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Monday, March 5, 2018

GUEST POST: Introducing Fantastica & Retirement by M. R. Mathias



Timeline reading order of novels by M. R. Mathias

Fantastica
Book One – Taerak’s Void

Book Two – Sapphire of Souls

Book Three – Demon of Destruction

Book Four – Warrior of the Void

*Fantastica - The Complete Four Book Collection

The Wardstone Trilogy
Book One - The Sword and the Dragon

Book Two - Kings, Queens, Heroes, & Fools

Book Three - The Wizard & the Warlord

*The Complete Wardstone Trilogy


The Dragoneer Saga
Book One - The Royal Dragoneers

Book Two - Cold Hearted Son of a Witch

Book Three - The Confliction

Book Four - The Emerald Rider

Book Five - Rise of the Dragon King

Book Six - Blood and Royalty

The Legend of Vanx Malic
Book One – Through the Wildwood 

Book Two – Dragon Isle

Book Three – Saint Elm’s Deep

Book Four – That Frigid Fargin’ Witch

Book Five – Trigon Daze

Book Six – Paragon Dracus

Book Seven – The Far Side of Creation

Book Eight – The Long Journey Home

Book Nine – The Tome of Arbor

Book Ten – A Gossamer Lens *

The Legend of Vanx Malic Collections
*Collection One - To Kill a Witch – Books I-IV

*Collection Two –The Legend Grows Stronger – Books V-VIII

*Collection Three – The Tome and the Lens – Books IX and X w/ bonus content


Short Stories:
Crimzon & Clover I - Orphaned Dragon, Lucky Girl

Crimzon & Clover II - The Tricky Wizard

Crimzon & Clover III - The Grog

Crimzon & Clover IV - The Wrath of Crimzon

Crimzon & Clover V - Killer of Giants

Crimzon & Clover VI – One Bad Bitch

Crimzon & Clover VII – The Fortune’s Fortune

Crimzon & Clover VIII – The First Sarax

Master Zarvin’s Action and Adventure Short Series – A Dragoneer Saga Prelude

Roar – A Wardstone Short Story

The Blood of Coldfrost – A Wardstone Short Story

The First Dragoneer – A Dragoneer Saga Novella

Foxwise – A Legend of Vanx Malic Novella

***Spoiler Alert: All the above novels take place in the same world, though each series happens in its own time-period and on its own continent. The locations do overlap, in places, but each series is its own from start to finish. Reading any other series is not necessary but might provide insight into the depth of a character, or their past.

Braxton and Nixy, the stars of Fantastica, have a daughter whose great, great granddaughter is Willa the Witch Queen. Willa’s palace is built on the Wardstone bedrock in Xwarda and is one of the most powerful places on the planet these characters share. Willa and her kingdom of Highwander are important and featured in all three of The Wardstone Trilogy novels.

The Wardstone Trilogy partially spawns The Dragoneer Saga, because the first Dragoneer, Marcherion finds the weapon, Ironspike which is the “sword” from The Sword and the Dragon, but there is a little more to it than that.


Both The Dragoneer Saga, and The Wardstone Trilogy tie into The Legend of Vanx Malic. Vanx, the roguish hero of his series is half-Zythian, a shunned race that began when Phen, a human boy once turned into a white marble statue, and then spelled a few other ways in the process of being saved, and Telgra, the eventual Queen of Elves of the Evermore, have children that are the beginning of a whole new race. They are called Phenzythians, which is later shortened to just Zythian because the bulk of the race flees the world to make their own way, on an Island they name Zyth.

Vanx Malic is half-Zythian, and a very distant descendant of Phen and Telgra’s union. But Zahrellion, one of the two female Dragoneers is a more recent inheritor of the strange bloodline. More importantly from The Dragoneer Saga, Prince Richard, who becomes King Richard through the course of the series, is tempted by evil, and even though he was once the best of the Dragoneers, after a series of terrible things happen to he and his dragon, he becomes the nemesis of his onetime companions and is eventually banished. A few hundred years later, after the Dragoneers are long forgotten, Richard’s power has grown and festered so much that he is no longer human. He has learned how to torture powerful magic out of dragons, and spent centuries doing so. He becomes one of Vanx Malic’s most treacherous enemies, the Paragon Dracus.

The Crimzon and Clover Short Story Series ties into The Dragoneer Saga as well. After adventuring in a world that is but a playground to them, they come across an evil so benign that Clover and her great red dragon spend a good portion of their later lives preparing the world for the coming of the Dragoneers. This is because Clover understands that one dragon, even one with a rider as powerful as her, cannot defeat this foe. The dragon Crimzon is featured throughout most of the Dragoneer Saga, and Clover joins them in the latter books, after being released from a trap that has kept her imprisoned for decades.

