New web slite

Dear Merlin friends,

I will no longer be posting on this blog but have started a new web site. Please visit and read!

Thank you for visiting this blog. See you on:

https://themerlinchronicles.wordpress.com/


All the best from Rhuddem

Now available in England

Dear Merlin friends,
FINALLY all three Merlin Chronicle novels are available on amazon.co.uk - The Nature of Things (Volume 1), The Wrathful Traveller (Volume 2) and Protecting Cheesyfee (Volume 4). 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_5?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rhuddem+gwelin&sprefix=rhudd%2Caps%2C517&crid=2F519YWXWZKY

Please buy, share, review, inform, give away as gifts, request your local library to purchase them, ask your local bookshop to carry them. Please support an obscure fanatic Merlin author and keep the legend alive!

With many thanks and best wishes,
Rhuddem

Book launch of 'The Wrathful Traveller'

Dear Merlin friends,
At long last The Wrathful Traveller - the Merlin Chronicles Volume 2 has been published!

It is now available on Amazon, Bokus, Adlibris and directly from the publisher:

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wrathful-Traveller-Merlin-Chronicles/dp/9188713369/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1509078166&sr=8-2&keywords=rhuddem+gwelin

Amazon global:
https://www.amazon.com/Wrathful-Traveller-Merlin-Chronicles/dp/9188713369/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1509078201&sr=8-3&keywords=rhuddem+gwelin

Bokus:
https://www.bokus.com/bok/9789188713360/the-wrathful-traveller-the-merlin-chronicles-volume-2/

Adlibris:
https://www.adlibris.com/se/bok/the-wrathful-traveller---the-merlin-chronicles-volume-2-9789188713360

Publisher:
https://www.vulkanmedia.se/butik/bocker/the-wrathful-traveller-the-merlin-chronicles-volume-2-av-rhuddem-gwelin/

And for those of you who live or are planning to  visit the Stockholm area, you are most welcome to the book launch party at the English Bookshop, Södermannagatan 22, Thursday 9 November at 6.30 p.m. I would love to see you there. 
https://www.facebook.com/events/136085723784171/


All the best from Rhuddem

PS This book and the others would be brilliant holiday gifts, wouldn't they?

Coming soon - while waiting...

Dear Merlin friends,

The Wrathful Traveller - the Merlin Chronicles Volume 2 is soon to be published. We're in the final stages of proof reading (what a dreadful - but necessary - job!)

In the meantime, if you haven't yet read The Nature of Things - the Merlin Chronicles Volume 1 there's still time if you you order and read it now! 

https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Things-Myrddin-Merlin-Chronicles/dp/9163906554/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501904961&sr=1-1&keywords=rhuddem+gwelin

Or for those of you in Sweden: http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789163906558/the-nature-of-things-the-story-of-myrddin-emrys/

Tell your friends! Share on Facebook.

Thanks!
All the best from Rhuddem

The Wrathful Traveller Volume 2

Dear Merlin friends,
Though I have not been active on the blog I have been busy with writing The Wrathful Traveller - the Merlin Cronicles Volume 2'. The first draft is done . Just more revision, layout decisions, proofreading etc etc left. I'm hoping it will be published this autumn.
Until then, here's a sample from Part One The Cathedral Chapter One 'The Thief'.
All the best
Rhuddem

He wondered how long he had been gone. Overnight? A week? A year? Last time he had been in this cave, seventeen years had slipped by and he hadn’t even been asleep, or whatever it was called that Pacifa had done to him.

He sat until he felt steady and the ache subsided a bit then he rose stiffly, pulling his cloak round him.

The opening of the cave was blocked of course but he waved his hand in front of it and with a soft rumble a kind of gap appeared.

The light was blinding and he stood motionless until it had faded. It was actually quite dim and his eyes adjusted. It was, it seemed, late afternoon. He still didn’t step forward though, but listened. He heard the rustling of leaves, a trickle of water. Birds. The baaing of sheep. Human voices, very faint, far away. And the distant ringing of tools.

He stepped cautiously into the opening, steadying himself with a hand on the rock wall of the cave, and looked out.

After a moment of mental disorientation, he saw that the surrounding area was much like he remembered it. Trees, a brook, the hill sloping downward, grazing sheep. No shepherd in sight but probably one nearby.

Looking about outside the entrance he spotted a kind of shrine tucked in behind a rock, hidden by a thick juniper bush.

A Druid shrine. But very hidden. He saw another one, more visible. With a cross.  So, they’re still at it, he thought.

He heard an angry shout from down the hill to his right and he stepped away from the cave to look.

He grabbed at a tree for support as a wave of dizziness came over him.

His gaze locked on an enormous building across the valley. He had never seen such a huge building and it wasn’t finished. Throngs of workers laboured on the site. Carpenters. Stonemasons. Blacksmiths. Men and women and children pounding, climbing, sawing, carrying. It was an awesome sight.

Then he saw a cross at the top of the towering steeple.

It was a Christian church. A massive Christian church.  A Christian church this big.  How long had he been gone?  He, who was never afraid, felt fear at the sight.

