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The Third Way of My God
The Third Way of My God is the third entry in Michael R. Schultheiss’s Rosteval Saga. It is an impressive piece of epic fantasy that serves to round out the tale told in the first two entries in the saga while still telling its own story. The book is aimed at mature readers looking to wrestle with traditional ideas of good and evil.
The book follows the main characters, Rosteval, and Ghaitt, as they lead their people in seeking a new homeland. But unfortunately, the possibility of an enemy army attack near their home looms over them. The threat of impending destruction makes survival a near impossibility.
Rosteval and his people are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They must try to survive as a celestial war between good and evil threatens to destroy the entire world. Unable to turn to either side for help, Rosteval and his followers must find a “third way” to survive.
While it is possible to pick up The Third Way of My God and enjoy the novel as a standalone story, reading the first two books in the series gives a complete picture of the immense challenges that Rosteval is up against. Schultheiss has spent a long time crafting a complex, epic world, and specific aspects of it will be lost to newcomers. Likewise, specific plot points do not resonate as deeply without the necessary background knowledge.
While the book has a lot of heavy lifting to do in completing the story set up in the first two books, it does stand on its own. The stakes are high, and despite the book’s length, Schultheiss manages to keep the pacing brisk, only pausing when necessary.
Between the plot twists and turns, it is clear that the author has something more profound to say. The book explores how traditional narratives of good vs. evil are shaped toward what ends. Overall, The Third Way of My God is an excellent read whether you’re a fan of epic fantasy or interested in challenging traditional notions of light vs.. dark. Schultheiss has crafted a profoundly complex world that is a pleasure to get lost in for hours.
Pages: 713 | ASIN : B0BFG9G3L5
The Spiral of My Destiny
Rosteval is faced with many decisions as he is forced to partner with a former enemy to defeat their new nemesis. Soltapyral is a Rishvanti and is bent on destroying the world in an attempt to regain their lost glory. Ghaitta is Rosteval’s wife and is also a powerful sorceress. The two of them together must find a way to stop Soltapyral and his army of Rishvanti before they can destroy the world and a group of people known as the Shapers.
Rosteval knows that he must end Soltapyral’s plans before it’s too late. Rosteval and Ghaitta’s journey takes them across treacherous landscapes and on an epic adventure through deadly battles. Along the way, they meet colorful characters and make allies with some unlikely heroes. However, the world is at stake, and Rosteval and Ghaitta must discover the true nature of their destiny.
The Spiral of My Destiny is the second book in The Rosteval Saga, and it does not disappoint. The author Michael R. Schultheiss has written a fast-paced and exciting novel that makes this book extremely hard to put down. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. With exciting battles and a quest to answer the age-old question of the meaning of life, there is something for everyone in this book.
The author’s use of descriptive language immediately transports the reader into another world. His worldbuilding is unique and engaging. There is a wide range of characters that are as rich and complex as the stories they inhabit. I feel it would have been helpful if there was a list at the end of the book of the characters for readers to reference. I found the maps included at the beginning of the book that displays the realms and kingdoms most helpful. This is an excellent addition because readers can refer to the map to see where specific kingdoms are and where the characters are traveling.
The Spiral of My Destiny is a riveting epic fantasy adventure that will keep readers glued to the page from beginning to end. Readers will be transported to another world to follow the action and adventure as the saga continues.
Pages: 551 | ASIN : B09RMMX5FB
Striving For Glory and Recognition
The Altar of My Fate follows a warrior and his companion as they embark on a dangerous quest to defeat an ancient god. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
First of all, thank you for such thoughtful questions!
A big part of my inspiration came from history. After all, history is full of stories like Rosteval’s: an intrepid warrior and his band on a search for adventure and spoils.
In particular, I’ve really been gripped by the histories of the Middle East and South Asia. Proud city-states, warring kingdoms, migrating tribes, and rich bodies of mythology and lore – what’s not to love?
Sharp-eyed history buffs may also spot interesting parallels between the trade in slave-girls and war-horses across the Sebaiya Desert, and the real-world Trans-Saharan Slave Trade.
What was the inspiration for the relationship that develops between Ghaitta and Rosteval?
As in, warrior acquires slave-girl, and they subsequently fall in love?
I have to award much of the credit for that to my fiancée. She read an earlier draft of the book, one in which Ghaitta actually played a relatively minor role – Rosteval had a different love interest, believe it or not – and she really zeroed in on Rosteval and Ghaitta.
So, I rewrote Altar at her urging, which is another thing I have to credit her for (I was going to scrap it altogether) and gave Ghaitta a much more important role. It still took me one more draft and at least two more re-writes of the ending of the book to realize that the real love story here was Rosteval and Ghaitta!