I think that is about as well as I can explain it. You’ll just have to read all twenty-three novels and thirteen short stories if you want the full story. It was an amazing journey writing it all. And now I think M. R. Mathias (as a pen name) is done. Or maybe not, but it is time to let another voice have a go, and retire M. R. for the time being.

After battling with websites, forums, and platforms, for most of a decade, just to carve out a space for all indie authors, M. R. deserves a fitting break.

Besides the introduction of Fantastica, I guess that is the gist of this guest post. Thank you all for reading. I have enjoyed the ride. I hope you decide to take the journey through the newer parts of my world. If you do, I can only promise this…

It will be spectacular,

All my best,

M. R. Mathias

P.S. I would like to take a moment to thank the staff and fans of Fantasy Book Critic. Without Liviu’s review of The Sword and the Dragon in early 2010, I don’t think near as many readers would have ever found my books.

***Of course I am M. R. Mathias, posting partly in 3rd person, because my real name is Michael Robb Mathias Jr. and I have self-published titles under the names, Michael Robb, M. K. Mathias, and Michael Ender. What I am after, for my future, is simple, and I think my track record is worthy of it. I would like to find an agent, and/or publisher, and release a new fantasy or adventure series, under a new pen name. (or M. R. Mathias if you’d prefer) One that is unassociated with the books listed above. I’m not inclined to go the traditional route, sending off snippets to slush pile readers, frankly because so far that has yielded nothing but wasted waiting time, and rejection letters. Doing it my own way has allowed me to sell over 1.3 million ebooks worldwide.

I am nearing fifty years of age, and I just want to write and fish. I’m not looking for a million dollar deal, just a real publishing contract to help fund what I’ll call my semi-retirement. If you are a “reputable” agent or publisher, looking for a proven author to write a full length novel or two for your imprint, or even a trilogy, feel free to contact me. Mihir, at FBC knows how to reach me, or you can email me directly at mrmathiasjr@aol.com

Website: http://www.mrmathias.com/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/M.-R.-Mathias/e/B0040CD21I

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/author/m-r-mathias/id393749890?mt=11

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22M.%20R.%20Mathias%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall

Googleplay: https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=M.+R.+Mathias

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?query=M.+R.+Mathias&fcsearchfield=Author&sort=AverageRating

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/MRMathias

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4163056.M_R_Mathias

OFFICIAL AUTHOR INFORMATION: M. R. Mathias lives on 5 wooded acres. Like the wizards of old, he tends to the animals who share that space and inspire the creatures found in his works. He likes to deep sea fish, to attend sporting events, and genre/cosplay conventions. He has sold well over a million eBooks. His work is critically acclaimed, and he has won multiple literary awards, including a coveted Locus Poll nomination.

Mathias’s title “To Kill a Witch” ,The Legend of Vanx Malic Books I-IV Collection was a semifinalist for the 2016 Kindle Book Award, won the 2016 Reader’s Favorite Award, and won the 2017 American Book Fest Award. Book Ten of the same series, which has a cover painted by the world renown fantasy artist, Larry Elmore, also won a 2017 Reader’s Favorite Award.

Here is what others are saying about M. R. Mathias and his works:

"The Master of Epic Fantasy" - Kindle Nation Daily, Nov. 2017

"There are few writers in the genre of fantasy that can equal the creative mind of M.R. Mathias - now acknowledged as a master in this genre of dragons and dwarves, and magic, and spells, and all aspects of fantasy."-- Top 100, Hall of Fame, Vine Voice, Book Reviewer, Grady Harp

"M.R. Mathias imagines a setting that will entice readers and lead them, along with his characters, on a breathtaking adventure." -- Readers Favorite Book Awards review of M. R. Mathias's 2017 Award Winning novel "A Gossamer Lens" from: The Legend of Vanx Malic series

The author, like always, has amazing writing and makes the book seem so real. The style of writing is great and one of my favorites. Keep up the good work.” – Logic In A Box

"M.R. Mathias is a master at world building and is so good with creative descriptions that you can almost feel the wind whipping through your hair as you soar along on the back of a dragon." -- Readers Favorite Book Awards review of M. R. Mathias's 2015 "Gold Medal" Award Winning novel "Blood and Royalty" from: The Dragoneer Saga

"You've (Mathias) already achieved much, much more than so many people who like to think of themselves as writers." -- @Gollancz The Deputy Publishing Director of SF, Fantasy & Horror list of the Orion Publishing Group

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