Joseph Lallo (Author)
Email: jrlallo@bookofdeacon.com
Twitter: @jrlallo
Or mail me at:
Joseph R. Lallo
PO Box 190
Colonia, NJ 07067
Joseph Lallo (Author)
Email: jrlallo@bookofdeacon.com
Twitter: @jrlallo
Or mail me at:
Joseph R. Lallo
PO Box 190
Colonia, NJ 07067
I am a single mother of a toddler and a career professional with little if any free personal time. On a whim I downloaded the first book of deacon as it was free and seemed interesting. I couldn’t stop reading it. I was so compelled to finish the story that I bought the other two downloads – my first ever non-free downloads and non-public library books in 5 years. Further I have slept less than four hours a night for the last three nights because I have been consumed with finishing. This is the highest praise I can offer you. Taking the time away from sleep now at half past midnight to tell you how thoroughly I have been entertained is only further evidence. Thank you for your story. I consider the time spent well worth the cost. I can’t remember the last time a was so lost in a book.
Thank you so very much. I have always felt that time is by far the most precious resource, and I can only imagine how much more precious it is to a single mother, so I assure you that the full measure of your praise is not lost on me. It is tremendously gratifying to know that you found that time well spent, and that you felt so strongly enough to share your thoughts. It is comments such as this that convince me that my own time has been well spent in writing these books. Thank you again.
I just want to say ive just finished book 3 and I’m so glad there will be more from these characters. Thank you for a fantastic read and a wonderful world to be lost in.
Donna xx
Thanks! I’m thrilled to know that you’ve enjoyed the story, and I hope that I can finish the next book before too much longer.
Hi Joseph,
Well I’ve just finished reading your first book in the trilogy The Book of Deacon and I felt absolutely compelled for some strange reason, as I never have before, to jump online and let you know how much I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I can totally relate to being sleep deprived for the last few nights as I absolutely couldn’t put this book down. Over the years I’ve read dozens of fantasy books and I felt that this one was one of my favourites and certaintly the most fun easy read. Thank you for writing this book and please continue to write amazing stories!
Well I’m off now to download the next two books! 😉
Hi Alex,
Thanks for the comment! I’m thrilled you liked the story. It always feels good when an avid reader lists my book among their favorites. Hopefully you enjoy the next to books in the trilogy, and I promise to do my best to continue writing stories of the same quality. Thanks for reading.
I read the “Book of Deacon” and “United By The Gods” and I am at the end of the third book. I really like the characters, but I’m afraid that if I read the last book I will have to say bye to the characters. I fell in love with Deacon, but in Lane too 😐 I wish the story never ends 🙁
I’ve got good news if you’re a Lain fan. He’s the star of the prequel I’m working on. I hope to continue the story of the others, too.
I felt the same about the series, Angela!!!
Mr. Lallo….I have literally spent the last three days involved in reading The Book of Deacon…..I, like Angela on July 20th, am a mother of a 3 year old working three jobs while trying to obtain a Masters. I have spent every waking moment, practically not sleeping….and I cannot thank you enough. I am going to immedately spend the very small amount of “entertainment” funds I can afford for all of your books I cant wait to read. Thank you again….the best read I have had years.
Hi! As always I am glad that you enjoyed my story, and I thank you for spending both your money and your extremely valuable time reading my books. I too managed to earn a Master’s Degree, and that was taxing enough, even with a single job and no children. That you were willing and able to find the time to read my words is nothing short of astounding to me. I genuinely hope you enjoy the rest of the series, and thank you for commenting.
I just wanted to say that I read a lot of books but I have hardly ever come into a trilogy I enjoyed a much as I enjoyed the book of deacon! I’m a mother and I work quite a bit, normally I don’t have enough time to devote to reading fully and with your books I seem to have found the time, they had such a grip on me I just couldn’t put them down! That was the best trilogy I’ve read and I will be giving out great reviews anywhere I can. Thank you for writing such a wonderful story and I look forward to the next books you put out!
As always, it is great to hear from a fan. I appreciate you spreading the word, and I am happy to know that you enjoyed my books. Thanks for reading!
Great series. I saw The Book of Deacon rise through the ranks of the free sci-fi fantasy portion in the iBooks store and gave it a shot. Before long I’d torn through your whole series. Quite addicting and with the same flaw that every other great thing has; it comes to an end. Excellent job. Do you have a facebook page? Randolph Lalonde and his self published sci-fi, The Spinward Fringe series, has had great success pooling fans together with his group page. Just a thought. Keep up the good work.
Glad you like the series. As a lowly android user, I don’t have any way to keep track of my rank on the iBookstore, but a friend with an iPad recently sent me a screenshot of my author page, and I was amazed at the number of positive ratings and reviews I’ve received. I have a personal Facebook page, but I haven’t put together one for the series. That’s something I should certainly look into. Thanks for the comment!
Let me first say that I am an avid reader and love a great story that keeps me hooked from beginning to end. I absolutely loved your books, the story and characters kept me awake way too late for the last week, I really did not want to stop reading. Your 1st book of this trilogy was the 1st book that I downloaded on my tablet from the Amazon Kindle app, and it was only by luck that I chose your book (it was free and seemed interesting).
Stephen King has long been my favorite author and since The Dark Tower series, I have not had any other books hold my attention until now. Great job on the books! I have already been telling friends and family about how good your books are. Hope to read more about Myranda, Myn, Ivy, Deacon, and Ether someday.
Hi. Thank you for commenting. Wow, my stuff has just been compared favorably to The Dark Tower series. High praise indeed! I’m glad you liked the trilogy. It might be a while, but I think it is safe to say that we haven’t seen the last from this cast. Thanks for reading.
Absolutely loved this trilogy. I just loved how there was something happening and left me wondering what was going to happen next. I downloaded the first one Thursday night and its now Sunday night and I just finished the third. Just couldn’t put it down and looked at my husbandd when he suggested I should and get a decent nights sleep.
I would love it if you would write more with these characters, surely their adventures can’t be over.
Hi Charity! I’m so glad you enjoyed the trilogy. I’ve got a few projects to get out of the way, first, but I have no doubt that the cast of these books will have another adventure or two. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Yes i wish you write more adventures with these charecter i just love themmmm!!!!!!
I’m certainly working on them. I’ll be sure to spread the word as the stories near completion.
*** CONTAINS SPOILERS ***
Thank you for a great read. All three books were riveting! Last week I picked up the first free book in your thrilogy (yes, I mispelled it on purpose) – “The Book of Deacon” through amazon. This was one of those rare occasions when it was difficult to put a book down. After finishing, I picked up the next 2 books. These book were amazingly written. Your colorful descriptions of the chosen one’s wizardry and the characters themselves kept me ‘involved’ in the story. I will recommend these books to all my friends. Please, I hope you continue soon with more for these characters (personally, I would like to see Lain resurrected). Again, thank you.
Hi Robert! I’m extremely happy to hear that you enjoyed the books so much. From reviews and comments, it seems clear that Lain is one of the most popular characters, so at the very least I hope to write a bit more back-story for him.
*** CONTAINS SPOILERS ***
Hi there!
I just finished the complete Book of Deacon series, and let me just say, I thought it was wonderful. I read it on my Kindle and I could hardly put it down. There was plenty of mystery intertwined and it did keep me guessing until the end. I loved the story, however, there were a few small technicalities that I noticed that have been nagging me until I finished. I wanted to make sure I finished your series before I posted any criticism just in case my questions were answered by the end.
First, I would like to apologize for not finding the specific page to inform you of this, (or for you to find the answer that I couldn’t). However, in the first book when Myranda leaves Wolloff to search for Myn (after she heals Myn), the dragon comes across the site of the first battle with the alliance army, where she steals her first trophy helmet, and howls a sorrowful howl. I believe the term was along the lines of she howled “like she had lost something.” (Not sure) I was curious to find out why she made this noise. I don’t believe the question was ever answered but I may have read the answer and some point before bed when I was too tired to focus.
Second, when Myn died the first time you brushed it off far too quickly. I knew she would be coming back at some point, because you can’t kill off such an important character and have Myranda not even cry. I mean she cried when she killed the man that Epidime was using as a host. Yea, that’s alright but she didn’t cry for Myn, her best friend? Regardless of the schedule she should have had time to mourn. I feel like if you would instill the sorrow in the reader you could make the reader that much more happy when she comes back to life!
