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Book links:   Amazon , Goodreads ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Stephen Aryan is the author of The Coward and The Warrior (the Quest for Heroes Duology), as well as the Age of Darkness and Age of Dread trilogies. His first novel, Battlemage, was a finalist for the David Gemmell Morningstar Award for best debut fantasy novel. It also won the inaugural Hellfest Inferno Award in France. He has previously written a comic book column and reviews for Tor.com. In addition, he has self-published and kickstarted his own comics. You can find out more about Stephen and his books on his website: Stephen-Aryan.com Publisher:  Angry Robot (July 11, 2023)  Print length:  432 pages  Formats:  ebook, paperback, audiobook Thank you for joining us, Stephen, and welcome to Fantasy Book Critic! Before we start, tell us a little about yourself. Hi, I’m Stephen Aryan. I’m a traditionally published fantasy writer. My debut, Battlemage, was published in 2015. The Judas Blossom is my 9th n...

  I love stories about an underdog. Stories about a small group of plucky rebels, fighting against a monstrous superpower that has more tentacles than an Old One from Lovecraftian mythology. A dominating, strangling, dictatorship, with spies listening at every door, and overzealous soldiers watching everyone closely, for even the slightest infraction of the rules. It probably started a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, when I was a young boy growing up on Star Wars. Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy, R2-D2 and C3PO : a weird group of misfits, oddballs, naïve dreamers, double-crossing scoundrels, and anally retentive sticklers for the rules, who love protocol. It was only fairly recently - quite a while after I’d written The Judas Blossom in fact - that I began to see parallels between the novel and Star Wars . In Star Wars , there’s the Galactic Empire, a fascist dictatorship ruled with an iron fist by Emperor Palpatine . In The Judas Blossom , there’s the Mongol Empir e, a sprawli...

  Book links: Amazon , Goodreads ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Stephen Aryan is the author of The Coward and The Warrior (the Quest for Heroes Duology), as well as the Age of Darkness and Age of Dread trilogies. His first novel, Battlemage, was a finalist for the David Gemmell Morningstar Award for best debut fantasy novel. It also won the inaugural Hellfest Inferno Award in France. He has previously written a comic book column and reviews for Tor.com. In addition, he has self-published and kickstarted his own comics. You can find out more about Stephen and his books on his website: Stephen-Aryan.com Publisher: Angry Robot (July 11, 2023) Print length: 432 pages Formats: ebook, paperback, audiobook OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS (LUKASZ): The Judas Blossom blends political intrigue and historical fantasy, with an emphasis on politics and family drama rather than magic. It’s set during the turbulent time of the Mongol Empire’s invasion of Persia.  Hulagu Khan , the ruler of the Ilkhanate, tr...