Tales from the Glassvine Wilds: The Dark Knight’s Curse by Samuel Gallew
We all dream of adventure — but when tasked with fighting monsters and saving the world, wouldn’t you be a little nervous too?
In the first installment of his debut series, Tales from the Glassvine Wilds: The Dark Knight’s Curse, author Samuel Gallew takes readers on an adventure fraught with danger, but ultimately held together by the bonds of friendship.
Adventures & Prophecies
The story begins in the quiet village of Avala, where readers meet young Leon, a young man content serving tables and entertaining guests at his mentor’s inn. But when his childhood friend Brent, accompanied by the mysterious Barrus, shows up to invite Leon to join his new guild, Leon must put aside his trepidations in order to help Barrus fulfill his prophecy.
When the Shadows shall return, the Chosen will seek the ruin. There will be found the artifact lost, to be guarded from wasteful hands. The bane of Shadows shall be returned, before the day of the hero’s rising. And with it, the dawn of the Dark Knight’s army.
However, this prophecy isn’t complete, and when Leon and Barrus go missing in their search for the lost artifact, other guild members must rise up and seek to prevent the Dark Knight’s return. Readers will encounter a slew of interesting characters throughout their journey, including a fortune telling werewolf, a former guild member turned innkeeper, an old friend with an interesting secret and a brash young man stained by Shadows and destined for greatness.
Magic & Mystery
The magic that flows through this world works differently with each character; some are natural magic users, earning the titles of Seers, Stormcallers, Pyromancers and Cryomancers, Strongarms, Diviners and Eternals, while others must rely on more tangible forms of magic, like spell gems. Some of the characters boast their magical prowess; others don’t yet see the powerful magic that lies within.
Tales from the Glassvine Wilds features not only a unique ensemble of characters, but magical beings as well. You will find all sorts of dark creatures, from Gallew’s distinctive take on the traditional lycanthropes to never-before-seen beasts like gloomlings, wolpix and runesylf. The ominous Shadows play a particularly important role in the story, leaving their mark on some of the main characters.
But perhaps most interesting of all is the mysterious figure Kharn, who makes his appearance in the book’s prologue and epilogue. Who exactly is Kharn, and how is he involved in the events that unfold? Is he the voice hovering over the beginning of each chapter? If not, who is this mystery storyteller? Whatever the answer, readers will be intrigued and curious to learn more about him in future books.
Tales from the Glassvine Wilds: The Dark Knight’s Curse is a thrilling beginning to this new series. You’ll find yourself rooting for these characters and dying to find out what happens next.
About Samuel Gallew:
Samuel Gallew got into writing from a love of literature, stories and DnD. He always held a passion for fantasy stories, especially those with dragons. But his debut novel, Wasteland Mice, didn’t quite satiate his love for fantasy. The call of fantasy grew too strong to resist, prompting him to write a fully fleshed magic system in the first three books of the Tales from the Glassvine Wilds series.
Gallew holds a hunger for knowledge and improvement; while he’s still learning and growing as he develops his writing, he already sees his stories going far as the years move by. He’s a Christian author with a love for fantasy, TTRPGs, video games, art, music, mechanics, programming, and whatever else he feels like learning. If you meet him IRL, just know he can enjoy just about any subject that isn’t heated.