Third, and this was pure technicality, there were a lot of grammar issues. At one point in the second book a sentence read something along the lines of “Ivy (insert verb) to Ivy,” when what you meant was Ether. All in all though it was never hard to figure out what you meant.
Last, I don’t want to change the character of any of your characters but I feel like Lain should have had even more redeeming qualities towards the end. Maybe a little insight into how he really felt and his relationships with the other Chosen. But I had NO IDEA that he would be the chosen to die. The whole time I thought it would be Myranda, (I’m mega happy that you didn’t kill her off though)
All in all this was an excellent series and I will be reading Jade when I get the chance. Your imagery was excellent and you built the characters magnificently! And I sincerely thank you for adding another story to my arsenal
Hi! I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed the books. To keep from having to post a massive reply to this page, I’m going to send you an email. (Hope you don’t mind.) If you haven’t gotten it by the time you read this, feel free to send me one of your own. Thanks for reading!
*** CONTAINS SPOILERS ***
Celia- I haven’t read the other two yet, I’ll probably download them today! But, to answer your question on why Myn howled as though she lost something, I would believe that she was missing Leo/Lain. I didn’t finish reading your post because it had spoilers in it that you didn’t warn readers about.
Whoo! Readers talking to other readers! Neat! With regard to the spoilers showing up in comments, once I get a chance to brainstorm with my web guy, I’m going to try to find a way to deal with that issue. Hopefully I can find a way to hide the offending portion of a comment while leaving the rest readable. I wonder if Word Press has some sort of “spoiler text” plugin…
I just finished reading The book of Deacon and wanted to drop a line to let you know how much I enjoyed reading it! In fact I just purchased the next one in the trilogy. You asked why people were downloading your book. Two reasons got me to download the first one. First reason was that it was free! I’m a new Kindle owner and new to any e-reader, so I didn’t want to invest more money into something I may not enjoy doing. the second reason I got your book was the cover. Who says you can’t judge a book by its cover! I plan on reading all three of the books in the trilogy, and than try out some of your other stuff. Thanks again for (so far) a great adventure! Mike
Hi Mike! I’m glad you enjoyed the first book, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story, and any of my other writing you end up reading. Thanks for letting me know why you picked up the book, it is good to know I’ve been making good decisions. Convincing Amazon to make the first book free took a while, but I knew that there were a lot of people out there who would be reluctant to try out a new author. I felt that making it free was the best way to eliminate as much risk as possible for new readers. And as for the cover, I must agree. Nick, the artist who drew that masterpiece, really outdid himself. I couldn’t be happier, and the professional covers were easily the best investment I’ve made. I’ve already got him working on replacement covers for Jade and Bypass Gemini, and an unnamed sequel to Bypass Gemini will be my first book to debut with a professional cover. Thanks for reading!
So I just got a kindel for Christmas, my husband figured it would give me something to do after I have my baby. I came across your book on Christmas and I just finished it. It was fantastic! I couldn’t put it down. I have never read a book so quickly and I look forward to reading the other 2 books in the triliogy. You are truely a talented man, keep up the great work!
Thanks! Congrats on getting the kindle, and good luck with the baby! I’m glad you enjoyed the first book. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the rest of the trilogy, too. Thank again!
I would really like it if you would somehow block “spoilers” from your fans in posts. I wasn’t too happy to read that, well, I’m not going to add who died so my post won’t spoil the mystery/adventure.
I loved the first book and just bought the next two, and that is the first time I have done that. I read a book a day and buying books would put me in the poor house. So normally I rely on the library or free downloads. But you are so fresh and interesting that I felt like I owed it to you to encourage you to keep going.
Being a “gamer” and I think you must be also, I recognized many characters from the RPGs I have played over the years. Seeing them incorporated into a novel was a treat. (Those not familiar with the above terms will probably shrug their shoulders and wonder… let them. )
Let’s see, what is good? The story line, the characters. I loved the old wizard in the woods. (I’m bad about names) He was a delight, a true curmudgeon with a good heart. I cared enough that I was worried about his safety as things progressed. The blind priest? Well, I really wanted him to get a smack or two. I thought you did a really good job describing the treks through the snow because it wan’t like it was so much a hardship and a normal challenge… well done. The young dragon was a delight, as I am sure everyone would agree. I also loved how you gave the different instructors such different personalities..brilliant.
Missing something? Without spoiling things for future readers, I would have liked to be invited a bit more into the thoughts of Leo/Lain. I am sure you did what you did for the mystery effect and for your next installment, but I sometimes felt like Myranda was in a bubble when integrating with her friend/protagonist.
What was bothering me? The general/godmother and her character, I felt like it left too much to speculation. But bear in mind that I have not read the second book yet, I just bought it before I started this post.
You have talent, and I speak as one that has been reading science fiction since the mid 1950’s. Yes, I’m old, I’m 70. But I think you are on the right track. Your writing reminds me a bit of Heinlein and Stranger in a Stange Land… let the imagination flow and expect the impossible.
Hi. Thanks for the comment, and sorry about the spoilers. They have been getting a bit prevalent in comments and reviews. I’ll have to talk to my web guy about finding a way to deal with them without deleting the comment or changing its content. Again, to avoid putting a multi-paragraph reply here, I’ll reply in an email. If you haven’t gotten it by the end of the day, feel free to email me directly. Thanks again!
I just read the first book in the trilogy. I enjoyed it very much, however, there were several spelling and grammatical errors that could not be overlooked. It cheapened the experience
Hello, Anna. Thanks for the comment. I’m glad you enjoyed the first book, and I apologize about any lingering typos. I’ve been doing my best to weed them out, and have issued many corrected editions. If you downloaded the book a while ago, but only read it recently, you may have an old version. Regardless, I hope to do another sweep of corrections soon. Thanks for reading.
After purchasing my first Motorola Xoom, The Book of Deacon was my first e-book download ever. The story was so engaging that I was compelled to pay for the other two books of the trilogy, thus I made my first e-book purchases. I would encourage other to read this story. The story takes many surprises and turns that keeps one reading past ones bedtime. E-books have opened up easing for me in a manner that new for me and I have have completed four books (your three and one other) since the week before Christmas and the first week of January 2012.
Thanks for an excellent trilogy.
Thank you for the comment. I’m proud to know that you enjoyed my books, and that they were among the first things you picked up for your fancy new tablet. It is one thing to give someone a few hours of entertainment, it is another to help convince them that eBooks are worthwhile. Thanks for reading!
I enjoyed your book very much, unfortunately I am unable to locate -find where I can purchase the other books in the trilogy so am off to find other books. It is as i said unfortunate in that you wrote an excellent novel
Next time you might want to consider letting your readers informed of this info. Your website has to much info.
Hi! I’m glad you liked the first book. My books page, http://www.bookofdeacon.com/books/ contains links to both the Amazon and Smashwords sales page for each book. And a search for my name on virtually any eBook retailer should turn up my entire catalog, if you are still interested. Out of curiosity, where and how did you find the first book in the series?
Wonderful first read with my new kindle and how grand to discover this wonderful story. Thank you and now on to book 2 in the series._
Thanks, enjoy reading!
Reading the second book of deacon trilogy and loving it, i was wondering if you can come up with a drawing or picture of Lain:) thanks! I am a fan from the philippines!
Hi! Thanks for picking up the second book, I hope you like it. As I said in the tweet, head on over to the artwork page. Lain makes his shadowy appearance on the cover of the third book, The Battle of Verril. I’ve had a few people looking for pictures of various characters, so I may get together some simple drawings of the most requested ones and create a “characters” page.
I am someone that finds it very hard to get into a story; I have tried all of the major authors but could never get “hooked”. Too political, overly complex, dumbed down/up magic, far too many characters, and so on and so forth. I have gotten to the point of giving up on this genre; until, The Book of Deacon.
The last complete series I have read was The Sword of Truth from Terry Goodkind. Very good books in the beginning, but quickly lost something; not so with these phenomenal books by Mr. Joseph Lallo. From the first book until the last you are pulled along at a pace that even the call for dinner can’t make you stop. I finished all three books in three days – and I just crave more.