The shout came again, the shout that had brought him from the cave. He saw two figures, both running, one small chased by one larger. The larger one was clearly very angry, and a priest. The smaller one seemed to be a girl of about ten or eleven. She was fast, but the priest was faster, and gaining on her.

The two runners were heading in his direction. He didn’t like seeing a child being pursued by an angry man twice her size, especially a priest. He lifted his hand and caused the priest’s feet to stumble over themselves. With a curse the priest fell, giving the girl the chance to increase her distance.

The girl ran up the hill towards him and stopped, panting beside him. She slipped something into his hand and without hesitating he put it inside his cloak.

They both watched the priest scramble to his feet and run, puffing, up the hill, the scattered sheep ignoring him and starting to graze again.

As he approached them the priest shouted, ‘She’s a thief! Don’t protect her!’

‘I didn’t steal anything,’ the girl said calmly and he admired her cheekiness.

He could hardly understand what they were saying. They were speaking the Saxon language, he thought, but not the one he recognised.  He thought a moment then spoke to the priest in Latin. ‘Soror mea est cognate. Egredimini de medio eius in pace.’ She is my kinswoman. Leave her in peace.

Both the priest and the girl stared up at him, the girl in incomprehension, the priest in shock.

The priest answered in bad Latin, ‘Are you a man of God?’

‘Why do you ask?’

‘You speak Latin, the language of the church.’ The priest’s Latin was so bad that Merlin could hardly understand that either so he switched to the Anglo Saxon he could manage. ‘I am a traveller,’ he said.

‘And this girl is your kinswoman?’

‘She is.’ He could feel the girl’s eyes looking at him sharply but he kept his own on the priest’s. ‘She is not a thief.’  He lied easily, partly because he disliked priests on principle and partly because he was curious about what would happen. And he had always been a good liar.

The priest regarded them both suspiciously. ‘I don’t recognise you. I’ve never seen you.’

‘His name is Creighton,’ the girl said as though she had never told a lie in her life. ‘He’s father’s cousin from the north.’

The priest looked startled, then sceptical. ‘So if she’s your young kinswoman, Creighton - ’ he spat the name out as though it was a curse ‘ – what’s her name?’

‘I’ve always called her Sparrow.’ The lie came as quickly as the others and he felt a sting of loss over the person who had always called him Sparrow.

‘And that’s because he thinks I’m more like a Sparrow than a Wilda. And I agree. Wilda is a stupid name.’

‘It suits you, girl,’ the priest muttered angrily, threw them both a sour look then stomped back down the hill. They both watched him retreat.

‘Creighton, eh? What made you give me that name?’

‘Oh I don’t know. I saw you come out of the woods over there by those rocks. Don’t you like it?’

‘It’ll do.’ Creighton. Anglo Saxon for ‘dweller by the rocks’. Yes. He could see himself as a Creighton.

‘So what is your name?’ She looked up at him. 

‘I think I’ll stay with Creighton. I like it.’ 

Merlin Chronicles Update

Dear Merlin Friends,

It’s been a busy time for the Merlin Chronicles since I last wrote. The big news is that The Nature of Things – the story of Myrddin Emrys - the Merlin Chronicles Volume I was officially launched on 1 September 2016 at the English Bookshop in Stockholm. At that time, I gave a short talk on the history of the Merlin phenomenon (the same one I gave at Fantastika (Swecon) in June) and signed some books. Great fun.

More reviews have been trickling in. Here’s a great one, on Protecting Cheesyfee, posted on both Amazon and Bokus:

A wonderful story of magic, adventure and romance - with a high relevance to our time. What would Merlin do if he woke up today? Of course he would be greatly concerned for the environment. (Once he got his bearings after being out of it for centuries - don't worry, this book covers that part too!) This is the story of what he will do about it. Rhuddem Gwelin knows her Merlin well, all aspects of him. Her novel is a colourful weft, drawing on many legends, all well researched and seamlessly combined into a coherent background for this truly enchanting tale.

And here are a couple on The Nature of Things:

Fans of high fantasy, this is quite something! Set in the world of King Arthur and Merlin, this book takes you on a wonderful journey into the core of the society of all classes. This is a story of friendship, of fear, of love and, perhaps above all, of the struggle for equality and freedom. The grand plot and the highly contemporary themes are not the main focus though. It is depicted through the fate of the characters, who will inevitably become your friends and both break your heart and mend it again. The Nature of Things is, in short, full of magic of all kinds.

And:

The story of Merlin as a child is fun but soon gets serious with the development and involvement of exciting characters and ideas.

As all this is happening I’m writing away at The Wrathful Traveller – The Merlin Chronicles Volume 2. It seems this one will be shorter than the other two, but who knows? Characters have a way of taking over a story and they just might have other ideas in their minds than what I have planned for them.

I will keep you posted!

Thanks to all of you who buy and read the books. And review them!

