Bound by an ancient oath, Edric is protecting a powerful secret ...
Anglo-Saxon Edric is a Varangian, the member of an elite military force in medieval Constantinople. Being part secret service agent, part imperial security detail, he is privy to all kinds of secrets and intrigues in a strategically significant city embroiled in wars as well as internal political turmoil. But Edric is taken by surprise, when he finds out that his friend, an alchemist from Persia, has given him superpowers and wants him to protect the Stone of Babylon - by any means necessary.
This task sends Edric on a mind-bending journey of epic proportions, full of exciting clashes with warriors and supernatural beings, dangerous alchemy, time travel, fantastical machines, and the acquaintances of strikingly beautiful members of the opposite sex (and not all of them seem to be concerned with his well-being).
A journey that not only will reveal to him the purpose of the Stone of Babylon, but also show him his true strength.
"Varangian: The Stone of Babylon" is the first book in the Varangian Trilogy.
The second book, "Varangian: The Assassins of Teneo Mundus" will be published in Fall 2012:
Two heroes, two different worlds - and not a lot of time left to prevent their destruction!
One of Edric's former enemies, medieval knight Count Baldwin, who inadvertently ended up in the supernatural realm of Teneo Mundus, is confronted with protecting a small group of refugees in a world he perceives as true hell.
On Earth, Edric is juggling the tasks of defending himself against assassins from Teneo Mundus, finding the artifacts which help him stop the destruction of both this world and Earth, and traveling with two smart, beautiful women whose characters are constantly on opposite sides.
The third book in the series, "Varangian: The Hidden Empire" is planned to be published in 2013.
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From the Author
This book is part of the VARANGIAN trilogy.
The second part, "Varangian: The Assassins of Teneo Mundus ", is now available on Amazon for the Kindle and as a paperback edition.
Edric, the protagonist in this book, also appears as the young male lead character in a Young Adult Fantasy/Romance/Action/Adventure book series I'm also currently working on. The first book in this series, "The Secret Order of Maracanda ", is available on Amazon.
This YA book series has a female main protagonist, but also covers Edric's experiences before his superpowers are fully developed, and before he embarks on his big life-changing mission in the VARANGIAN trilogy.
(The cover of this book was updated in 2015. The designer is Amygdala Designs.)
About the Author
S. K. Atkins began writing her first Science Fiction and Fantasy short stories in her early teens on an old typewriter she found hidden away in her family's belongings. As a self-proclaimed book addict, history and poetry buff (already as a four-year-old she could recite entire poems), she knew she wanted to follow in the footsteps of her grandfather who was a writer and philosopher. While growing up in the southern German state of Bavaria, an area full of history and folklore, she fell in love with the English language. Eventually, she immigrated to the US, and she is now realizing her dream of combining whimsical elements of Old World folk tales with unique characters and the fast-paced imagery of modern blockbuster movies.
When she's not writing, she catches up on the latest news in science and technology, or hikes in the rolling hills of middle Tennessee with her energetic Border Collie Logan.