****May have spoilers****
Mr. Lallo does an awesome job of building his characters, every single one of them has such a strong distinct personality. I was at first worried that there may be too many, but they are all put together so nicely and every one of them is just as important – except that one general that dies first. I was however, worried about Lain. At first he was so lively but quickly became very distant – Lallo did an excellent job of continuing this and it did fit nicely, but I do wish he would have been a tad happier. Although, as another has said, i’m still hoping that maybe he just might have slipped away to join his friend again.
Ether was another that I wasn’t sure about, not in personality, but power. At first she seemed so powerful but as the story played on her weakness over took her at an astonishing rate – she became almost useless. I do like how that was played into the story a bit, but she could have used some extra luck.
Speaking of luck, It would have been nice if the generals weren’t so undefeatable. It seemed that in book three, every chance the hero’s had at fighting they would lose. Going back to Ether, I wanted to mention that I do like the limitation of the powers for everyone – it just didn’t seem to apply as much to the “bad side”, but overly so to her.
Well, I didn’t intend for this to sound like a review as much as quick comments, but overall I just wanted to say thank you so much for your hard work on these stories. Of course there were the couple spelling/grammar errors, as well as some holes in the story (another book hopefully!), but overall, I found it much better than any other book I have read in a very long time. Like I said, I didn’t want it to end.
Easy 4-4.5/5
Now I need to find something else to read until the next one 😉
thanks again
Travis
.
Almost forgot, I wanted to point out that I loved how each book flowed into one-another so effortlessly. Also, I rather enjoyed the layout of the book without chapters.. to me it just kept it flowing better. I notice some others complaining about this, but it just seemed to fit the story so well.
Thanks. In the (hopefully) upcoming paperback edition I’m working on, I was briefly debating on adding chapters to the story, but I’m not sure the story would flow the same if I did. Plus, that’s a fair amount of work, and my agenda is full enough as it is, so I’ll probably remain faithful to the original presentation.
Hi Travis,
It is really rewarding to know that I’ve helped to keep your interest in genre alive.
*** SPOILERS ***
The quick shift from Leo to Lain is something that left many readers hoping to see a return of the cheerful personality he left behind. Hopefully the character he became and the interactions he had were still enjoyable even without his upbeat attitude. As I’ve said elsewhere, I hope to revisit the character in a way that will serve as an explanation for some of his attitudes and actions.
Ether was sort of a dilemma for me, because in theory her presence on the team should have made them unbeatable, but I really liked the idea, so I had to find a way to make her vulnerable in some way. I went with “a stubborn showoff with bad judgement.” One of my friends REALLY dislikes the character as a result. It is the same way with the villains. I thought, after a few centuries of war, these guys would have to be pretty darn formidable, but it may have been overdone.
I do indeed intend to extend the story, and there are a few dangling threads I intend to tie up, but feel free to send me a message with any holes you may have found that you’d like to see addressed. They may not have been intentional.
*** END SPOILERS ***
Thanks again for your comments, and thanks for reading!
I thought your novels were awesome! Of course there were some grammatical errors, to be expected even in professionally edited material. The story line was intriguing and the characters were well developed. I loved how I could actually see the characters evolving. The only thing I could ask more of was more of a development from Ether. I saw how she had changed from the other Chosen but not from herself; perhaps more commentary from her or insight to her mind. Overall the novels were pretty great, I finished all of them within a week! I couldn’t put them down! Awesome job, and great detail!!! 😀
Thanks! As always, I’m hot on the trail of these remaining errors. One of these days I’ll root them out. Another reader interested in Ether? Wow! I guess I must be doing something right if even my least popular character is sparking interest! I’ll start floating ideas on how to expand the character in future writing. Thanks for the comment!
I thoroughly enjoyed the Books of Deacon trilogy. They somevery long nights pleasant. I look forward to others. Your manner of writing was uniquely intriguing. Well done!
Hi Mr Lallo,
I’m a student at MMU and am currently reading The Book of Deacon. Thoroughly enjoying it, one of the most well written and intriguing novels I’ve read in a long time. So suprised after I got it free on my kindle, as an aspiring author I was wondering how you go about getting work published on kindle and was also wondering if you could possibly give me feedback on the starting paragraphs from my first work copied below:
“Every person has their ups and downs, the days where you feel you could fly and the days where you think taking a long walk off a short pier would solve all your problems. Today is one of those days that you put on your walking shoes and prepare for the hike across those wooden boards to the water’s edge. As you stand there staring into the cold, unforgiving depths you consider the road that led you here, you look back at your life, all the moments that made you smile and your heart glow. Then begins the tango of conflict, where all the times where you’ve felt down or hurt begin to compete for your attention. As you’re standing unsteadily on this precipice of turmoil you realise that the time has come to make a choice, the step into the merciful dark or the long trying journey to recovery.
Yet amidst this crescendo of emotional turmoil, life continues around you, people live, people love and people die. Your thoughts turn to those you’ve lost and those who will lose you, some you feel guilty for, their potential loss, and those who you feel deserve to know that your death will lie heavy on their conscience. It is in these moments that your true character is revealed, you are stripped bare to the very core of your essence. They say life flashes before your eyes but I know this isn’t true, only the important decisions you ever made come back to haunt you. The moments you pushed away those you loved for someone who didn’t care for you.”
Many thanks,
Greg
Hi Greg! I’m glad you’re enjoying The Book of Deacon. Rather than giving you a long reply here, I’ll follow up with an email about publishing on Amazon and my thoughts on your paragraphs. Thanks for the comment!
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Mr. Lallo, The Book of Deacon was such a fun, creative story. I am currently on the second book and am enjoying as much as I did the first. I’m an artist and for years have lost inspiration for my art but your book has since rekindled that lost passion. I want to thank you for inspiring my creativity again.
Hi! Thank you very much for the comment! I’m glad you enjoyed the first book enough to continue the story. If I truly helped to inspire you to create art again, I cannot begin to describe how great of a complement it is to be told that I am responsible for such a thing. If you find yourself creating something based on the Book of Deacon, I’d be proud to display it on the artwork page!
You are a wonderful story teller and a strong writer. An excellent combination. I could not stop reading until the first Book of Deacon was complete. I immediately acquired the next two and look forward to losing myself again in the world and lives of the characters you have created with such completeness. Many thanks.
Thank you for the kind words. I truly hope that you find the remaining books of the trilogy to be as enthralling as the first. Thanks for reading!
I was wondering who is on the cover of the great convergence? Next to myranda
*** CONTAINS SPOILERS (I guess) ***
Hi, Clay! That’s Deacon on the cover next to Myranda.
****CONTAINS SPOILERS***&
Just finishd reading Bypass Gemini and I loved it. I thouroughly enjoyed the characters and the story. A lot of authors have a hard time writing both fantasy and sci-fi books but you did an excelent job with Bypass Gemini.
It seems you left it a little open at the end with job offers from the mob and the mad scientest and I was wondering if you had any plans to extend the book into a series?
Again excellent job on Bypass Gemini as well as the Book of Deacon series.
Hi Dan. Wow! Another person who made the rare leap to Sci Fi. I’m glad you feel I did a good job on it. I did indeed leave a bit of an open ending, and I do indeed intend to extend it into a series. As a matter of fact, I’m releasing the second book in the series TOMORROW (Feb. 27th, for those reading this in the future.) I’ll do a full post once it is available. Thanks for reading!
I see your new book on the smashwords website but not in the nook shop. Any idea when it will be available on the nook?
Hi Dan. I distribute to Barnes and Noble through Smashwords, and they both have their own authorization and distribution schedule. Assuming I get through the Smashwords “Premium Approval” gauntlet in the next few days, it will get shipped out to Barnes and Noble on Thursday or Friday. From there, it will be another week or two before it hits the Nook. Therefore, generally speaking, it should be available for the Nook about two weeks from Friday, assuming everything goes well. They often beat their estimates though, so I’ll be sure to post here if I notice it has become available before then.
