Demonsouled [Kindle Edition]

Jonathan Moeller (Author)

Book Description

For fans of Robert E. Howard, David Gemmell, and Raymond E. Feist, here is a new story of sword and sorcery.

Banished for fifteen years, the wandering knight Mazael Cravenlock returns home at last to the Grim Marches, only to find war and chaos. His brother plans a foolish and doomed rebellion. His sister hopes to wed a brutal and cruel knight. The whispers speak of living corpses that stalk the night, of demons that lurk in darkness, and a sinister snake-cult that waits in the shadows.

Yet Mazael's darkest enemy waits elsewhere.

Within his own tainted soul...

First published in 2005 from Gale/Five Star, now updated and revised in a new electronic edition.

PRAISE FOR DEMONSOULED:

“…action-packed, fast-moving tale…a solid debut novel…”
-Fantasy Book Spot

“a gripping account of one man’s battle against both inner and external demons, and I would recommend it to anyone who desires an action-packed story riddled with twists . . . ”
-Sffworld.com

“Jonathan Moeller has written an epic fantasy in its classic form that all lovers of fantasy will embrace.”
-Love Romances

“Jonathan Moeller will definitely capture the attention of many with DEMONSOULED, a suspenseful fantasy novel that is not to be missed.”
-Romance Reviews Today

“Here’s a fantasy adventure with plenty of thrills and chills. After a gap of many years, a hardy warrior and his companions return to their homeland. One of them discovers that his sister has been kidnapped and that his brother is plotting an ill advised rebellion against a less than sterling local ruler. Throw in some malevolent magic including a small army of reanimated corpses, a secretive plot, lots of derring do, a sinister mystery, and a magical assault that threatens to turn our hero into an instrument of evil. Exciting, occasionally surprising, with readable prose and a diverse set of characters. What more could you ask?”
-Don D’ammassa

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.

He has written the "Demonsouled" trilogy of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write the "Ghosts" sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the "$0.99 Beginner's Guide" series of computer books, and numerous other works.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas. He has written the DEMONSOULED series of sword-and-sorcery novels, the TOWER OF ENDLESS WORLDS urban fantasy series, THE GHOSTS series about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the COMPUTER BEGINNER'S GUIDE sequence of computer books, and numerous other works. Visit his website at: http://www.jonathanmoeller.com

Product Details

• File Size: 518 KB
• Print Length: 302 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004WPNCPY
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #796 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy > Historical
  • #16 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy > Epic

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun sword and sorcery May 11, 2011

By Ada Hoffmann

Format:Kindle Edition

I picked up a free copy of Demonsouled while they were available because I'd been enjoying the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure fantasy stories Jonathan Moeller does on his blog (and because I liked the title). I wasn't disappointed. Like his CYOA stories, Demonsouled showcases Moeller's talent for putting sharply drawn characters into dire situations.

There's nothing particularly groundbreaking here. The feuding noble houses, the damsel in distress, the mysterious elves, the old legends that turn out to be peculiarly relevant, the hidden cult, the secretive monks, the sinister advisor: savvy fantasy readers will find these all quite familiar. But in Moeller's hands the tropes don't feel tired. It's a fun ride with plenty of tension and, despite the tropes, real surprises.

I did feel that, like many self-published authors, Moeller could have used a proofreader on his final copy. While there are no problems with his ability to construct a proper sentence, there were a few more casual typos then I like to see in a finished book, including one section that was, apparently by accident, all in boldface.

