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My Love Of History
The Chronicles of Rekule follows an ancient Olympian whose discovery of a mysterious crystal awakens elemental powers and pulls him into forbidden love, prophecy, and a struggle to master his own impulses. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
When I was a child, around 12 years old, I was riding my bike downhill on a gravel road. I took the curve too sharp and wiped out- skidding down the gravel hill, and stopping just as I reached the edge of the road, holding my bike in one hand, and stopping myself with the other hand. I limped back to my house with a nasty bloody raspberry on my knee and a nasty gash in my hand. A couple days later, I realized I still had a rock in the palm of my hand. I plucked it out. It was a crazy feeling and I was blown away by how big the rock was that I hadn’t even known about, just that there was an odd pressure that shouldn’t be there. It was the sharp pain that made me dig and find it.
That memory has stayed with me, and it was what sparked the idea for the story several years later.
Rekule’s powers seem to magnify his emotional strengths and weaknesses as much as his physical abilities. How did you develop that connection between magic, personality, and temptation?
Great question. I wanted to show the power the crystal had over its wielder. How it pulled out their desire and pushed them to extremes. Almost a price to pay for using it, because it changed who you were for better or worse.
How did you decide which mythological figures, such as Thanatos, Uranus, Atlas, and Prometheus, to reinvent for this story?
I wanted to write a book that takes place in the present day. That book turned out to be the fourth book in this series. Once I started outlining the book, I realized that I wanted to understand how and why these crystals and people came to be. I started looking back to the past due to my love of history and Greek mythology. Everything fell into place from there.
As The Chronicles of Rekule continues, what aspects of this hidden ancient civilization and the origins of Greek mythology are you most excited for readers to discover?
In book two — The Fall of Labruula — we will get to meet Zeus, Hades, Cronus, Rhea, and Poseidon, along with others you already know. I do not want to give away any spoilers, but there will be giants in book two.
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Labruula Awakens: The Chronicles of Rekule
The Chronicles of Rekule by Paul Wood is an epic fantasy novel that recasts Greek mythology as the lived history of a hidden civilization. Set around 1750 BC, the story follows Rekule, an Olympian who discovers a mysterious crystal capable of awakening extraordinary powers. His bond with the earth soon draws him into tribal conflict, prophecy, romance, and war. This blend of historical fantasy and mythological fantasy gives familiar names such as Thanatos, Uranus, Atlas, and Prometheus new identities while building an original account of how legends might have begun.
Rekule’s first-person narration makes the novel feel like a confession passed down across centuries. He’s compassionate, insecure, jealous, loyal, and frighteningly destructive when anger takes control. Those contradictions give the dark fantasy adventure its emotional center. His forbidden love for Chalene adds tenderness, while his changing relationships with Thanatos and Uranus reveal how quickly affection, rivalry, and fear can curdle into violence. The crystals magnify more than physical abilities. They amplify the desires and weaknesses already present in each person, turning the magic system into a thoughtful exploration of temptation, responsibility, and power.
The story begins with the rhythms of village life, council politics, friendship, and courtship before expanding into large battles and clashes between civilizations. That deliberate growth helps the scale feel earned. Wood’s action scenes are vivid and physical, filled with shifting earth, blades of air, firestorms, and living water. The direct prose keeps the combat easy to picture, even when several characters are using different elemental powers at once. The quieter scenes also matter, particularly Rekule’s conversations with Chalene and the three enigmatic women who guide him. Clotho is especially memorable, combining warmth, secrecy, authority, and a slightly unsettling enthusiasm for destiny.
Labruula Awakens is a story about the cost of becoming powerful before becoming wise. Wood brings together elemental magic, ancient-world conflict, romance, and moral tension in a narrative that grows steadily more ambitious. The novel also plants intriguing questions that give The Chronicles of Rekule plenty of room to expand. Readers who enjoy mythological fantasy, tragic friendships, large-scale battles, and morally complicated heroes will find plenty to sink into here.
Pages: 294 | ASIN: B0FCPWTGVM