I do not do much reading, but i recently purchased a Nook color. This is the first book,”The Book of Deacon” i have read on it. I could not believe how well the story floed. I flew through the 926 pages. I loved the story and will be reading the rest of the trilogy. Thank you.
Great! Glad you like it! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
Joe, could you put the Facebook Fan page address on the contact page? I can’t seem to find it here or by searching Facebook (well, it’s blocked at work, so I’ve only got the mobile app). Looking at your blog posts, I’ve apparently missed polls that would have been fun to participate in!
Thanks
–Amy
PS, I had a great idea for a pendant, I’ll send you an email with a picture in it when I get it finished
Done and done. (By the way, if you look at this site on a full browser, there is a little widget on the right side that takes you there, too.)
Ah, that explains the rectangle on the right hand side of this page that says “THIS SITE BLOCKED BY FILTERS” (yes, I’m doing real work too, not just reading websites. honest!)
Heh, you’re talking to a guy who is sneaking in replies on his phone between assignments at work. I understand completely.
I have read hundreds of fantasy novels over the last 30 years and until now have never bothered to make a comment or review of a book or author. For you I will make an exception,
You are obviously a competent story teller, your series is a good and original basic concept, good characters, However, it is so negative that I can only relate it to my last visit to my dentist.
get off the grass and try again, you have the ability to be great!
Hi Bernie. Well, I certainly intend to continue writing, so thanks for the encouragement! Out of curiosity, do you mean that the tone is negative, or your opinion of the book is negative? If you felt the tone was too negative, you’ll be happy to know that I’m hoping to mix a little more humor and lightheartedness into the series (with the exception of the very next book, which is unavoidably dark at times.) If you simply didn’t feel the story was adequate, I’m always trying to improve, so hopefully future stories will be more to your liking. Thanks for reading!
Joe,
Sorry about my tasteless comment, it was not called for. I was annoyed
by the fact that the “bad guys” were created indestructible, whilst the “good guys” were ineffective, in particular the heroine who’s superior training in all magic forms took up a large part of the plot.
The negativity I spoke of arises from constantly watching the “good guys”
getting their backsides kicked, when unrelenting, it becomes depressing.
Hi. Don’t worry about it. You’re absolutely entitled to your opinion, and I’ve been criticized for the over-powered villains in more than a few reviews. Hopefully I can learn how to even things out a bit in future books. Thanks again for commenting!
I am so waging for the movie or better series. Cannot remember when a storyline hooked me hard, oh, yes I can,it was lord of the rings. Starting triology over, first time had to find out about characters, now, want to spend more on the battles. Love the honest of each lone, but mun needs to be rewarded with speach.
Hi! I’m glad you think highly enough of the series to want to see it come to the big (or small) screen. Thanks for reading (and thanks for reading a second time!)
I read all 3 of the books and I really couldn’t put them down! I thought they were awesome. I really wanted to know more about the Lain character. As I have always wanted to be a script writer, I thought that this book would be awesone if made into a movie! However, there will be details missing in the movie. And I think that the old wizard wouod have to be Sean Conary, I can’t think of how to spell his name right now but you know who I ean, nontheless. And Demont would have to be either Orlando Bloom or Ben Affleck! As for the main character, I think that either Anne Hathaway or someone along that sort. Caya would have to be someone like Sandra Bullock or Kathrine Heigl or Cameron Diaz, someone who has a funny character. Anyway, I loved the books, thank you for sharing!
Thanks very much! It will be a while before it is done, but you’ll be happy to know that my current project is a Lain Origin story. If all goes as I intend, it will take you from his earliest moments all the way to one or two of the events he describes in the trilogy.
Sean Connery is an excellent choice for Wolloff, by the way.
Thanks for reading!
I loved the first book in the series and I will be getting the next two. I also love how easy it is to simply talk to you because with many authors you don’t get to do this. I loved the character development through out the book and how you gave them more depth as time went on. Many well known authors can’t be bothered to do this and its a craft. The only thing I can say that was a little rushed would be the main characters transformation from “scavenger” to “warrior wizard”. I understand being a prodigy but it had great potential to be more of a defining transformative moment I think. Beyond that the imagery was great and very detailed. I look forward to what you put out there in the future!
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed the book. I hope you enjoy the rest. Talking to my readers is one of my favorite results of my plunge into self publishing, and I hope that I can continue to do it for a long, long time. I’ll agree that the speed at which Myranda assumed here new role is one of the weaker aspects of the story. Pacing is a little bit tricky for me. Thanks for the comment, and thanks for reading!
I have to take the time to thank for writing such an awesome series of books! I have three adopted disabled children and often turn to reading after they are all in bed for the night, to help me relax. I had Book of Deacon for a while before I got around to reading it, I was so intrigued with the story line that I found myself carrying my iPad everywhere I went with the hope that I would be delayed and would have time to read a few more pages. I was sad that the series had to end. I enjoyed your writing and the subject of your story, as I was reading, I felt as though the characters were friends. Keep up the great work, I look forward to more of your books in the future!
Thanks Shana. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts, particularly with what I’m sure is a very full schedule of very important tasks. I’ll do my very best to keep the stories coming.
I downloaded Book of Deacon on Amazon.com. When I started reading and discovered Lain was a “fox-man,” I was so disappointed. Normally I tend to not like this type of book because of elves, dwarfs, dragons, etc…
But I kept reading. The more I read, the more intrigued I became. I couldn’t put the book down until I was finished. I immediately went to your website and via amazon purchased books two and three.
Excellent reading. I felt that if I concentrated as Myranda would, then I should be able to casts the same spells. I am excited to start the second book in the trilogy.
I plan to tweet, like, and pin your books. 🙂
Many thanks! I’m glad you’re enjoying the story. Every now and then I hear from someone like yourself who is not initially a fan of “high fantasy.” It makes me feel good when I can win you over, because it means that you enjoyed my tale in spite of its genre, rather than because of it. Thanks for the comment, and I hope you enjoy the rest.
I have just finished reading Book of Deacon, on my Kinddle
I absolutely loved every moment of it & really had to force myself to stop reading at times & get on with the other things in life you have to deal with.
Earlier in the week I downloaded the other 2 books ready to continue reading. I love things to do with dragons, fantasy, magic etc & adore Myn.
I have never written to an author before – thank you for some wonderful reading.
I’m glad you enjoyed it so much, and I hope the rest of the trilogy brings you the same level of enjoyment. Thank you for the kind words!
I just finished The Book of Deacon and before I was done with it I had purchased the next two books. I simply could not put it down. Your books and writing style are amazing. Thank-you so much for giving me such a beautiful and detailed place of wonder to escape to. I care so much about your characters that I really want to stay up and find out what happens next, but unfortunatly it is 12:15am and I need to wake up in a few hours! Again, thank-you.
Thank you very much for your kind words. I’m very happy that you like the books so much. Thank you for reading!
Let me start by saying that you are a fantastic story teller. I enjoyed reading this trilogy quite a bit. I actually paid for books 2 and 3 because I wanted to finish the story that badly. Well done there. My only constructive criticism is that you really need to hook up with a decent editor somehow. There were instances of grammar and spelling and syntax errors that were a little distracting. A good editor could help you iron out the wrinkles and let your story telling talent sparkle even more. I admit I am a little bit of a grammar nut, so it’s a testament to the quality of the tale you spin that I read it all even if I did have moments of irritation and distraction.
I hope you have a long and successful career and hope to see more from you!
Hi. Thank you so much for the comment. I’m really glad that you enjoyed the story. I apologize for the lackluster grammar. It wasn’t until long after the books had been released with my own (clearly inadequate) proofreading that I’d accumulated enough money to have a professional look over the books. I’ve done my best to iron out the errors present, and I plan to continue to issue corrections. A massive edit of the third book is due to be released next week, in fact. If sales continue as they have, and the editor I’ve found continues to maintain the same schedule, then I hope to start having the books edited BEFORE they are released, rather than after. Thanks for reading!
Glad to hear it 🙂 Looking forward to more amazing stories in the future 🙂
Easily readable, many original ideas, enjoyable. I found many imitative components, mainly Tolkien references. You clearly can do your own imagining. I would like to see more original settings and backgrounds. Seems to be written at a Young Adult level, which is fine if intentional.