All that to say, I have to thank my fiancée for talking sense into me. This book is far, far better for her influence.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Striving for glory and recognition is a key theme. Through the various drafts of this book, Rosteval has always had a passionate yearning to distinguish himself and make his mark on the world.
I think it’s why I like him so much: as a writer, I can relate!
Adventure is another theme, the allure of distant lands and peoples. I think a lot of the fun for me in writing this book came from watching Rosteval and his war-band as they rode in search of lands beyond the horizon.
There’s also, of course, themes having to do with history, culture, and geography. I love learning about people from different cultures, who lived in different places and times, and I hope to inspire others to take an interest in world cultures and history.
For me, looking at history and culture is an opportunity to learn how to view things from a different perspective than my own, and reflect on how the values of human societies change and evolve.
One of the things you notice when you study history is that people in many different places and times had ideas and attitudes about things like invasion, war, conquest, and yes, slavery, that are shocking to modern Westerners.
Altar has quite a bit of these things – as one reviewer noted, almost every aspect of Rosteval’s adventures revolves around slaves – but I’m confident when I say that I pulled my proverbial punches. Real history from practically every corner of the world is a much, much grimmer affair than anything you’ll read in my novels.
I think one of the tragedies of the human condition is our own repeated inability or unwillingness to see the perspectives of others: we tend to either presume that everyone thinks like we do, or else we think other people are simply Other, alien, incomprehensible at best if not downright “bad” or “evil.”
Seeing how other people view the world doesn’t mean changing our own values or perspectives, but it should, in my view, help us to be humbler. How much of our modern sensibilities are predicated on full bellies, warm houses, and being able to turn on the lights whenever we want?
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Book 2, The Spiral of My Destiny, is out now! I am currently working on book 3 (title to be announced), and I expect it will be ready to go in June. I’m getting married in August, and I am completely adamant that it will be published before then!
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A slave-girl with a secret…
Can they claim the ancient altar?
Trained to the warrior’s path, Rosteval yearns for glory and craves adventure in unknown lands.
Leading the war-band he created, he sets off on a quest to brave a formidable desert and the swords and arrows of a growing number of enemy tribes.
He expected the mounting dangers… but he didn’t expect Ghaitta, the beautiful slave-girl with a secret… and the power and peril of an ancient altar, an artifact of the vanished Shaper race.
As his enemies multiply, Rosteval is forced to confront an immortal adversary and the looming specter of defeat. Can Rosteval and Ghaitta avert disaster, and claim the fateful power of the ancient Shaper altar?
Brimming with fierce tribes, deadly perils, ancient powers, and sexy slave-girls, The Altar of My Fate is the epic fantasy adventure you’ve been craving. Get it now.
The Altar of My Fate
In The Altar of My Fate, by Michael R. Schultheiss, we follow a warrior named Rosteval and a slave-girl named Ghaitta. Through a fascinating series of events, the two find themselves connected via the altar of an ancient Shaper race. The pair grows both in character and in their relationship with destiny while Cat-Eye Pon proves to be instrumental in their journey. Their destiny is to defeat an ancient god named Haldua. Author, Michael R. Schultheiss, has given readers a novel that is an epic narrative describing an incredibly vast world and steeped in exceptional character development.
While the novel contains many positives that every fantasy reader will enjoy, if you are not used to the typical stages of a fantasy, the structure of Schultheiss’s novel can take some getting used to. The plot can, at times, appear to be a sort of fetch quest–moving the characters from one location to another to retrieve a single bit of knowledge or an item. While this is a standard plot device for works of fantasy, the novel can drag slightly because of this technique.
Schultheiss attempts to break up some of the longer stretches of narrative with detailed backstories and interesting dialogue, but the novel seems more heavily focused on the fetch quest aspects of the plot. As I read, I noted that the plot slows at times and then picks up speed. I was, however, able to gain a better understanding of this hyper-detailed world. Schultheiss has managed to create various styles of characters–all fascinating in their own ways. Readers will enjoy the journey as the plot builds toward meeting the antagonist. This journey is one well-earned–not cliched as some works in the fantasy genre tend to be.
Overall, Schultheiss’s novel is an excellent addition to the fantasy genre. The characters are well-written, trope-subverting, and the stakes in the story are believable. It is quite a long read but enjoyable the entire way through–only seeming to slow in a few spots. I recommend Schultheiss’s work to any fan of the epic fantasy genre who are looking to explore a new author who is adept at character development and intensely focused on a detailed plot from start to finish.
Pages: 488 | ASIN : B09P6WWK9X
LITERARY TITAN 