Terra Zem is a world that HAD to be created. It is too special to have just happened. It is just sad to think of living on a world that just happened. Terra Zem is the world as it should be. Every inhabitant has a warrior’s heart but yet there is no pressure to serve as a warrior. All inhabitants of Terra Zem are valued for who they are.

No one is above anyone else. There are no kings or queens only principal fathers, mothers and oracles that guide their clans. These leaders arose naturally and became someone all wished to follow because they proved themselves to be servants of all. They were not elected and they did not have to conquer to become who they are in the clan and if another arose to take their place in time it was welcomed. Different times and dispensations often required another leader to arise and the old leader to step down though they would always be honored for their gifts. Everyone has a gift and to truly thrive all should be honored equally and thankfully allowed to contribute to the clan with their gift.

The Creator takes many forms and neither male nor female, animal, plant or mineral…and yet he is all these things and more. He appears in whatever form he pleases. Sometimes he appears as a burly muscular hunter named Eli. He appears as Oni, a wise sage. He appears as Rhea and many other forms. He isn’t about religion or temples built by hand. After all, if a message is truly the truth then no temple made by the hands of any created being will be able to contain it. Real truth is big enough to cover all of creation. To try to contain truth in a temple or to even try to organize it under one roof or one people or one set of beliefs is like caging a wild animal. It is cruel, it is against its natural design and eventually will only weaken as it loses its wild side and conform to its captivity and as a result it would only produce other caged animals. Truth by design should set one free not put one in a cage.

The Creator first created the water and air elementals, Aelron and Gaelen. The first humans created were Alphaeus and Ophelia. There are the Dragones, humanoid dragon type creatures of soil, air, water and fire. They are revered and honored by all. They reside in the great cloud city Silverwind and the castle Lightkeep.

Terra Zem is no utopia, there is no such thing. There is conflict and evil that arises and often causes chaos, at least for a while, but there are many warriors to bring things back into order. The most prominent warriors are the Shadow Reavers. The Ravenquest story begins with two unlikely people who are living a simple life living off the land. They are Raven, born Onaga of the E-La and Skyeyes of Thera Zum. They are two people who are content living in the wild away from the busy town they left behind. When they meet and fall in love it isn’t long before they discover a cave and in the cave they find the fabled sword of truth and power, Ravensgaard, as well as armor that changes everything and they become the principal defenders of Terra Zem and the Shadow Reavers are born, or more accurately reborn. You will have to read the books to understand.

There are other warrior clans and protectors of Terra Zem such as the Teragaard. They are warriors who are bonded to a beast that becomes their companion and fellow warrior at a very young age. They mostly work alone but are often called to fight together. There are the mysterious Watchers in the Trees, invisible beings who can only be seen as they choose to reveal themselves. It is not unusual for someone of ill intent to be drug up into a tree by an invisible hand and are no more. There are the Tindolyn, tiny winged warriors small as a flying insect but fierce in their own right and wielders of the Batrayne Crystals, wands of incredible energy that can destroy or heal. There are the mighty Strixus, originally from the land of Helkhadir. And don’t let me forget the Archane, angelic type beings that appear when the Blue Sage is burned. There are the great reptile hunters known as the Talon. And the list goes on and on, each of them with incredible stories and origins.

There are cities of refuge where anyone may live and are taken care of and secure like Arkos, the principle city of refuge and geographically it is in the center of them all. To the south is Salom in the valley of Peace. Far north hidden in the land of ice is Ironice. West by the great sea there is Firebrand. Far to the east deep within Farwood is Wellacre. In a northerly direction but in the direction of where the Great Light does set is the tree city of Windsong. And lastly looking upward near the Mountain of Fire, sanctuary of the Zmaj, is the great cloud city, Silverwind.

There is the time of the Great Cold that happens once every four years and the Red Rising that happens every seven years. There are also world changing events that take place like the Skyebara, a world cleansing but not to uproot but to plant. There is the Mihtig of the Watchers in the Trees. And there is the Nascentia, a time like no other and the day of the resurrection of the Dragones Terrakind.

Do I have your interest yet? I hope so! Ravenquest and its continuing sequel Shadowquest has some the richest and most fascinating stories and peoples like you have never known. I made it a point to stay away from unicorns, orcs, elves, dwarves and other standard fare from other fantasy stories, nothing wrong with these characters but they are so overdone. I wanted to create a world like no other with creatures that were original. And the result was a fascinating journey into storytelling like I have never read or seen anywhere else. I think you will agree as you read Ravenquest, Shadowquest and the spin-offs being written. My books are family-friendly, so anyone any age that reads well will enjoy them. But let me tell you adults out there, just because they are family-friendly do not think that makes them any less exciting to read. When I say family-friendly I mainly mean no profanity, no sex, nothing weird, graphic or satanic. I believe a good writer doesn’t need those things to make a story exciting.