I will be interested to read your further writings.
Thanks! Tolkien is so closely associated with raw fantasy that it is hard to write a story with such a setting without referencing him just a bit. I actually didn’t aim for any reading level in particular, though I did make a few concious omissions for the sake of keeping it acceptable for younger readers, so I suppose young adult was roughly my target.
Thanks for your interest!
*** SPOILERS ***
Hiya!
First: I’ve read all FOUR books (Jade :D) and loved them. I predicted a lot of stuff (Trigorah’s being Chosen, for example) but it was in a good way!
I’m an aspiring author and have one book out of my own trilogy complete. So I was chilling today and I was thinking of a new idea for a different story. I think, “How bout I write a story about a ‘Frankenstein’ who doesn’t realize what she is? Then I look at my Kindle, and Ivy’s being controlled by the controlly crystal. Dang it. Your ideas literally seep into my brain while writing, and it KILLS me because they’re already taken. I love your books! You have too much talent to be on the KindleStore for a free download (although it is quite handy dandy) and you should be right up there with JK Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephen King, Suzanne Collins…you get the point…ANYWAY!
A) I think Ether has a snobby British accent 😛
B) Lain and Westley, from the Princess Bride…I think they must be related. They seem SO SIMILAR!
C) Deacon is my absolute favorite character, for a guy. Ayna has to be my favorite girl character! She’s very amusing and if I ever get bullied, I would channel her!
D) Epidime sounds like Epidemic (it makes sense!) and he’s creepy…
E) I AM DONE!
All in All: Love your writing, love your characters, you’re one of my favorite authors!
-Sandy
Thank you for the great comment! I’m always happy to hear from a fan, and I’m particularly glad when it is someone who has tracked down Jade, too. And an aspiring author as well! I know how you feel, when you come up with an idea only to find someone else who has done it first. I’ll say this, though. If you have an idea, go ahead and write it, whether you’ve found something similar or not. I’m not the first one to write a fantasy epic with fairies, dragons, and the like. As long as you inject enough creativity into it, taking a little inspiration is fine. Speaking of fairies, you might be the only reader I’ve heard from who picked Ayna as your favorite. Have you seen the picture of her in the official art section?
As for the rest of your comment, let’s see. I could certainly see Ether with an upper class British accent. I wouldn’t say Lain is based on Westley, but I’m a huge fan of Princess Bride, so some of the Man in Black may have crept in there. (See? Inspiration!) The Epidime/epidemic thing was a happy mistake.
Thanks again for the great comment. Good luck with your writing!
I have just finished raeding the Deacon trilogy, in 4 days!, and to say i loved it would be a huge understatment. Thanks for writing it and more of the some genere please
Chris Bradshaw
England
Holy smokes, so many fast readers out there! Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’m doing my best to get the next novel (a story about Lain’s history) finished. Until then, all I can offer is the short novel Jade. Thanks for reading!
I started the first book about 2 weeks ago and downloaded it for free not knowing how it would take since I’m more of a horror reader. I couldn’t put it down. I finished the last book just minutes ago and didn’t realize how much I fell in love with the story. Dragons, wizards and such are my decorum but this trilogy just made it even more edgy for me. Your books kept me onthe edge of my seat, wanting more as each book came to its end. I would definitely recommend this book to people I know and to the ones that would be shocked to see me read books other than horror. Thank you.
Hi Mandi. Thanks! I’m truly proud to have written a story that could hook even a horror fan. I really appreciate you spreading the word. Thanks for reading.
Dear Joseph Lallo,
I am contacting you on behalf of Robert Gottlieb, Chairman of Trident Media Group regarding the prospect of literary representation. Might you be interested in considering literary representation? To tell you a little bit about us:
Trident Media Group (TMG) is a prominent literary agency located in New York City. TMG represents over 700 bestselling and emerging authors in a range of genres of fiction and nonfiction, many of whom have appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List and have won major awards and prizes, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the P.E.N. Faulkner Award, the P.E.N. Hemingway Award, The Booker Prize, and the L.A. Times Book Award among others. TMG is one of the world’s leading, largest and most diversified literary agencies. For six consecutive years, TMG has ranked number one for sales according to publishersmarketplace.com in North America. TMG is the only US agency to be in the top 10 in both UK fiction and UK non-fiction.
Specialties
Editorial, Film and TV Sales, Foreign Rights, Contract Negotiation / Business Affairs, Accounting and Information Tracking, Audio Books, eBook Sales and Marketing, Publishing Management
All the best,
Mark
Mark Gottlieb
Executive Assistant to Robert Gottlieb, Chairman
Trident Media Group, LLC
41 Madison Avenue, Floor 36
New York, NY 10010
(212) 333-1500
http://tridentmediagroup.com/
Follow Trident Media Group on Twitter:
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I have been reading The Book of Deacon every free moment I’ve had for the past week (which isn’t much free time, being a working mother of 2) and just wanted to say I LOVED it. I just purchased the next two in the trilogy and am looking forward to reading them as well. Keep up the great work! Can’t wait to see what else you come out with. Happy Writing!
Hi Holly! Thanks for the comment. I’m always honored when people choose to spend precious off-time reading my books. I’m extremely pleased that you felt my story was worth your while, and I hope that the rest of the tale lives up to expectations. Thanks for reading!
Well Joseph Lallo I enjoyed the book of deacon immensely then the second book I thought was glory and a little bit slow it was just okay the third book was good and a very nice finish but reading fictitious like that takes away any thoughts or anything that’s on your mind and you get into the book And you can’t put it down it was a nice experience and thank you
Hi Donna. I’m glad you enjoyed the books! Thanks for the comment.
Hi Joseph,
I, too, am an I.T. professional.
I found Jade as a free download for my Nook and ma now almost through The Book of Deacon.
I was pleased to find your books as a continuation of the LOTR and Eregon worlds. (Of course the Hobbits are of a far older world, but the races continue.)
I am in the midst of writing a novel about Dragon Wars. I have been toiling over it for a few years, giving my writers block the free reign to prevent me from getting past the first third of the novel.
However, after I complete your body of work, I intend to complete mine. Your work has inspired me to complete what I have started.
Thanks and keep up the great work.
By the way, my “home” platform is the IBM iSeries (AS/400) using OS/400. Alas, it is being sunsetted by my employer and I get to learn .Net.
Best regards,
Bob Palmieri
Hi Bob,
Always great to hear from another IT guy. I’m glad you’re enjoying the books, and I wish you great luck on your own! In my case, my home OS is AIX, and the system is referred to exclusively as “The RISC Box”. Not sure what hardware is actually doing the heavy lifting.
Thanks for reading!
Hi Joe,
I and my family were blessed during the storm. We live on the South Shore of Long Island, in Babylon.
Parts of our village on the bay were destroyed, Lindenhurst to the west was decimated. I live on a little dead end private lane with 19 homes. Our neighbors across the street have a canal to the Great South Bay behind their homes. All on our block were blessed. NO FLOODING ANYWHERE ON THE STREET.
We got pwer back after 48 hours and I was able to work (I.T., remember?) form home. Yes, I even had cable internet access!
I wanted to write as I also had some experience with AIX. WHAT NO FULL SCREENS? Might as well be DOS. Storage pools U1 through U8, directories like \etc (et cetera???), commands that make no sense (my favorite: GREP and IGREP!). Hated it.
I understand that when UNIX was written the author wanted to name it Eunuchs.
Glad you survived.
Bob
PS… Please disregard the typos. We have no heat in the office right now and my fingers are frozen! Feel like I am in the North with Myranda!
As I always say, no need to apologize to ME about typos. Glad to hear you made it through the storm okay.
Joe,
Also, your images lend themselves well to movie images… are there any noises about a movie?
Bob
The artist I worked with (and many of the fan artists as well) have really done a great job in constructing some epic representations of my scenes, and I often try to write in a cinematic way, so I’d love the chance to have some movies made. That said, from the point of view of the traditional book biz and movie biz world, I haven’t even made a real BOOK yet. Chances are pretty slim that I’ll start to get Hollywood interest any time soon.
