THIS WAS ORIGINALLY FEATURED ON THE SHANNON MUIR’S INFINITE HOUSE OF BOOKS BLOG PRIOR TO 2020.
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Tucker Littlefield is a lair, a thief, a con-man . In an attempt to take advantage of a party thrown by the King, he becomes involved in a kidnapping – the King’s niece, Elizabeth, to be exact. Because of his fear of the dark as well as heights, and a good many other things, he finds himself stabbed and bleeding to death.
To save him, a Shaman for the Jonda – Daneba – turns him into a soul bearer for the Kindred. In an effort to find Lizie, Littlefield finds the Norha instead and their leader Tahki – a cannibalistic tribe the lives under a volcano that will leave no stone unturned to find Lizie. Littlefield is blackmailed into her recovery.
Transformed by a primitive magic beyond a civilized man’s understanding, I was given a horrible gift that no man should possess… It held me, twisted me, turning me at its bidding. I was enslaved by its power, compelled to devour the souls of the dead until I became the monster of my fears. I have seen things I wish never to see again. I have done things of which I wish never to speak. Yet I must if I am to find the answers to fulfill my hope.
I have walked upon blue ribbons of molten stone to peer into the depth of a man’s soul. I watched as a promise made at birth brought my friend Enon to sacrifice everything to become whole again – all in an effort to save the life of his child. I have cried without shame for the loss of all I hold dear and for fear that the future will hold more than I can bear. I am Tucker Littlefield. Know all that I say now is true-spoken
Excerpt from Praise for The Gift: Chronicles Tucker Littlefield by Tegon Maus
Excerpt 1
The trees had grown closer together their shade deepened and travel between them more difficult. I trotted next to Enon. His stride, an easy gate for him, was so enormous I had to make every effort to keep up.
At long last Enon stopped at the edge of a small opening in the trees. He held his hand over his head and gestured silently.
I had been so busy keeping up with him, I hadn’t noticed the others had spread out to the point they were no longer visible, all except Bowen and Enon himself. He gestured for my silence as a light breeze filtered through the trees. I settled onto the ground next to Bowen and waited, happy for the lull.
With a faint rustle of leaves he and the dog trotted away from us. The sound of a strange voice drifted from a short distance away.
Someone was talking to the dog. I sank lower, trying to burrow under the leaves at the base of a large tree. Bowen moved closer to me, hiding me with his body. I wanted to look and edged my way up to peek over his shoulder.
There, not more than fifty feet away, was a half-naked man. He was shorter than a Jonda but larger than me. From the back of his head grew a long tuft of black hair, braided with leather its full length. His head was shaved with this lone exception. It laid as a single entity across his back, cut square at the bottom of his hunched shoulders. He turned briefly toward us, I was shocked. His face was a dull, ruddy red and stood as stark contrast to the gray tone that covered the remainder of his body. Square, primitive, with a single brow and a protruding jaw his face was like no other I have ever seen. His body and arms were as muscled as any Jonda, only squatter, more compact standing on short powerful legs. He was covered only by a loincloth laced at the hip. It seemed unnatural he would be wearing anything at all.
Praise for Gift: Chronicles Tucker Littlefield by Tegon Maus
“Magical, is the first word, which came to my mind when I finished this story. Right from the very first page, I found myself totally captivated by Tucker’s storytelling of this wonderful adventure. Tucker Littlefield is an amazing character, when reading it I immediately thought of John Carpenter’s fisherman storyteller at the beginning of `The Fog’ film, where the children gather round as the scene is set… as, when reading it, I felt as if I too was actually there, sitting in the tavern, listening. I cannot praise this book enough; it truly deserves to become a classic, the stuff of legends. As far as I am concerned, it has a fantastic storyline, the author has created some wonderful characters and I believe it would make a brilliant film! I hope we shall be seeing more Chronicles of Tucker Littlefield in the future.”-Susan Keefe, Author or ‘Fantasy Farm Tales’
“I really enjoyed The Gift. The author is a fantastic world builder. I really felt transported into a new world with a unique magical system, not some kind of Tolkien knock-off. (so many stories these days are all about wizards and elves and dwarves). The main character, Tucker, was likeable and comical–a real person with human frailties and yearnings– and an unlikely hero everyone will root for. If you are looking for a fantasy novel that is not a Lord of the Rings rehash, then I think you’ll enjoy this one.”- Joseph N. Sidari, Amazon Reviewer
“This story is a very exciting and fast paced read. You will get wrapped up in the descriptions of the types of people who exist in the world. You will love the uniqueness to the magic. You will also discover that some things are left unknown. I enjoyed it very much..”- Phaedra Seabolt, Author of ‘Imperfection’
About Tegon Maus
Tegon Maus was raised pretty much the same as everyone else… devoted mother, strict father and all the imaginary friends he could conjure. Not that he wasn’t friendly, he just wasn’t “people orientated”. Maybe he lived in his head way more than he should have, maybe not. He liked machines more than people, at least he did until I met his wife.
The first thing he can remember writing was for her. For the life of him he can’t remember what it was about… something about dust bunnies under the bed and monsters in my closet. It must have been pretty good because she married him shortly after that. He spent a good number of years chasing other dreams before he got back to writing.
It wasn’t a deliberate conscious thought, it was more of a stepping stone. His wife and himself had joined a dream interpret group and we were encouraged to write down our dreams as they occurred. “Be as detailed as you can,” we were told.
He was thrilled. If there is one thing he enjoys it’s making people believe him and he likes to exaggerate. Not a big exaggeration or an outright lie mind you, just a little step out of sync, just enough so you couldn’t be sure if it were true or not. When he writes, he always write with the effort of “it could happen” very much in mind and nothing, he guarantees you, nothing, makes him happier.
He has consistently placed in the top 3 in 189 writing contest in a variety of genres and has been featured in magazines a couple of times to raise money for Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
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Teddy Rose
Thanks for taking part in the tour and hosting Tegon!