Magic awakens in Early America. The Red Wraith is born.
On the eve of the Harvest Ceremony, Naysin, a child of the Lepane nation, manifests powers of a dual deity forever torn in two by light and darkness. Cast into exile by his clan for being a spawn of human and spirit, Naysin is lost in a world of change as pale men from the sea arrive to plunder the riches of the Earth. Guided only by the devious facets of his spirit father, Naysin has no choice but to master his powers to survive the destruction of his people.
And so the legend of the Red Wraith begins. For Naysin, it is a path of darkness and death that will take him from one end of the land to the other and down into the depths of infamy. The New World will know him as the indigenous monster who kills in the name of vengeance, but that’s not who he wants to be. And when he encounters a group of fellow magic-users, Naysin realizes he may yet have a chance to set everything right.
My Rating: 4 Stars!
This book was written about a young Indian man named Naysin who was the offspring of human and spirit. Having been branded and exiled from his people, Naysin was forced to strike out on his own and contend with the dueling powers inside himself as he searched for the meaning of his existence. This was the story of Naysin's awakening to a higher calling and predestined life purpose.
The Red Wraith was a fantasy book with some history woven into it. The writer expounded on the main character's plight and developed the story around his situation. Therefore, it had huge doses of fiction and fantasy...which is a good thing because I love both!
If you are also a fantasy fanatic, this one's definitely for you!
Where you can find The Red Wraith:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Red-Wraith-Nick-Wisseman-ebook/dp/B013O6RQCG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461741168&sr=8-1&keywords=the+red+wraith
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-red-wraith-nick-wisseman/1123535405?ean=2940157718268
Where you can find Nick:
Website: http://www.nickwisseman.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicholas.wisseman
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickwisseman
Interview with Nick:
1. Please tell me a little about your book and why you decided to write it.
The Red Wraith is a historical fantasy set in Early America. The protagonist is a Native American who becomes the focus for magic’s reentry into the world.
The original inspiration was just an image: several people climbing a steep hill, atop which waited a lone magician. (My first draft had this scene as the prologue, but during the editing process, the encounter was moved to a later point which made more sense in the story.)
When I started outlining, though, I realized I wanted to inject some historical elements—at the time, I was getting my Master’s in U.S. History and wading through a lot of academic texts. Charles Mann’s 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus was one of the most striking (and readable): it explores the true consequences of disease for Native Americans after Europeans arrived in the “New World.” Mann’s not alone in framing that impact in apocalyptic terms, but his account was the first to make me think about what it would have felt like from an indigenous perspective. (Side note: I don’t pretend to speak for Native Americans, past or present. But as an author, unless you only want to “write what you know”—which for me, would be white, Midwestern males, a.k.a. boring—you’ve got to project a bit. And as long as my characters are plausible, in that I can imagine at least one person realistically looking/thinking/acting like them given the conceits of my story, I’m okay with it.)
From there, I did some additional research, picked a real-life location for the steep hill (Monk’s Mound, a giant earthen pyramid near St. Louis and the impetus for some dumb luck I had when I was on an archaeological dig in college), and started writing.
2. What do you hope to accomplish through the publishing of your story?
Primarily, I hope anyone who reads the book enjoys the time they invested in it. But it’d also be great if some readers found the historical elements interesting enough to investigate on their own.
3. If you could meet one famous person, who would it be and why?
Oh, man—I bet pretty much everyone starts by answering this with “It’s hard to pick just one.” But let’s keep it topical and go with Jacqueline Carey. Her Kushiel’s Legacy series is a masterpiece of historical fantasy, and one of the main reasons I got into the genre.
4. What would you like your readers to know about you?
I moonlight (daylight?) as a barn hand. My wife loves horses, so about six years back, we moved to rural Michigan and found a property with 11.5 acres. Now we have four horses and lots of farm chores. They get me away from my desk, though, and completing a manual task gives me a satisfaction I can’t get from typing up a digital document.
So overall, it’s pretty great
5. What is your favorite food, color, place, activity?
Sushi, blue, Vancouver, and (assuming I’m not allowed to say writing) playing basketball.
6. If you could give me one piece of advice about life, what would it be?
Finish what you start. (It doesn’t always apply—sometimes you really do have to cut your losses. But if something’s still worth doing, then do it.)