Have you ever given thought to writing a short story, or an extra for that matter, from Deacons POV in your spare time? I know there’s a few in the third book, but I was curious as to what he thought about Miranda when he first saw her. More than anything I wanted to know what his thoughts and feelings were as he watched her begin and finish Azriel’s test in the crystal arena.
You know, I’ve been getting a surprising number of requests for Deacon-centric stuff. An idea I had a while back would be to gather up some of the most frequently asked questions and write a little book tying up those threads. I was going to call it “Missing Pages” or something like that. Using Deacon collecting his thoughts and reminiscing as a framing device might work pretty well, and give me an opportunity to do some POV stuff.
Then do be sure to include some thoughts, or even better explanations, as to why everyone seems to be totally O.K. with Azriel occasionally murdering one of her test subjects… This part left me completely baffled.
It’s a test. She basically tries to kill you or, at the very least, tortures you (with glee). If you manage to trick her, or deny her her “sport” and she gets angry… well it’s simply your time to die!
She is vastly more powerful, experienced and prepared than any of her subjects, but if they somehow overstep, it’s completely legit for her to murder the basically defenseless student?
Azriel is a good example of the ways in which Entwell is not as rosy and idyllic as it may seem. She is a bit of a complex character. During a test, if you step beyond the criteria of the testing, she certainly reacts viciously, but she does never and would never take the life of a student who yields, succeeds, or fails. When a student loses his or her life during a trial, it is because they found themselves in a dangerous situation and refused to back down. It is definitely a good topic for a character interview or short story.
Hi Joseph Lallo,
I just wanted to say how much I loved ‘The Book of Deacon’, my partner recommended it to me and neither of us can put your books down!
I really enjoyed that you have a strong female character as the lead role, it seems that so many books and other media forms are lacking good female leads.
I’ve just started reading ‘The Great Convergence’ and that is just as amazing! You have a great talent for story telling and I’m going to recommend your books to everyone I know. Please keep writing more books!
Thank you
Hi Phoebe,
Thanks so much for giving my books a try. I really appreciate it, and I’m glad that your partner’s recommendation was worth your while.
It is an honor and a relief to be told that you consider my main character to be a strong female character. Obviously it is a bit of a risk for a male to write a female character. I was worried throughout the process that I wouldn’t do so in a believable or appropriate manner.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the story as much as its beginning, and I’ll do my very best to keep more books of the same quality coming.
Thanks for reading.
Joseph,
Here is the review I just left on Amazon. I’m also the founder of a successful and very active role-playing organization. We just started a Facebook page in addition to our Meetup.com website page. I added your Book of Deacon Facebook page as our first “Liked” Facebook page. Fantasy novels like yours can give excellent inspiration for campaign settings with table-top role-playing games. I believe the review accurately reflects my sincere thoughts of your writing skills;
I’m a very specific reader that has very high standards when it comes to enjoying epic fantasy novels. I like lots of magic, believable characters, little political intrigue, and little major battles. What interest me is character development that is believable and interesting. I also look for the main character to get into such a major, world altering, problem that you can’t see any way they will “rid the world of an epic evil force.”
I’m SO impressed with the author because he has full filled almost all of my requirements in this first book. The character are very well though out and incredibly believable. The plot is NOT ladened with immense political intrigue and large complex battle scenes. There is a political plot and battle skirmishes and it’s likely to be on a more epic scale in the second book I’d guess. However, these two areas don’t dominate the book thankfully.
The author has some similarities to my most favorite authors:Terry Brooks, David Farland, James Clemens, Eldon Thompson.
I simply can’t believe he’s giving away his first novel! I’ve was so impressed that I’ve now written my first ever book review!
Hi Erick. Thanks so much for the review. I’m happy you enjoyed my first book enough to share it with your role-playing organization. Considering the seeds of the story were planted by some of the Video Game cousins of classic role playing, I hope I can inspire your friends in the same way. The next stories probably will weigh down things a bit more with epic battles (particularly in Book 3) but hopefully you’ll enjoy the trilogy regardless. Thanks again.
I am new to this author, which generally, I author hop, but I am attached to Myranda, Deacon and Myn. I love fantasy, have since Excalibur the movie. I also follow “Discovery of Witches.” You have absolutely won me over. From the first page, I knew I was in for a treat. Now, I need to follow miss foolhearted Myr back through the d… rabbit whole….can’t wait.
“The further you look into the past, the more you see the future.” -Churchill (paraphr)
I’m glad you enjoyed the first story! Thank you for giving me a try, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the series.
I just finished reading the first book in the Book of Deacon trilogy. I really loved it! I have been looking for a good trilogy or series and I simply couldn’t put this one down. I cannot wait to read the rest of the story. I am used to epics and well established authors, but while I was between series (and low on funds) I decided to download my first free book. I have to say that I enjoyed this book more than a lot of other books I have read recently. I look forward to reading all of your work.
I am now officially your fan!
I’m really glad you took a chance with my book, and that it paid off for you! Thanks for the support, and I’ll do my best to keep the stories coming.
I love this series. I cried and laughed and wanted to scream, but I live in an apartment and wish to remain so. I own the ebooks but was wondering if you have printed version? And if so how can I get them signed? If Hollywood wouldn’t royally mess it up I think these would be incredible movies. You did an amazing job.
Thanks! I’m glad you love the series. There is indeed a printed version of the trilogy. You can find it on Amazon (and just about everywhere else). I also offer signed versions via the Store link on this site. Right now only the first book is listed as available, but if you order three of them and indicate in either the notes or in an email that you want all three books of the trilogy, I’ll send them your way. You can also email me directly and if you’ve got a paypal account we can work out something that way. Thanks again for your kind words. (I know Hollywood tends to take major liberties with stories like this, but if they came knocking I probably wouldn’t be able to say no.)
The last 4 1/2 days have been consumed with my need to finish the Book of Deacon Trilogy. I am just now starting Jade (the last, going in the order you recommended). My lack of sleep and disinterest in my surroundings is testament of how entertained and engulfed this story has kept me. I have fallen in love with the characters! I’ve laughed, cried, and fumed with anger. The imagery you use paints such a vivid picture where each battle and struggle is effortlessly envisioned in the reader’s mind. I LOVE IT. I cannot remember the last time I have enjoyed a book so much. I am very much looking forward to reading your other works. For now, this Deacon obsession needs to be quenched! Thank you for creating and sharing such wonderful pieces of work. If they ever make a movie, I hope it stays true to your story!
Thanks for the comment! It is awfully rewarding to hear from someone so enthusiastic about the books. I’m happy that you’ve enjoyed the series so far, and I hope that Jade (comparatively small morsel that it is) will tide you over until the next stories in the series come along. Thanks for reading!
I meant 4 1/2 WEEKS! lol There is no way I could read that fast. I didn’t realize how short Jade was compared to the rest but it was great nonetheless!
Whew. 4 1/2 weeks is a little more sane. I’ve had people tell me that they lost sleep reading my story, but powering through the trilogy in less than a week is pushing it. Glad you liked Jade. I’ll have to hurry up and get the next books out! Feel free to check out the coming attractions, if you haven’t already.
Just read the first book and thought I would have a snoop at your website. Firstly the story is addictive and I cannot wait for it to unfold – secondly I love the fact you are an I.T geek who responds personally to all comments! I hope you have a mahoosive career in literature and will contribute to your success via purchase and recommendations 🙂 Nx
Thanks for checking out the site, and I’m glad you are enjoying the story. Getting comments from the fans and replying to them is one of the most unexpected and gratifying parts of the whole indie author adventure, and I sincerely hope that I’ll be able to keep doing it for a long time (no matter how mahoosive my career gets). Thanks for reading!
Ok, so I got the Book of Deacon as a free download when I first bought my Kindle a long while ago, mainly based on the great reviews. Then I forgot all about it. For some bizarre reason, one day I decided to start reading it, not having any idea what it was about. I had downloaded several free classics (Jane Austen, Mark Twain, etc) around that same time, so thought your book was one I hadn’t heard about. Imagine my surprise! Even more surprising was the fact that I really liked it! I had little exposure to this genre, and didn’t even know I liked it! I finished the trilogy in no time. Read another book, then came back and read the whole trilogy AGAIN because I missed the characters so much. The whole while, I’m thinking I’ve lost my mind! I hardly ever read a book twice, and usually with years in between.
