Century of Sand [Kindle Edition]

Christopher Ruz (Author)

Book Description

Richard and Ana are on the run.

As a young soldier, Richard led a rebellion that installed the King's sociopathic Magician as the new regent. Now, after forty years of watching his comrades vanish into the dungeons of Stonebridge Castle, Richard has fled the kingdom with his mute daughter in tow, escaping into the desert wastes where magic still boils in the clouds and demons walk the dunes inside the bodies of men.

The Magician isn't far behind, and he's brought a pet: the Culling, an undead stitched-together tracking dog with a taste for blood. But Richard has his own weapon, stolen from the Magician himself: the calcified heart of a demon, which he hopes to trade back to its original owner in exchange for sanctuary. What he doesn't know is that his daughter, Ana, is far more valuable than the stone. She was the last piece in the Magician's grand weapon, and he'll tear the desert in half to get her back...

Century of Sand is a 120,000 word novel, and the first book in an epic fantasy trilogy that follows Richard and Ana as they chase down legends and battle to stay one step ahead of the Magician. Murderous warlords, a priest with a dark past, and creatures torn from Richard's nightmares lie between him and salvation.

Product Details

• File Size: 739 KB
• Print Length: 338 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 148252161X
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007NG8H7W
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,570 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #56 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy > Myths & Legends > Asian

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't just sit there. Read this epic book darn you! March 22, 2012

By Andy White

Format:Kindle Edition

This. Here. Buy. There is no question that you should buy this book. Click, go on.

Fine, I'll explain why:

Mr Ruz weaves a complex and (at times) heart-rending story of a man on the run with his damaged daughter. The characters are richly developed - each of them is at times beloved, at times completely detestable, and always so very human.

The pacing of the story is relentless. I hesitate to say that I couldn't put it down, but... well I really couldn't put it down. I read the whole damn thing from start to finish in one go. I was completely dehydrated by the end. Maybe the book should come with a warning label?

This is "fantasy" genre, but the fantasy elements are fairly light and subtle (in general, some notable exceptions) - I'd commend it even to those who don't enjoy swords and sorcery.

I could go on for hours, but the long and short of it is: you should read this book and support this author. Go!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars unrelentingly grim April 16, 2012

By David VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a well-written fantasy quest. I will not disagree with the praise in the earlier reviews but I would like to raise two cautionary points. First, this is definitely only the first volume of a planned trilogy. The primary conflict is unresolved; the text just ends with a hair-breadth escape like other escapes in the story. So if you like it, you'll be waiting for the author to get the next volume written.

Second, the author's style is gritty and physical: he makes every grain of sand, every moment in blazing sun, every hour of exposure to wind and cold and thirst, tangible. It takes skill to do this, but nevertheless, the characters endure this well-described discomfort, pain, fear, deprivation, and physical misery every page. It just never lets up. I found this wearying. I'm doubtful whether I'll buy Volume 2, because I'm not sure I want to sign on for a few hundred pages more of this near-death march. For much the same reason, I gave up on Joe Abercrombie's "First Law" trilogy -- a series that anyone who enjoys Century of Sand should try. The conditions assailing his characters were so unrelentingly grim, painful and hopeless, I couldn't stand to be around them.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A wholly different and wonderful style of "fantasy" April 9, 2012

By Tom F.

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Tension. Anxiety. Desperation. Paranoia.
Guilt. Fear. Revenge.
Loss. Betrayal. Second chances.

A tired old man, chasing after forgotten legends, desperately trying to save his daughter. To redeem himself for past actions. To escape from a madman who would see him and all he has left destroyed.

What Christopher Ruz has done with Century of Sand is genuinely brilliant. If it weren't for the harsh time constraints on my life at the moment, I would have read this non-stop. This *deserves* print publication.

As the title suggests, much of the book takes place in a fictional desert country, known only as "the western desert". Ruz captures the harsh and unforgiving nature of the landscape with exquisite detail. The places and people described on this journey are presented in stark contrast with the protagonist's eastern homeland - an imperialistic feudal kingdom, notorious for the slave trade and religious crusades into neighbouring lands. Issues such as religious bigotry, language barriers, and a world where food is scarce and water is more valuable than gold, provide a host of problems that the characters have to overcome.

The anxiety and paranoia that rise from being in an alien place, with no option to turn back for fear of losing everything drives the story forward at a brilliant pace. But the combat, the action, is excellent, and I think the early action scenes are what really hooked me with this book.

Above all, it just *feels* real. Just enough bad decisions and emotional dialogue to be believable, without being painful or predictable. The characters are wonderfully built throughout the course of the book, and the backdrop of history that slowly fall into place... It doesn't feel like you're reading one story, but rather the culmination of three stories, linked together.

This isn't your usual sword-and-sorcery fare. This writer is one to keep an eye on.

More About the Author

Christopher "Ruz" Hayes-Kossmann was born in Hong Kong, raised in Vienna, and is now settled in Melbourne, Australia. Although he graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Industrial Design, his first love has always been writing. He's been published by Weaponizer, Labyrinth Inhabitant's Magazine and Birdville Magazine, and has won both the first Ergofiction Search Term Challenge and the first Birdville Impromptu Award. He is currently working on his seventh novel.