Now Available: Tragon of Ramura - John M. Whalen

A dream starts Tragon of Ramura and his friend/bodyguard Yusef Ahmed on a search for an amulet said to be the source of the most powerful magic in the universe, Their search leads them to the lost city of Caiphar and the beautiful and mysterious Sai-Ul-San, high priestess of the cult of Zoth-Amin. Tragon finds the Crimson Eye of Caiphar, but the city holds dark secrets of an evil a thousand years old that threaten to unleash a demon intent on destroying the world. Can Tragon defeat the ancient forces that rule Caiphar, or will he remain trapped forever in the Tower of Lost Souls?

Flying W Press announces the release of John M. Whalen’s new sword and sorcery novel, TRAGON OF RAMURA. It’s a novel deeply rooted in the traditions of the sword and sorcery genre, but which attempts to take that kind of story into a new realm.

Tragon of Ramura is a character that has been around a while. He first appeared in 2006 in a short story, “Island of Fear,” published in Howard Andrew Jones’ Flashing Swords e-zine. “That was the first cash money I ever got for a short story,” author John Whalen said. “Howard said he thought I had something with the characters of Tragon and his sidekick, Yusef Ahmed. I think he was right. So I finally gave them their own novel.”

 

Tragon and Yusef also were also featured in Christopher Heath’s Artifacts and Relics anthology, and another antho, “Shadows and Light,” published by the now defunct Pill Hill Press. They have also been published in Greece and translated into Greek.

In TRAGON OF RAMURA, our two adventurers are in search of the Crimson Eye of Caiphar, said to be the source of the most powerful magic in the universe. Tragon believes he must obtain it in order to return home from exile and combat the evil wizard who assassinated his king and framed him for the killing. In the Lost City of Caiphar Tragon encounters the beautiful and mysterious Sai-Ul-San, high priestess of the cult of Zoth-Amin. The priestess agrees to help Tragon in his quest, but can they overcome the dark forces that rule the city and defeat an ancient god who threatens to destroy the world? And what terrible secret is the priestess hiding?

“I didn’t want to write the same old Robert E. Howard Conan pastiche,” Whalen said. “It’s been done to death. The book has some of the usual tropes, but they’re handled in a different way, and mixed with some mind-bending ideas that S&S fans probably haven’t seen in this context before. It’s a combination of horror and adventure, and some far out things. It’s different.”