Title: Cleelok
Subtitle: Chaos as defined by the limits of Eternity
Author: Sean Nuber
Genre: Fantasy
Book Blurb:
Cleelok, Chaos as defined by the limits of Eternity, is an epic fantasy story with four main characters, one for each race, one for each element. There is the world of their creators, a realm of Law filled with sentient elements made up of stone (Gaen), water (Fluen), air (Luften) and fire (Pyran). There is the world of our adventurers, a land of Chaos made of flesh and magic which is split into the same four realms. Each character has their own goals and trials. Croy, the Gaen dreamer, must overcome his inherent meekness. He enters the desert searching for the legendary talking trees and finds more than he was looking for. Clerin, the daughter of minor Fluen royalty, has messages to carry between the world’s eternal creators, the Belegs. Travelling from temple to temple, she soon realizes that not all of the Belegs wish to be found. Vrric, the Luften mage, who quickly gains in knowledge and power. Each day gets him closer to his goal, escaping mediocrity. Trela, the Pyran warrior who feels she is destined to become Queen. This can only be accomplished by forcing the despotic King to clash swords with her and she can only accomplish that with the help of her new foreign friends.
Excerpt:
“How did you find the well?” Chiavel seemed back at ease.
“I do not believe we did. It was more like the well found us.” She laughed lightly. “Vrric had wandered off alone and ended up in a huge fight with… something unnatural. When we went to find him, we found the well.”
“You mean Feyazki, don’t you, Herance.” They both laughed at that.
“Please, don’t mention that to him. It has been a while since I have made that mistake.” She did not really care if he told Vrric or not. More importantly, she did not think Vrric would care. She was curious, however, if Chiavel was the type of derlian to say something after being asked not to. She glanced sidelong at him. He was smiling back at her.
“Don’t worry about me. Luckily for you, I am one of the few that knew him as Vrric before he became Feyazki. Or at least one of the few beyond his humble upbringings. I did not even know about his name change until earlier today.” He was staring at the grass in front of him as they walked, only occasionally glancing over at her.
“Humble upbringings? You know, we have been traveling together for what seems like forever and he never mentioned his upbringings.” She had never thought of Vrric as vain, but she had never really thought of him as humble either.
“Did you ever mention your upbringing?” He glanced back behind them.
“Sure. I mentioned my lineage when I explained why I was in the Luften realm.” His glance made her look back as well but she could not tell what he was looking at.
“What if you had no lineage? I myself always mention that I am from the branch of Largon. Do you know what the branch of Largon is?” Chiavel smiled over at her.
“Well, no… But I know that it means that you are part of a larger clan. Probably a clan with some influence, or else why would you mention it?” She was not sure why he was talking about himself suddenly.
“Exactly. It is my lineage. And, as you say, it is a lineage with some influence and therefore comes with some privileges. Even if you do not know the name I am dropping, you know that I am dropping a name. What if, however, you did not know your lineage? Or maybe your lineage was embarrassing. Even the most obnoxious village drunk may have some progeny who will grow up to achieve some level of respect. Maybe not even an obnoxious drunk, but a well-meaning, poor dirt-farmer. It is those types of derlians who will never mention their lineage. Their silence is not often noticed. That is why I pay extra attention to such silence. You can often learn more about a derlian by what they do not mention, than by what they do.” He glanced back once more.
“What silence?” They had arrived at the top of the hill, and Trela had wandered towards them without Clerin noticing. The sudden addition of another voice lightly startled her.
“We are talking about Feyazki’s lack of lineage,” Chiavel stated dryly. They stopped where they were, leaving Vanelia and Hulgert plenty of space to speak to each other without fear of being overheard.
“Who cares about lineage? That Luften fought a Tlana single handedly. And won! Or so I hear. I will take capability over lineage any day.” Trela smiled between the two of them.
“That is because you have no lineage.” Chiavel smiled back, but Trela narrowed her eyes in response. He turned towards Clerin, “Do you know how I know she has no lineage?”
“Well…” Clerin was wary of annoying Trela.
“Because I pay attention to what derlians don’t say.” He turned back towards Trela. “Do not fret, however. I sense plenty of capability in you.” With that he broke away and walked towards Vanelia and Hulgert.
“Can you believe his nerve?” Trela focused her narrowed eyes on Clerin.
“Well… can you trace your lineage?” Clerin did not mean to say it, it just sort of popped out of her mouth.
“I am the Kriishan. That is more than enough for me.” Trela cocked her head slightly. “To be honest, I had not realized that you cared that much about things like that.”
“I don’t. We were just having a conversation.” Clerin waved ineffectually towards Chiavel.
“Good. Because here comes the rest of the riffraff.” Trela pointed behind Clerin. As she turned around she noticed a large dot growing larger in the sky. Vrric and the other mage must be bringing all of the others back at once. She felt a twinge of guilt at thinking “the other mage,” but for the life of her she could not recall his name.
“Be careful of derlians selling things. Especially themselves.” Trela waved behind her as she headed down the hill leisurely. Clerin watched from where she stood.
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Cleelok puts the epic back into epic fantasy. It is a full complex world with lush characters who grow individually and then together. Come and lose yourself within its pages for a while.
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Author Biography:
Sean lives with his lovely wife in Portland, Oregon. There they enjoy the city's many beautiful parks, friendly neighborhoods and abundant rainfall. Cleelok, Sean's first published novel, is the beginning of an epic trilogy.