All the best from Rhuddem

Available on Bokus and Amazon and from the publisher info@vulkan.se
http://www.bokus.com/cgi-bin/product_search.cgi?ac_used=no&search_word=rhuddem+gwelin

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_7?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=rhuddem+gwelin&sprefix=rhuddem%2Caps%2C302

Readers reactions

Dear Merlin friends,

Readers’ reactions to Protecting Cheesyfee – the Merlin Chronicles Volume 1 are starting to come in via mail and Facebook.  Here are some of them

• I love a book that starts with the main character running from her pursuers and then manages to keep that tempo through the book. I'm not going to ruin the story by revealing the surprising twists in the plot. It doesn't matter if you are a Merlin fan or not, I wasn't before I read this book, the book is still a great stand-alone story. I love that it starts with volume 4. But what is Cheesyfee? Read the book and find out!
• I liked that there were surprises in it that I did not see coming, and "mysteries" that I could guess about
• It's a story about saving our planet, it’s a story about magic, it's a story of fate, it's a story about nerds, about reincarnation, about bravery, self-sacrifice, cleverness, acceptance, sorrow, grief, family. It is also a love story.
• I am looking forward to reading The Nature of Things –the Merlin Chronicles Volume 1
• Gillar du fantasy, följde tv-serien om Merlin eller bara är sugen på att läsa en riktigt spännande bok med både James Bond-spänning, historia och magi? Då är detta definitivt nåt för dig! Jag är mitt inne i den första boken i Rhuddem Gwelins serie om Merlin, "Protecting Cheesyfee", och är helt uppslukad. Vill inte gå av pendeltåget eller sluta läsa när jag kommer till cykeln! Boken finns att köpa via Bokus - perfekt semesterläsning! - och ikväll har du dessutom chans att höra författaren själv berätta om historien och myten kring Merlin. På Fantastika/Swecon, Nationella SF- och fantasykongressen 2016, på Dieselverkstaden i Sickla.
• In English: ‘Do you like fantasy, or did you see the TV series about Merlin, or are just looking for a really exciting book with James Bond excitement, history and magic? Then this is definitely something for you! I am in the middle of the first book of Rhuddem Gwelin’s series about Merlin, Protecting Cheesyfee and I am completely carried away.
• What a book!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so impressed, and so hooked! It is super, fantastic, so well written and... I can’t even find words to describe it: It's so good!!! Publishers should realize - it's a true hit!!! … brilliant writing talent! I'm completely hooked.

And here are a few reactions in Swedish to my talk on Merlin on 17 June 2016 at Fantastika, the Swedish Sci-fi/fantasy congress in Stockholm 17-19 June.

• On FB 20 June 2016: Joakim Mäki Rhuddem Gwelin, det var en väldigt intressant föreläsning om Merlin.
• In English: It was a very interesting lecture on Merlin

• Kulturdelen: Fantastika 2016, fredagen



• KULTURDELEN.BLOGSPOT.COM|BY JENNY B
• Merlin - the man, the myth, the magic



• Rhuddem Gwelin som har skrivit ett antal böcker centrerade kring Merlin har förstås forskat en hel del i myterna kring honom, och berättade vad hon funnit för oss. Merlin nämns i walesisk diktning från 500-talet, då som Myrddin, en druid som blivit galen efter att ha bevittnat ett brutalt slag. Först senare kom kopplingen till Kung Arthur, och ännu senare tillkom riddare, Camelot, Runda Bordet och sökandet efter den Heliga Graal till myten, bit för bit under flera århundraden. I Britannien fanns ju ruiner från romarnas tid där, vilken lämnat efter sig många små konkurrerande furstendömen. Det gav ju grogrund för legender om en enande kung i en gyllene forntid. Ett problem var dock att Arthursagan, liksom det omgivande samhället, kristnades, vilket gjorde att det var svårt att förklara att Merlin ju var druid. Olika författare har genom seklen valt att lyfta fram olika delar av Merlin- och Arthursagan. Rhuddem Gwelin vill själv placera Merlin i olika tidsåldrar, och det behöver inte ta slut nu när hon kommit till vår tid. Publiken kom med uppmuntrande förslag till framtida böcker med Merlin i just framtiden, och varför inte i rymden? Intressant utveckling!
• In English:  Rhuddem Gwelin who has written several books on Merlin has of course done a great deal of research into the myths and told us about that. Merlin’s name shows up in Welsh poetry from the 6^th century as Myrddin, a Druid who has gone mad after witnessing a brutal battle. Later he is connected to King Arthur, and even later come the knights, Camelot, the Round Table and the Holy Grail, bit by bit in coming centuries. In Britain there were ruins from the Roman time which left many small competing kingdoms. This gave rise to the legend of a uniting king in a golden era. One problem was that the Arthur saga and the society in which it grew became Christian which made it hard to explain that Merlin was a Driud. Different authors have throughout the centuries chosen to focus on different parts of the Merlin/Arthur saga. Rhuddem Gwelin herself has chosen to place Merlin in different eras and it doesn’t have to end now when she has come to our own time. The audience offered encouraging suggestions for future books with Merlin in future times, and why not in outer space? Interesting development!