This was actually a short time in coming. In Past’s Shadow started out as an attempt at a fantasy adventure short story in the vein of Robert E. Howard and his undeniably awesome Conan tales. Having mostly written dark fantasy up to this point, the story was a slight departure for me, though not much of one. I found that the main characters, Marek the shade-walker and Tolaz the young, self-doubting evocator, fit the fantasy adventure mold remarkably well. It was easy to write, which I’ve discovered is usually a good thing, and the story soon edged into novelette territory without too much effort. There was a story waiting there the whole time, and a new world too. I was only too happy to give it life.
In Past’s Shadow was released in July 2015 on Amazon as an ebook, marking my first foray into self-publishing territory. I plan to write a few more installments in the series, continuing in the easily digestible novelette/pulp-fiction style that distinguishes it from other stories I’ve written so far. I think those characters have a lot more in them just begging to be unleashed onto the world.
If you’re interested in the story, here’s the description and a link:
Desperate to save their clan from an army of dark sorcerers, Marek and the young evocator Tolaz scale a mountain to unlock an artifact buried at its peak. What lies beneath the stone may lead to their peoples’ salvation, but it may also spell their doom. With death below, and uncertainty above, Marek and Tolaz’s problems are just beginning – the greatest shade-walker in all the clans is hunting them down, and he means to keep the arcane power locked away… any way he can.
This is a novelette-length story of desperation, betrayal, and triumph. It is a tale of the shade-walker Marek, and how he gained the name ‘Oathbreaker.’
Christopher Jesse 
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