The Hero Chronicles: A New Christian/Fantasy Adventure Unleashed

The Hero Chronicles: A New Christian/Fantasy Adventure Unleashed

"What is your name?"

The prisoner's eyes rolled up to stare into those of the Dark Lady. As he replied, his voice echoed with the same undecipherable emotion as her own: "Bryan Thomas."

"Good. And whom do you serve and swear total allegiance to?"

"You, my Lady, the Dark Lady, the Princess of the Night."

"And who is our enemy?"

Here the prisoner hesitated. The Dark Lady repeated the question more slowly, warning flickering in the flames of her voice.

"Who is our enemy?"

"Chasmira Eriz, also called the Princess of Destiny Future," the prisoner replied.

"Good. And what is your purpose?"

"To bring her to you...so you may destroy her."

The Dark Lady smirked with cold triumph. "Good. You've learned well. Now go, and do not fail me."

The prisoner arose, bowed, and left the room, maintaining his emotionless expression, clutching the gem in his pocket which burned into his palm, searing his flesh. As soon as he slipped from her presence, he allowed the hot tears to spring into his eyes.

Above is an excerpt from The Princess of Destiny and the Princess of the Night, book five in Christine E. Schulze's brand new, five-book series, The Hero Chronicles, available now in both paperback and ebook form on Amazon.

The series, packed with magic, adventure, mystery, humor, romance, and Christian allegory, follows Chasmira as she attends her first year at the Lynn Lectim Amielian Academy for Fairies and Elves. Quite a mouthful of a name. Even so, this series is packed. While the characters start their adventures at school, they branch out into different worlds and even different times throughout the series.

A collage of characters which progress in their complexity throughout the series also adds a nice layer of intrigue. Besides following Aaron and Chasmira, the books also follow a collection of minor but still important characters, such as the humorous Rachel and the prankster, Josh. Perhaps most interesting
are the carefully interspersed scenes between Tiffany and Dristann, the mysterious couple of the bunch.

The Hero Chronicles is actually a part of a much larger, over-arching series, a twenty-seven book collection entitled The Amielian Legacy.

The Amielian Legacy combines intricate plots and deep, multi-layered characters. All of the books connect in some way or other to create a cohesive whole.

While each piece can exist separately, if that piece is removed from the whole, readers will be missing out on something. Christine E. Schulze enjoys combining classic fantasy elements like fairies and dragons with unique elements such as the musical Octavial Eight or the Surpriser peoples. She enjoys experimenting with language and doing something different with each new work, like in Bloodmaiden where the first five chapters are written in present tense to really give readers the feel they're actually in the scene. She's not afraid to include darker elements in her books, especially when they help contrast moments of light and hope. And finally, she includes Christian values, principles, and concepts. Some books directly mention God while others refer to Him by a more allegorical name such as Amiel or Aryel. However, unlike a lot of Christian/Fantasy in which God is strictly allegorical, throughout The Amielian Legacy, it is discovered that Aryel and Amiel and all other such allegorical references are the same as the actual Christian God. Actual Scriptures are mentioned throughout the books. The difference in names spawns from the fact that various races had different names for God depending on their different cultures and languages. Many of the stories take place in or around Loz, which is a magical, small portion of North America before Europeans "discovered" it.  Actually, the Lozolians as well as Surprisers would often travel to Europe and Asia to study those cultures. This is how they learned of God, or "Amiel," as His name is translated in the Surpriser tongue. Schulze actually considers The Amielian Legacy a tribute to U.S.A. mythology in the same sense that Lord of the Rings is a mythology of European countries. Another note concerning Amiel is that while He is mentioned throughout the books, not much is revealed about His history until the last book, Carousel in the Clouds.

A good thing about the books is that they're not "preachy." While a couple touch on the subject of salvation, most touch on subjects like love or forgiveness which are universal to all beliefs. These principles are well woven into layers of magic, world-building, intriguing characters, and intricate plots, making them seem appropriate instead of ill-placed.

Christine E. Schulze has been creating books since she was about four, starting with books just containing pictures and working her way up now to crafting novels for young adults. She loves not only writing but also drawing character illustrations and coverart for her books, as well as composing instrumental music to accompany them. She recently released her first album, the Stregoni Symphony, on Amazon.

Well, hopefully, this article has given you some insight not only into The Hero Chronicles, but The Amielian Legacy as a whole. Hopefully, I've wet your appetite enough to interest you in picking up a copy of The Hero of 1000 Years for yourself and delving into what is meant to be a long, timeless, ageless adventure.

--Christine E. Schulze

[Note: Christine's short story The Dream Catcher will appear on Kalkion.com next Monday. Please write to us if you are interested in getting a free copy of an e-book of Christine's latest novel.]