Sigh. So now I’m addicted to the whole epic fantasy genre. My eyes are way blurry from reading so much and staying up late to read. It is weird to find this out about myself at my age. Somewhat embarrassed … Feeling a bit geeky/nerdy (no offense to all the other fans). Oh another thing I’ve never done is to contact an author. But I was impressed by how you actually replied to comments usually on the same day. Just thought I’d drop a note to the guy who opened my eyes to a genre that I’m really enjoying reading. Also I’m super excited about the Lain Origin book. He was by far my favorite character. Thanks.
Wow, I got you hooked on a whole genre? Neat! I’m glad you enjoyed the books so much. Lain Origin is SO CLOSE to completion. Last night I hit the halfway point for the second draft. Hoping to release it soon. Thanks for the comment!
Have you thought about having this made into a movie? I would LOVE to see these characters come to life!
Unfortunately, I haven’t reached the point that I could initiate the making of a movie myself, but I would certainly welcome any emails or calls from Hollywood if they became interested.
I just finished reading the Deacon Series for the second time and it was just as good as the first, if not better because I caught a lot more details. I stumbled across “The Book of Deacon” on my nook while shopping for free fantasy books and within the first few pages, I was hooked and quickly ordered the 2 sequential books. Congratulations on an incredible series! Can’t wait for “Rise of the Red Shadow”. Also, please consider a prequel for Caya as well!
I truly hope someone is very ambitious and makes a webseries or movie out of the book and if they do, please keep me in mind for Caya. What a great character! Been thinking about that more and more.
Thanks! It’s a great compliment to even suggest The Book of Deacon series could stand to a second reading, let alone improve upon it. I don’t hear much from Caya fans. I’ll definitely keep you in mind if I ever get tapped for a Book of Deacon web/film/tv project! I checked out your site, and I could certainly picture you in the role. Thanks for reading.
That’s wonderful and flattering to hear. Thank you!
Too bad you don’t hear from many Caya fans. I think she is a fascinating character!
*** SPOILER ***
Mr.lallo just wanted to ask about the malthrope race since lain “died”.
*** Possible SPOILER ***
Hi Alan. As it stands right now, to the best of the knowledge of the characters of the setting, Ivy is the last living malthrope. However, the story takes place almost entirely within the Northern Alliance. Their knowledge about Tressor is limited, and even more mysterious are the lands of the North and South Crescent, which are virtually unmentioned. There is plenty of world left for malthropes to be hiding.
The prequel which will be releasing at the end of the month, The Rise of the Red Shadow, sheds a little bit more light on malthropes, their history, and their possible future.
Thanks for the question!
And try to get the rise of the red shadow on nook, please.
No problem! The Rise of the Red Shadow should be available on the Nook within a few weeks of its release, and a Nook compatible file will be available from Smashwords.com on Day 1.
Please try to get the rise of the red shadow on nook.
I certainly will! Like the rest of my stories, it will be available on in nook compatible format from Smashwords on day one, and directly from the nook store shortly after.
Just finished the Book of Deacon Trilogy. Absolutely enthralling. I am 75 and have read hundreds of fantasy and scifi novels. You have made perhaps the most complex and imaginative use of magic that I have read anywhere. One suggestion: if you write another novel or trilogy in this vein, try to give the heroes a breather now and then. It seems the Book of Deacon heroes were almost always being threatened with eminent death, if not actually on the verge of death.They were always cold, never had enough food, and were always being pursued! Who would want to be a hero when there are no rewards?
— Spoiler —
(although this did come at the end, at least). Sorry to lose a hero, however, I had imagined him being married to Ivy in the end and giving up his life of assassination, but alas, that never happened.
— End Spoiler —
Myn is an especially wonderful character. You should make some Myn figures and dolls for Amazon to sell.
Thanks! I agree that the misfortune that our heroes face across the story can be a bit relentless, particularly in Book 3. The scene where they meet Sandra at her farmhouse might be the only breather scene I put in there, and it was one of my favorite scenes from the whole trilogy. I agree about Myn, though. I’ve been working with artists to see how feasible it would be to make a Myn plush or figurine, and I’ve got prototypes of both either finished or on the way. (Check out the “Support Art Galleries” page to see.)
My name is Emily, I’m 18 years old and I started to read The Book of Deacon earlier in August after a friend persuaded me to read something from a fantasy-type genre… Scrolling through the free Kindle books on Amazon, I came across your book and after reading the information alongside the book, I decided that I wanted to read it… At first, between work, homework and other such activities, my reading of the book was only a few pages here and there but after a couple of chapters, my interest in the book deepened, I wanted to know more about Myranda, her past, her present and what would become of he later on in the book, to the point I couldn’t put it down… I honestly and whole-heartedly believe that The Book of Deacon is one of the best and most interesting books I have ever read and its seriously gotten me interested in fantasy as a genre and most importantly, its gotten me interested in you as an author! I had to quickly figure out how to set up my credit card with my Amazon account so that I could buy the rest of the trilogy and am currently reading the second book and will be straight onto the third as soon as this one is finished! Well done on creating some of the most amazing and inspirational characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of identifying with, well done for creating such an amazing world that through your illustrative words is so vivid in my mind. I seriously can’t give you enough praise but I can thank you for giving me the opportunity to read such a brilliant and clever story!
Hi Emily. Thanks for the great comment! I’m so proud to have been your introduction to fantasy, though it seems to me the real person you should be your thanking is your friend for persuading you to give the genre a try. It is great to know you’ve found The Book of Deacon to be worthwhile. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. With any luck you’ll enjoy the rest of my stories as much as the first. Thanks for reading!
Mr Lallo
Superbly done!
Wow!
Respect.
Karmillah
Thanks!
No Christmas update? :<
Better make a new year's update on everythan you doin or I'mma fly ova to da US of A with the MI6 and interrogate you with their "techniques" of "extractin'" info-mayshun
We're watchin yo
EEP! Okie doke, I’ll start scraping together some thoughts for an update!
just wanted to let you know that I loved reading the book of deacon trilogy.
I enjoy fantasy art and found artwork on deviantart.com. The artist mention your book, and I cheked it out. I am so glad I did, even more so that the first book was free at amazon. I was hooked after the first few chapters.I was sad when when Myranda died (or so i thought) at the end of book one, and later when Myn died as well. I did not see it coming when Laine died at the end. He had redeemed himself many times over. I already bought the book “The rise of the red shadow. I wil also download Jade after reading the aforementiond book. I do hope that the book of Deacon will be made in to a movie. I love scienc fiction in all its forms. you are one of my favorite authors now.
Thank you for many hours of wonderful entertainment.
Ursula
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed the books. It is great to know you found your way to my writing via Deviant Art! I’ve found a lot of great artist there, not the least of which is my cover artist. I hope you enjoy the rest of the books!
I’m glad everyone loves ur books of deacon but I’m seriously jonesing for some more lex and my favorite mad scientist of all time (just beating out prof. Brown) and can’t wait to see where u can take ma to!
Karter beat out Doc. Brown!? Woah! Well, I’m working on the third sci-fi book. I hope to have it out by the end of the year, of life doesn’t get in the way. Thanks for the comment!
I just finished ‘Bypass Gemini’ and I must say that the book is incredible. I gave it 5 stars on Amazon. I really hope you write more stories featuring the crew from ‘Bypass Gemini’. I’m going to recommend this book to everyone I know that likes sci-fi. It’s truly one of my favorite books of all-time. Thank you for writing such a wonderful story.
Thanks! There’s actually a second book in the series available right now. It’s called Unstable Prototypes. Not only that, but my current primary project is a third book featuring Lex and the rest.
I just wanted to let you know I am really enjoying your Book of Deacon trilogy. I just finished book 2, the third is downloading to my Kindle as I type.
This series is very well done, I look forward to reading some of your other stuff after I finish with Lain, Myranda and the rest of the Chosen.
Ok, download is complete, time to dive into book 3.
Thanks again for keeping me entertained the last few days…..have really enjoyed the story, characters and your writing style.
Take care.
