Sands of the Solar Empire (The Belmont Saga Book 1)

Splitting the book down the center made Sands a very disjointed book, where I introduce the plot and leave it hanging butt-first to the wind. I even had to contrive a manufactured ending where none of the plot is resolved at all—a total face-palm cliffhanger, and not a very good one at that. Against the Druries , being a much tighter, action-oriented story where the plot is resolved, was a much more well-appreciated book.

But now, under the Hydra brand, I finally get to correct that injustice and finally give Sands of the Solar Empire and Against the Druries the treatment they deserve and they will be republished as one book entitled The Belmont Saga. Finally, the story can be told as I meant for it to unfold, as one narrative with a beginning, middle and an end as all stories should have.

Plus, the book will feature a brand new cover by Carol Phillips and over 70 interior artworks with some being totally new. When I started this whole process last year, I figured it would be pretty easy to just compile the three books that make up the saga— The Dead Held Hands, The Machine and the Temple of the Exploding Head —and that would be it. I might as well have started from scratch. The whole Temple thing began life back in I wanted him to embark on a long quest, one where he would grow into manhood. The end result was the original Temple of the Exploding Head, which weighed in at a little over , words, which is a pretty big book.

That said, I was forced into editing the book into three roughly equal parts that were published over the next three years. Thing is, I never really liked it chopped into three parts.

Welcome to Loving the Book

I felt it was better whole, as one book. Flash forward around ten years. The time had come to re-assemble it into one large tome, as it was meant to be. In fact, some of them are quite terrifying.

Below is my Ren Presents podcast where I discuss the book, the characters, it origins and my thought processes as I came up with the concept. But, before we begin—a quick note of comments. Over 5 or 6 years, this blog has received only a handful of comments. Do you hate them? Say something—let me know all about it. I used it for about a year, and then was told, in no uncertain terms, that the cover came up short in a number of areas.

I determined that a change was needed. I took to the internet looking for an artist to redo the cover for Book 1. I sent her a note.

I sent Carol a number of scenes from the book and allowed her to pick which one she wanted to try. Nixies add a little drama to the scene. We used a grab of the city of Metatron for the back cover. Book 2 is without a doubt the most metaphysical and pastoral cover of the group. We usually select exact scenes from the various books, this one was more abstract, combining several scenes together as one.

We presented it as a wrap-around cover, with the scene extending to the spine and the back cover. Book 3 is the first in the Temple of the Exploding Head trilogy. It carries on the tradition of featuring Carahil on the cover, he has been on all three so far. I had to beg Carol for the green flags on the spires of vacant Castle Durst. Book 4 is one of my favorites. Thomasina 19th appears on the spine. I thought the Princess Marilith vending machine was a nice touch. I remember I was on vacation in Florida when we started working on this one. I think the results speak for themselves. Book 6 is the beginning of the Belmont Saga, featuring the intrepid Paymaster Stenstrom.

I like stories, unless they involve time-travel, to follow a definitive path. Any criticism I have about the non-linear qualities of this story are no commentary on the quality of this book — it is a wonderful read — but rather on my peculiar preferences. I still loved this book, but it drove me crazy reading it. The story jumps back to events preceding the front-end action, following Belmont or Bel as his friends call him , our hero, right back to the time prior to his birth. His adventures are thrilling. Description of his household, his sisters, his encounters with demons and the ladies he interacts with are colourful and vividly detailed.

The plot is just as intricate as his earlier novels and his world-building just as sublime. I wanted to know what happened to the folks he had left in the lurch, to the point where I was practically chewing my nails down to the nubs out of the frustration of having to wait. Apr 10, Ron rated it it was ok Shelves: A hundred pages of story almost lost among almost three hundred pages of back story.

Typical fantasy-SF mash-up with dribs of both scattered indiscriminately about. Good voice and interesting characters. Totally unbelievable plot, but it was that kind of story. There really wasn't a story. It was a hundred page lead-in to the next volume, which hopefully contains more story. Usually I give this type one star, but Garcia has a good voice a This was weird.

Usually I give this type one star, but Garcia has a good voice and the setup has great potential.

Friends of Garcia will continue to be entertained. Apr 08, Jay rated it really liked it Shelves: I really enjoyed The Shadow tech Goddess, so I was more than happy to read and review these books, too. I read The Shadow tech Goddess shortly before and after surgery, but I found the story so easy to follow that I only missed a few details due to the anesthesia-and-painkiller-induced fog I was in.

I love fantasy and sci-fi, but I often find some stories are almost impossible for me to read. Furthermore, as The Shadow tech Goddess is part of a series, I was worried I'd not be able to understand the characters relationships with one another. This wasn't the case at all, and I fell in love with the characters and their stories- Taara and A-Ram were my favourites. Getting the chance to read these characters from the start was fantastic. I already knew the characters, but getting to see them meet for the first time was a joy. While they've matured come The Shadow tech Goddess, I can still see their youth now, looking back.

I knew they were important on some level, but getting to read about how Belmont came to own these items and learn to wield them was good. It was a little unusual to have a page back story in the middle of a page novel, and I think this could have been laid out a little better, but on the other hand, it didn't particularly detract from the story at hand.

Knowing this book leads directly into Against the Druries makes it easier to understand, and reading some of the reviews, I think this may be where people struggled. The book does end at an unusual spot for a standalone novel. Normally I would keep another book in the series at close hand when reading part of a saga it's a habit- I love to cross reference , but as I recently moved, my copy of Shadow tech Goddess is So that did detract my usual cross referencing joy, but I'm not willingly to swim in a pile of cardboard boxes and books and risk getting nipped by a spider.

Again, I really love the illustrations. There weren't as many in this as there were in the later book. I'll be hitting up Against the Druries shortly, and with much enthusiasm. Jan 16, Dan The Spooky Horse rated it it was ok. I was really enjoyed the beginning of this book.

It was a fun opening to what promised to be a romping good space opera with a little magic thrown in. Bel and his newly appointed crew had stuck it to the admiralty and were all set to deliver the brandy and then the author pulls the rug out from under the reader and spends three quarters of the book telling us all about Bel's overbearing mother and upbringing.

When the story finally wound its way back to the present day we are left with a rushed I was really enjoyed the beginning of this book.

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When the story finally wound its way back to the present day we are left with a rushed climax and a cliffhanger. The tale that the blurb for this book advertises is never even concluded. No, we leave things four days away from Bazz after some demons infiltrate the ship. Oh, and a twist regarding Lilly that most readers will have figured out a hundred pages earlier. I liked the writing, characters and the story. I even liked the character portraits and other visual elements placed throughout the novel, although they threw me at first.

I did not like having to read a short novel's worth of history in the middle of the adventure I was actually there to read. It didn't work here, but I could have forgiven it had the author got around to finishing what he started. That said, I did enjoy the story and would have picked up the sequel if it had been available. With the back story out of the way I think the author could have a fun story on his hands. I suggest any potential readers way for the next book before starting this one.

Jan 09, William Bentrim rated it liked it. It appears to be the fourth book in the League of Elder series. Bel Stenstrom is the protagonist whose life is wound back from his current ship difficulties to look at what events in his childhood have created the man as he stands.

Flash backs from current to past are not that unusual. Only 1 left in stock more on the way. Available to ship in days. A Discovery in Ruins May 31, The House of Bloodstein Aug 12, Only 1 left in stock - order soon. The Temple of the Exploding Head Mar 01, Provide feedback about this page.

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