The Apples of Aeden Series

Volume I of the 2000-plus page epic fantasy Apples of Aeden, twelve years in the making. Newly edited in October 2012, with many new coloured maps and graphics throughout. This epic isn't for the casual reader! Be warned: this world will draw you in, and you will lose yourself in it, and as with Galadriel's realm, those who visit Aeden do not emerge unchanged. The world of the epic is ageless, esoteric, philosophical, and Romantic, exploring in a vast cycle what an intergalactic civilisation which truly honoured Love, Beauty, Truth, and Freedom might have looked like - and how it might have fallen, and how far... The Narrator, a distracted Oxford history student, finds a cryptic manuscript connected with the Knights Templar which leads him, via a hollow yew tree and a skeleton clutching an artefact not of this world, to Chartres cathedral, and thence to a mysterious antipodean forest containing an ancient Portal. Meanwhile Shelley Arkle of New Zealand has had a very busy 13th birthday. On the way North, summoned by her eccentric grandfather, she learned that she was adopted, her ‘father’ crashed the car, then she was lured into the dangerous forest of the Fairyhill Reserve, and through its Portal into the world of Aeden (sketchily remembered by humans as the Garden of Eden). Waiting there for Shelley is a grim hermit warrior. She flees from him, and is picked up by a sinister black wagon. She is rescued by the wild Boy Raiders, but her glasses are smashed. The Boys deliver her back to the grim warrior: Korman the Outcast. He swears to be her Guardian, and together they flee the Kiraglim Trackers and Wardogs. In the cave of the learned Padrathad, Shelley eats the healing Apples of Aeden, and her eyesight becomes perfect. She learns that Aeden was once the hub of a magical Republic of nine worlds, whose pillars were Love, Beauty, Truth and Freedom, and which once honoured the Balance of the Divine Feminine and Masculine. Shelley realizes that the fate of Earth is linked with that of Aeden. She begins to accept the mysterious call to become the Kortana, or Jewel-caller, and find the lost Heartstone of the Tree of Life. Only thus can Aeden be saved from the fanatical life-denying Aghmaath, or thornmen. Then the lost Balance between the Masculine (Truth and Freedom) and the suppressed Feminine (Love and Beauty) will be restored and the Fifth Age will dawn. But first they must seek the hidden refuge of Urak Tara where Shelley will learn how to become the Kortana. Along the way she meets (to name a few): the rebel Quickblade and his Boy Raiders; the wild Urxura (the origin of our unicorn myths) and their even wilder friends the elusive Evergirls; Ainenia, Lady of Aeden and exiled mistress of Avalon; the boy Rilke who gives her a blue diamond; their shared pet Worriette, a cute orphaned wurrier; the not-so-cute werewurriers; a dragon-snake; a burrow-dwelling gem-hoarding anklebiter called Bootnip (Korman's grumpy pet); the squabbling dwellers of the Bottomless Canyon; swindling agathra fossickers; a colony of poets and artists; Hillgard the rebel Guardian; and the happy Waveriders. She also falls in love twice. Guided by the troubled Korman (and sometimes guiding him) she learns many magical wisdoms, such as Walking in Faery, Guiding the Unfolding, Entering the Dreamweb, and Defence against Mindbolts and Mindwebs. Pursued by the Aghmaath, they are hampered by the fact that Korman long ago vowed not use Arcratine, his mighty firesword. One by one the remnants of the Old Order are being conquered, and they are drawn into battles and seiges as they seek the lost school of Ürak Tara. When a fateful pact with Korman goes wrong, Shelley is left alone on an island on Lake Deadwater, deep in the thornfields. But a strange, forsaken creature from the lake comes to her aid, and together they escape, seeking Ürak Tara. She is now a true Rebel of Aeden - with a price on her head.

Shelley is back on Earth. But where is her grandfather and the stolen Heartstone? And who is the sinister Dr Leith? The Athmadites are closing in, and a dithery Englishman is the only person who believes her story. In fact he is the only person who believes she is sane. Meanwhile Quickblade was meant to rescue the prisoners in the Dark Labyrinth, but now he needs rescuing himself. His only hope is a blue fungus addict called Moonwit - and a strange invention built by Flash and the Boy Raiders. The Boy Raiders set off on Biteback, their most daring raid of all time, while Shelley and Quickblade seek to return the Jewel to the Tree. Their way leads to the bottomless Springs of the Wouivre, where even the Frozen Army cannot help them...

In Volume One, "The Girl and the Guardian", Shelley Arkle ended up alone in the terrible Valley of Thorns, with only a half-crazed Third-lifer, the serpent Thornfoot, to help her. Now Thornfoot seems to be her only hope. But his idea for escape looks more like suicide to her... The stakes have been raised much, much higher for Shelley; Korman the Guardian who was her faithful companion and guide has been captured by the Aghmaath and enthorned beside the Lady Ainenia, the representative of the Goddess on Aeden. Shelley, it seems, is now Aeden's only hope. She must find the magical school of Ürak Tara, deep underground, lost in the mists and mindwebs of the forests of the Northern Arm. Only there can she be initiated as the Kortana. But will Noestes the Master welcome as a student a strange girl who thinks she is the Chosen One, the Jewel Caller who will find the lost Heartstone? And if he does, what is his real agenda? The sinister Tenth-Worlders have been active even in this last refuge of the faithful to the ancient Order of the Makers... Yet at this school Shelley will meet new allies and friends who still hope for the coming of the Kortana, and are willing to believe in her. Meanwhile Quickblade the leader of the Boy Raiders has sworn to meet her at Ürak Tara, no matter what stands between them. And he is about to pay a terrible price as the Raiders' campaign goes horribly wrong. The two star-crossed lovers are determined to seek the lost Jewel together. But are they ready for a challenge even more deadly than the mindbolts and scythes of the Dark Travellers - a challenge to their faith in each other, and love itself? As the thorn spores and mindwebs cover Aeden, the Tree of Life is compromised and hope turns into despair, is there any place of refuge left? Can love overcome even death? Shelley and Quickblade - and the friends they have led into mortal danger - are about to find out. Prepare for a rollercoaster ride into depths and heights Shelley - and Quickblade - could not have imagined until now.

The fourth volume of the 'Apples of Aeden' epic. This is the first edition, replacing the beta version, now (22nd of February 2016) fully edited, with pictures and maps. The War of the Heartstone comes to an end, and the long-awaited Diamond Age begins - for some...