Thanks for the comment! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the story so far, and I appreciate you picking the full trilogy. Hopefully you find the ending as enjoyable as the rest of the story. Your kind words are most appreciated, and as always I’ll do my best to keep the stories coming.
Wow did u make a complex character when u made Lain. I am still reading Rise of The Red Shadow but have finished all 3 in The Book of Deacon. I knew Lains story would be an interesting one but I never dreamed he would be so.. I’m at a loss for even a word to describe him. Ever moment of his life, and every person he has met added more to him. His story is truly unpredictable even after learning bits and pieces about him from The Book of Deacon. Lain is one of the best characters I have read about. I hope that u continue to make such great characters. I would love to see another series about malthropes. I loved them!
I’ve got to say, Lain has come a long way. I went from being concerned that readers would find him to be too much of a monster (both literally and figuratively) to feel any sympathy. Now he’s pretty solidly claimed the title of “favorite character” for many. I’m glad you’re enjoying his story. I certainly hope I continue to write great characters too! I thought I was done with the malthropes, but people keep suggesting stories that include them. We’ll see how things go.
This series was absolutely wonderful! The whole Book of Deacon trilogy to Rise of the Red Shadow and Jade. Took me about a week to finish them all. Couldn’t wait to get to each one! Please tell me there will be more!?! Can hardly wait to tell my 22 year old grandson about this series. Great storyline. Thank you!
There will certainly be more. I’ve already finished two short stories that will come out in a few months, and after I finish my next Sci-fi book I’ll be working on the next Book of Deacon story. Thanks for the comment, I’m glad you like the series!
It has probably been a year or better since I read the books of Deacon. I just recently finished the Red Shdow. Thank you for letting Lain have a victory in this story. I felt that he and the others were constantly battered about in trilogy. I do love the story though, and look forward to the next!
Being a hero isn’t easy, what can I say? I’m glad you liked Lain’s story. I’ll get to work on what comes next.
Now that I think about it…
Lain’s initial suffering is a lot like Solomon’s in 12 Years a Slave (Great film btw)
But I always feel the end of all your books is kind of a let-down after the end of the original trilogy – not because they’re bad, but because they either end in an increasingly frustrating cliffhanger or closure that makes you think, “Hey, What the HELL!? What happened to thisandthatblahblahblah” and is basically another kind of cliffhanger so we have to beg and grovel for the next book in line for a series.
I do have a terrible habit of coming up with plots that end up being too long for one book, and this one in particular left a lot of blank space between its ending and the beginning of the next book in the series. Must fill in the missing pieces.
A while ago, as I was looking around for something new to read I stumble across the Deacon series, read all three books of the main series pretty fast and liked them pretty much. As it is so rare to be actually invited to comment to an author I hesitated a bit, but here is my little grain for what its worth:
Like every drama, Deacon could use even more humour, funny stuff and little absurdities. And that’s especially true for the more serious characters. Look at it this way: the whole series would probably be far less without Myn. So – even when the funny stuff does not come while writing and bringing the story along, it may be worthwhile to add more of that during editting.
But, anyway, thanks for a great story.
Thanks for the comment! The Book of Deacon series is certainly the less humorous of my series. I think my more recent non-fantasy stuff, The Other Eight in particular, has a stronger focus on comedy.
Good Morning Joseph,
while wandering thru Amazon looking for my next book I found “The Book of Deacon”. I saw it was a series and those are my favorites… it lets the author expand the characters so much more. Well, three days later I was done and sad there wasn’t a fourth. My favorite type of story !
I went right into the Big Sigma series and and found another marvelous group of characters to join with in their adventures… both great series and looking forward to more installments..
Thanks for them both and for all the lost sleep… it was well worth it..
John NIolon
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed the stories. I’m hard at work on the fourth Book of Deacon (technically the sixth, if you count the prequel and the side story), and after that it’ll be back to Big Sigma as well.
Howdy, Mr. Lallo, I’m one of your die-hard fans. The pre-order-every-book-the-moment-it-becomes-available guy.
I downloaded The Book of Deacon on my Kindle, and enjoyed it, although I didn’t think it or its accompanying trilogy were very good. Nah, it wasn’t until I read Bypass Gemini that I fell in love with your work. Now, I have read everything you’ve put on Amazon, from Jade to The Other Eight, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that you, sir, are one of the best authors I’ve ever read, fit to stand beside Vernor Vinge and Neil Fucking Gaiman. I am proud to be your fan!
I’m also a big fan of , a website for cataloging conventions used in fiction for a better appreciation of said fiction. It’s also a good place to find books, or games, or what-have-you that have things you like. I noted with some displeasure that none of your works had yet been cataloged in this treasure trove of geekery, so I took the liberty of . You’ll not that that link takes you to a partially-finished page for Free Wrench.
Now, I’m not too sure as to the functionality of the Chat or Forum portions of your Book of Deacon website, but I’m sure there are tropers amongst the rest of your fans that might be interested in helping inform the world of your work. Perhaps spreading the word will help the word get spread?
yours truly,
Jean Deaux
Holy Smokes! Thanks for the praise. You’ve invoked Neil Gaiman for crying out loud! I am humbled, sir.
And I’m THRILLED to know that you’ve tackled adding some of my stuff to TV-Tropes. That site ate my brain for a few weeks, and I still check back regularly, much to the detriment of my productivity. I’ll definitely check out what you’ve got started.
My forum and chat on my site are a bit clunky and malfunctiony right now. I’ll get my web guy on it just as soon as I can, but he’s hip deep in a new assignment at his other job that is devouring all available time. I’ll put out the call via my various social networking sites, though! Also expect an email from me, because one the things I’m not sure works about this site is the auto-reply…
By the way, please forgive the atrocious HTML. I must’ve dropped a > somewhere.
Just read The Redemption of Desmeres short that you included in this month’s newsletter. I sure hope this does not get lost as I think it is well worth the time to finish it. I look forward to read more of it when possible. He was an interesting supporting character in the Book of Deacon series and I for one would very much want to learn more about him. Some back story would be nice as well. Keep up the great work!
Great! Glad you liked it!
Regarding ‘Galactic Empires: Eight Novels of Deep Space Adventure’ in your “Bundles of Bundles!” post.
I discovered – after installing Kindle app on my not-very-smart phone, jumping through Amazon’s hoops, and reading only a few pages of ‘Backworlds’ – that the free ‘Galactic Empires’ omnibus is now available in non-proprietary format from Kobo. Exeunt stage left Kindle app, welcome to my e-reader Galactic Empires.
Had first encountered your work through ‘Bypass Gemini’ (via StoryBundle) and think it is in excellent company here. I can only hope your benefit from those from other approaches is commensurate with mine. Have not yet completed the omnibus principally through being side-tracked by the consistently high quality of the content – although I commonly have several books on the go simultaneously it’s not too convenient (at my low-tech level) for them to be in the same compendium.
You don’t seem to have mentioned your participation in the Smashwords July sale – though perhaps it was in newsletter. Discovery of new to me material from yourself – since ‘Temporal Contingency’ – in this Smashwords sale brought realisation that had inadvertently failed to sign up for your newsletter. The discounts were much appreciated here as falling British currency has plummetted in last few weeks. Unfortunately that it costs me more doesn’t really help you and lower income reduces investment in future works. Best wishes. David
Hi David!
Thanks for picking up Galactic Empires, and I’m pleased you like my stuff!
Yeah, I’m lousy at mentioning sales I’m a part of. I think the only place I remembered to mention the July promotion from Smashwords was the Facebook fan page. Smashwords amounts to a very small chunk of my book sales, so I don’t often spread the word about my involvement in their promos, but I make it a point to sign up for each one of them.
I’m sorry that the pound has been losing value. As I am published almost exclusively in English, the UK is the second biggest market for my writing and I’ve certainly felt the results of your economic turmoil over there.
Wow. Brilliant series. I hope this will be made into a movie or series. This needs more recognition. Have been sharing with my friends about this masterpiece of a book. I have cried like a baby when my favorite died in book 2. Bought the anthology and i am going to finish it all. This anthology is my reward for a better life. Thank you for this.
Julian
Sorry this hung out in pending for so long. I’m happy you enjoyed the story, and I hope you enjoy the whole anthology!