Eric Tanafon

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Follow to get new release updates and improved recommendations
OK
About Eric Tanafon
Eric Tanafon writes software by day and fantasy fiction by the light of the moon. He lives in New Hampshire with his lovely wife and children in an old house, which unfortunately isn't haunted.
Customers Also Bought Items By
Are you an author?
Help us improve our Author Pages by updating your bibliography and submitting a new or current image and biography.
1 11 1
Author Updates
-
-
Blog postOne of the most disturbing parts of our ongoing cultural suicide is what’s being done to children. Of course, things were bad even before the Black Death Lite came in. Already children were not being allowed to go out, except for school and carefully scheduled “play dates”. There is a ‘free range kids‘ movement that has arisen in response, but I would guess they’ve been set back considerably in the last year and a half. I can remember (yes, I am that old) that such restrictions weren’t really9 months ago Read more
-
Blog postThe first book of my Sean’s Saga trilogy-to-be, The Road to Hel, is available now on audiobook. Sean is voiced by the talented Kyle Adams, who cheerfully put up with pronouncing an egregious number of words from Old Norse. It’s on sale on Audible, ITunes, and Amazon.
Now, that’s okay. Also okay is that I’m making some progress on The Well of Time, the second book in Sean’s Saga (in chapter 5 currently; I’ve just about made it to the point from which the teaser excerpt at the end of Ro10 months ago Read more -
Blog postEvery now and then I’m seized with the urge to write about woodpiles. It’s as if I’m suddenly ambushed and possessed by the spirit of Robert Frost–which happens sometimes, let me tell you, if you live in New Hampshire. And if said possession also coincides with the Chinese New Year, then you get this blog entry.
In other parts of the world, it’s said that wood warms you four times–once when you cut it, once when you split it, once when you stack it, and once when you burn it. In my ne2 years ago Read more -
Blog postI’ve just been re-reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. It’s a brilliant book, and full of the wit that made Wilde famous before he gained fame for less savory reasons. However, there is one passage that Wilde, who once said that he spent a morning taking out a comma and the afternoon putting it back in, didn’t take enough time to edit. Here Lord Henry Wotton’s uncle is being described:
In politics he was a Tory, except when the Tories were in office, during which period3 years ago Read more -
Blog postMy short story collection, Dragon Scales and Other Tales, is now available in the Kindle Store.
Excerpts from early reviews:
Includes a fresh treatment of dragons that should not be missed. – Smaug
a reali gud 1, must reid — Riddley Walker
Marry, the absence of vampires showeth the author’s lack of imagination. – John de Oxenford, Sheriff of Nottingham
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postMy family is in the process of moving from a big, mid-1850s Victorian to a smaller, older house in the country. One big reason is that we have fewer people–just four of us left at home. But there’s still quite a bit of furniture. Especially bookcases. Bookcases full of books. Rooms full of bookcases.
There’s no way around it. We’ve got to thin this literary thicket. So how do you make the decision, if you can only keep half your books? Or even a third?
Getting rid of multiple3 years ago Read more -
Blog postIt’s that time again, in the U.S. anyway–Daylight Savings Time ends tomorrow. It’s a nuisance, but at least this time, we get to turn the clock back and get an extra hour of sleep. The real killer is in the spring when the clock moves forward, and we celebrate by having lots of traffic accidents. While pondering this problem recently, I came up with an ingenious plan to fix the system. In November, nothing changes. But in March, the ‘spring forward’ will be eliminated. Instead, everyone will s4 years ago Read more
-
Blog postThe book that everyone has been waiting for, without knowing it…my attempt to recreate a Viking age verse form in modern (well, sort of) English…is available here. Just the paperback edition so far.
4 years ago Read more -
Blog postIn Egil’s Saga, it’s told how Egil fell into the power of his enemy, King Erik Bloodaxe. Egil managed to save his life by composing a 20-stanza poem of praise for Erik, overnight, and reciting it from memory the next morning.
Those were the days when poets really had to work for their living!
You couldn’t just dash off something in free verse, either. There were demanding technical rules governing how a poem could be composed.
Technical Stuff You Can Skip If You Just W4 years ago Read more -
Blog postThis post is password protected. You must visit the website and enter the password to continue reading.
