Berserker Trilogy - Book I

Listen to the interview with the author here

Author: J. W. Webb (USA)  

About the author:  I was born near Doncaster England in the early sixties but later moved south to Sussex, where I lived for many years. One of my (several schools) was at Battle, a small town named after that historic conflict in 1066. You know the one, it culminated with poor Harold getting that arrow in his eye and those rude Normans invading our green and pleasant land. Growing up so close to that scene of ancient carnage awarded me a fascination for all things Dark Age. I'd fallen victim to a weird and random imagination, resulting in a love of epic stories and epic story telling. This affliction prompted me to delve deep into the worlds of Tolkien, Peake, Eddison and Moorcock. Also about this time I commenced drawing imaginary maps and inventing stories about wonderfully nasty folk, doing wonderfully nasty things, whilst pent up in gloomy unpleasant places.

Then at 18 years daft, I found myself thrust deep into the Queen's Household Cavalry. How I arrived there I cannot quite recall. The result was a sharp dose of reality. But not a cure – the affliction ran deep. I left the regiment, and for a time wandered hazy through life hitting nails with hammers, sailing brigantines through southern waters, drinking venomous concoctions with venomous companions, and yes, reading lots more ghastly fantasy books. At 27 years I became to a degree sensible. I married my beloved Rae, a watercolour artist and passionate Celt, and got a sensible career hauling trucks around the British countryside. The trouble with hauling trucks around the British countryside is that it lets the mind ramble willy nilly, when not being tortured by local radio. The result of that rambling was more stories flittering around inside this errant trucker's dizzy head.

Then, during one dark winter night back in 1993, whilst parked forlorn outside a dreary inn, something profound happened. I stumbled into Corin an Fol: a moody, rather difficult individual, mooching about in a deep tangled wood (my imagination). That wood grew into a world (not as hard as it sounds when you write fantasy stuff). The world became Ansu, home to all manner of mismatched mortals and grumpy gods. Late 2001 a plot appeared through the murky trees. It found Corin lost and wandering and introduced him to some other unruly types, resulting in The Shattered Crown. This epic debut was scrawled out with biro ink on paper and still lurks somewhere close. I'm too scared to read it. But The Shattered Crown couldn't contain its characters. These were (and still are) a very rough lot. They demanded a sequel. Instead (just to show who the boss was,) I focussed on a prequel, Fall of Gol being the result. But still the characters would not leave me alone. And so started The Legends of Ansu a forthcoming series of otherworldly tales, mostly involving Corin and his friends.

In late 2012 Rae lost her battle with cancer. I had always promised her a Cornish ghost story based on one of her evocative paintings. And so was born a novella called The Haven. A spooky yarn blending mystery and suspense with past and present. I hope that she likes it. We both loved Cornwall where we lived for many years. During our time there I met with Roger Garland the Tolkien Illustrator, who kindly consented to creating some fabulous images and illustrations for my work. And also designing this superb website! During 2013 I left the world of big wheels behind and focussed instead on writing full time. I moved to Georgia, married my gorgeous former shipmate Joanne, who I've known for 30 years.

Since then I have rewritten Fall of Gol shortening it's title to Gol and finally (with substantial assistance from my erudite and excellent editor, Catherine Romano) re-shaped The Shattered Crown into a rivetingly nasty read. After twenty-one years in the woods, I was more than ready to unleash these first two offerings in the Ansu series along with The Haven. The Lost Prince followed in 2015, and this year (2017) has seen the release of The Glass Throne, Gray Wolf, and The Legends of Corin an Fol Boxed set, (The Shattered Crown, The Lost Prince, and The Glass Throne in one.) 2018 will witness two more books in the Legends series: Journeyman, and The Giant's Dance. The journey will continue with more books blending myth and legends, sword and sorcery, with gritty dialogue and cold hard steel. JWW 2017.

About the book: 

An eye for an eye is the warrior’s way. And that wretched witch killed his father…

Jaran Saerk lets vengeful wrath guide his blade. As scarred in youth by his dad’s murder as he is by battle now, the much-feared Northman berserker has grown into a master of meting out death. But his latest victim spills more than his dying guts when he reveals clues to the deadly sorceress Jaran vowed to make pay.

Blind to the location of the mist-veiled island housing the treacherous spellcaster, the swordsman allies with both a fire-tongued escaped slave and a cunning thief. But with enemies from former conquests closing in and the conjurer summoning more foes, a fury-filled frenzy may be Jaran’s only deliverance from certain doom.

Can he avenge his tattered family before he joins them in the grave?

Blood Feud is the blistering ninth book in the Legends of Ansu fantasy series and the explosive opening to The Berserker Trilogy. If you like impeccably incisive characters, trench-deep world-building, and brutally unrestrained combat, then you’ll love J.W. Webb’s crimson vendetta.