Still, I'd certainly recommend Demonsouled to a fan of somewhat dark sword and sorcery tales, or to anyone who enjoys playing Moeller's Choose-Your-Own-Adventures.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Medieval Fantasy August 31, 2011

By A Guy

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Half-demonic knight characters in fantasy settings are nothing new, but it's always fun to read a classic story when it's well executed. Moeller's characterizations are probably the best aspect of the novel, and I particularly liked how Mazael's (the protagonist) first thoughts when meeting someone is how he could kill them. The plot is solid, consisting of Mazael's struggle to maintain his humanity, vanquish his enemies, resist the Old Demon's machinations, and possibly find true love. The medieval setting was well done, doesn't have any major historical gaffes, and does a good job of integrating magic users. The writing had a nice mix of description, combat, political scenes, romantic interest and occasional humor. Occasional typos and proofreading mistakes are easily overlooked, especially since this was a free release. Overall a good, entertaining read that reminded a bit of Dave Duncan's medieval settings.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid effort December 24, 2011

By Kenneth Mcdonald

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is the sort of book that I had in mind when I started looking for independent authors here on the Kindle store.

The book sets up an epic story, with a flawed hero who must come to grips with the corrupted legacy of his family. The magic, setting, and characters are creative, though there were a few times when the many secondary/background characters sort of blurred together in the dialogue sequences. There is a rich sense of history to this world, which the author clearly put a lot of thought into. I did think that both the heroes and the villains suffered from periods of deliberate obtuseness for the sake of the plot, including one prison break sequence that seemed very contrived. But I did enjoy the story, and give kudos to the author for helping to provide an alternative to the overpriced works that the big publishing houses are foisting off on us these days. The story is wrapped up at the end of the book, but the author left ample room for the sequel.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Proofreader wanted January 6, 2012

By A. Metcalf

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Enjoyable story (could have more details about the Grim Marshes, why Rachel turned snake handler, and the walking undead seemed an unresolved theme but possibly more info is revealed in subsequent volumes) but the typos were atrocious! Proofreader needed indeed! I read words not found in any dictionary, obviously missing sentences/paragraphs/pages? in more than one instance. I disagree that the story overcame the typos. After the 2nd chapter or so I was actively engaged in noticing the numerous errors because in my opinion they jumped off the pages. The typos defined the book and ensured that I would not seek out the next in the series, which is really too bad.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Please respect David Gemmell's memory August 24, 2012

By Bordeaux Dogue

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

to compare this poorly written novel, with childish and undeveloped characters, to David Gemmell's work, would, where it not utterly ridiculous, be allmost ofensive.
The story could be worth something, plotwise, but the ingredients are so plastic and weak that my advice is to spare your precious time.

One of the stars is for the superb painting on the cover. But, then again, one really cannot judge a book by its cover...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Devilishly Good April 1, 2012

By Mike

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Mazael Cravenlock has returned to his family 15 years after being knighted and tossed out. Mazael returns as one of the preeminent knights in the land. In that time, his foes have learned not to mess with Mazael and now his homeland is going to learn that lesson also. In addition to Mazael's regular sword fights there is also plenty of mayhem from dark magic and dark gods. Mazael must reconcile himself with his heritage and the lure of dark gods to determine the fate of the Grimm Marches. Overall this is a dark and bloody story which is pretty good if you like those types of stories. Author's website is titled "Jonathan Moeller, Pulp Writer" which gives some indication of his writing style.

Demonsouled is a standalone novel. However, there are more books in the same series. These are Soul of Tyrants (Demonsouled), Soul of Serpents (Demonsouled) and Soul of Dragons (Demonsouled). I plan to read Soul of Tyrants to see if it is as good as this book.

Regular, but not frequent, spellcheck typos were noted. Demonsouled is 5,386 Kindle locations long (excluding short excerpt at end for next book in series). Standard length novels seem to run in the 4,500 to 7,000 plus Kindle location range. Longer books, such as books in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, can range from 15,000 to 20,000 plus Kindle locations.

More About the Author

Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.

He has written the DEMONSOULED series of sword-and-sorcery novels, the TOWER OF ENDLESS WORLDS urban fantasy series, THE GHOSTS series about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the COMPUTER BEGINNER'S GUIDE sequence of computer books, and numerous other works.

Visit his website at:

http://www.jonathanmoeller.com

Visit his technology blog at:

http://www.jonathanmoeller.com/screed