4 years ago Read more
Titles By Eric Tanafon
Father Winter: A Yule Story
Nov 5, 2017
by
Eric Tanafon
$3.99
When Holly’s big brother, Connor, gets into trouble with Yule coming up, it’s clear that he’ll be marked Naughty on the great master List that Father Winter keeps.
But Holly decides to fix things. Her plan is simple: find an elf, convince him to take her to the North Pole, and change the List so Connor will be Nice.
Connor follows her, and the journey will test both her faith and his unbelief. They travel through a dark landscape where bears change into men and dreams drift over the ice. Their quest leads them to an Inuit village, the den of the crafty Snow Fox, a secret paradise for retired reindeer, and finally to Father Winter’s magical palace and the hidden chamber of the List.
But before their quest is ended, they must learn all of Father Winter’s Rules: One, be Nice. Two, know what you really want. Three, you can only ask for yourself. And the final and most important, Rule Four: there are no guarantees.
But Holly decides to fix things. Her plan is simple: find an elf, convince him to take her to the North Pole, and change the List so Connor will be Nice.
Connor follows her, and the journey will test both her faith and his unbelief. They travel through a dark landscape where bears change into men and dreams drift over the ice. Their quest leads them to an Inuit village, the den of the crafty Snow Fox, a secret paradise for retired reindeer, and finally to Father Winter’s magical palace and the hidden chamber of the List.
But before their quest is ended, they must learn all of Father Winter’s Rules: One, be Nice. Two, know what you really want. Three, you can only ask for yourself. And the final and most important, Rule Four: there are no guarantees.
Other Formats:
Paperback
Yggsdrapa
Nov 9, 2021
by
Eric Tanafon
$1.99
A poem of praise for Odin's discovery of the runes.
Other Formats:
Paperback
Robin Hood: Wolf's Head
Jul 6, 2015
by
Eric Tanafon
$3.99
A hermit finds an outlaw, who gives his name only as John, dying at the forest's edge. He nurses John back to health and in return, John tells him Robin Hood's true story. Cursed by chance, he hunts the King's deer as a wolf when the full moon rises, and leads a pack of shape-changers like himself who worship the goddess of the woodlands. He wins Marian’s love when she escapes prison, shoots in the great archery contest where the prize is a werewolf-killing silver arrow, struggles with the vengeful Sheriff of Nottingham and the berserker Guy of Gisbourne, and at last dies...only to be reborn.
But one question remains—who is John, and what dark enemy still watches him from the forest, waiting for a chance to strike?
But one question remains—who is John, and what dark enemy still watches him from the forest, waiting for a chance to strike?
Other Formats:
Paperback
The Road to Hel (Sean's Saga Book 1)
Feb 24, 2016
by
Eric Tanafon
$3.99
Sean here. When wolf-riding trolls attack our house, my sister Fiona and I find out the hard way that we're destined to be heroes. That goes for our friends Arturo and Parvati, too. Next thing we know, we're all enrolled in the last hero school on Midgard (that’s hero speak for 'Earth'). In fact, we're the entire final freshman class.
It’s not all bad. We get to go to school on an enchanted island. The girls get to ride flying horses, Arturo gets to go berserk, and I get to learn more about swordfighting than I ever wanted to know. We also get our own personal bard who sings our praises in deathless...well, verse that you wish would die, but it won't.
You'd think we’d also get to save the world. But as it turns out, there are about a million prophecies guaranteeing that Ragnarok is right around the corner and the world is literally toast, so all we get to do is die (heroically, of course).
In the meantime, our mom winds up in Hel while trying to rescue our dad from, believe it or not, an even worse place. And for some reason even Odin won't explain, we're the only ones who can bring them back.
Well, that takes care of summer vacation. I can't wait for the school year to start.
It’s not all bad. We get to go to school on an enchanted island. The girls get to ride flying horses, Arturo gets to go berserk, and I get to learn more about swordfighting than I ever wanted to know. We also get our own personal bard who sings our praises in deathless...well, verse that you wish would die, but it won't.
You'd think we’d also get to save the world. But as it turns out, there are about a million prophecies guaranteeing that Ragnarok is right around the corner and the world is literally toast, so all we get to do is die (heroically, of course).
In the meantime, our mom winds up in Hel while trying to rescue our dad from, believe it or not, an even worse place. And for some reason even Odin won't explain, we're the only ones who can bring them back.
Well, that takes care of summer vacation. I can't wait for the school year to start.