts to enslave the human race have worried her since her first meeting with them in Dralin and more so since her failed mission in the mountains south of Swelth.The mission takes her deep into the war-torn country of Paruth where women aren’t allowed to wear swords and magic is forbidden. Signs of the Black Scale Guild appear, bringing further intrigue along with grave danger.Calren has avoided mandatory conscription into his lord’s army for as long as possible, but time is up. Rather than join the endless and futile war, he packs his things and abandons the farm for a life of adventure. But Paruth isn’t the sort of kingdom where deserters are tolerated.Verna, a Druid wilder than the forest she grew up in, needs to escape heartbreak. She skips down the road to learn more about humans and discover why they try so hard to kill each other.Pelya seeks answers to events in her past that sent her life spinning. She fears what those answers may bring. More than anything, she worries about the fate of those who would attempt to be her friends. Will her actions get people killed yet again?The Wyvern Series is a swords-and-sorcery series following the journeys of Pelya Jornin. After leaving Dralin, she travels the world searching out injustices and her purpose in life. Along the way, she makes many friends and even more enemies.

Book three of the Willden Trilogy begins shortly after the events of book two. Tathan and his companions are on a mission to return Princess Anilyia to the Kingdom of Mayncal. The others begin to learn more about Tathan of the Shadows and his murky past. It seems that everyone else in the world knows more about his exploits than his friends.His past isn’t the only one presenting problems for the companions. Sir Danth is missing his body and begins to wonder what truly happened to his people. Vevin has avoided telling the others about his time before joining them, bringing even more questions.Princess Anilyia stays as far away from Vevin as possible because she is certain he intends to nom her. After all, princesses are not protected from his kind.Their journey takes them through the country of Kethril. Getting the princess home appears to be a more daunting task than rescuing her was. The King of Kethril has a problem and wants to find adventurers to help. To make things worse, the green-eyed lady is still hunting Tathan.Will the companions be able to accomplish the mission? Do they truly understand each other? Can Tathan keep from falling in love with a forbidden princess? Will Vevin’s past come back to haunt him? Do any of them truly know who, or what Liselle is after all?The Willden Trilogy is an epic fantasy that follows the adventures of Tathan and his companions through the Willden Forest and into the depths of the world. A new race called Rojuun has appeared in the world and is threatening to make humans their servants. It is the companions’ task to learn more and perhaps rescue a princess if they have the time.

Liselle has spent the last few years living the life of adventure she always wanted. Yet she struggles with the suffering she has seen along the way. Too many people in the world hurt each other and all her efforts to understand why lead her to more questions than answers. As her powers grow, the question of who she really is, or what she really is becomes a greater mystery.By her side through everything is her mate Vevin, a dragon of unusual origin and behavior. He grows more concerned with Liselle’s struggles and her penchant for throwing them into danger more often than not. To make matters worse, they haven’t discovered nearly enough treasure in their adventures to fill a dragon’s cave.Teluith and Reben aren’t the best sort of bandits. They try to avoid killing whenever possible, and they’d rather not steal things. Their band, the Angry Porcupines, isn’t very happy with them about that sort of behavior. Yet it’s difficult for a monk and a wizard to find decent work on a new continent. Perhaps they will find a new purpose to suit their goals in life.Hidden forces are at work within the world, pulling the strings of mortals. Danger appears in unexpected places and dark forces attempt to influence Liselle without revealing who they are. It is an unwelcome complication in an already confusing life.Join Liselle, Vevin and their new friends as they try to discover the meaning of life, and perhaps find a little treasure along the way.The Crazed Trilogy is the continuation of the Willden and Wyvern Trilogies. Beings of great power manipulate the world, sometimes to the benefit of mere mortals, but more often to their detriment. Join the odd, and often unwilling, heroes of the world of Ryallon as they face threats to humanity

Book 3 of the Dralin Trilogy:At the age of nineteen, Pelya Jornin is a master of the sword. Her best friend, Lady Ebudae Pallon, has a talent in the arcane arts far beyond her age. The two young women have spent their youth exploring Dralin and ruins beneath the city.Sir Imbra, a holy knight of the Goddess Reanna, has told Pelya since she was a child that he would one day need her help. That day has come as a new force in the city threatens the future of all.Pelya has been raised within the Dralin City Guard since birth, but her position, and her life, is now in peril. Pelya’s father asks for help from someone who may be more dangerous than any other threat to his daughter.Will Pelya’s sword arm be enough to battle a force beyond anything she’s seen? Will Ebudae’s power overcome the might of potent magic? In a city filled with despair, can the hopes and efforts of such talented individuals win the day? The Dralin Trilogy is a dark, swords-and-sorcery fantasy series following the lives of a few unusual individuals as they desperately try to survive in the sinister city of Dralin.