The Northern Cycle Published!

Hello Everyone! I know it’s been quite a long time since I last posted on the blog. I’ve been busy with school work and finishing the third novel taking place in the world of Yennen. The Northern Cycle follows the adventures of Vilsind Laymund, a chieftain of the Suevi tribe in Hirdland called into a foreign war. The Kaiser of Falkland, Darador, leads his forces against the Skegan League in an attempt to subdue the entirety of the northern provinces. Vilsind must carefully navigate a world of political subterfuge as factions vie for control and freedom. A black dragon rises over Hirdland and the endless cycle of war and death resumes.

All coats of arms were created by and credited to Anna Vasyuk

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What’s Next? Author Blog Update

Hello everyone,

 

After the successful launch and sales behind The Cripple and the King, I’m finally ready to announce my next two projects, which I’m hoping to finish a majority of the work on over this school year. I’ve just started Sophomore year so progress might be a bit slow, but I think I’ll have plenty of time to work on both. The first, is the next installment in the fantasy series, The Northern Cycle, which follows a tribe of Hirdlanders, who some of you may remember as some of the antagonists in The Sword to Unite, and their forced recruitment into a foreign war whose outcome could decide the fate of their nation and the entirety of the northern realms. Following the main character Vilsind Layson and his tribe’s interactions with Kaiser Darador, a young king driven by ambition and an unconquerable intellect for politics and war. Vilsind must carefully navigate an intricate web of lies and outrun the past of his father’s cursed name. This is the cover art for the book, created by artist Reza Afshar.

Another project, which I will reveal in a little bit, will be in a new genre and is heavily inspired by the works of Lovecraft and the art of H.R. Giger, and I’m very excited about it!

Thanks for reading!

Peter

The Cripple and the King reaches top 10 in Historical Fantasy and top 1,000 in Kindle Store!

Just wanted to share the great news about my most recent book, The Cripple and the King, which was ranked as #10 in Historical Fantasy on the Kindle Store this week! It’s been great to see the reception of the book and if you haven’t already picked up a copy be sure to check the link below!

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-Peter

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Cripple-King-Peter-Hopkins-ebook/dp/B07BWH8R8X

The Cripple and the King Published on Amazon KDP!

The Cripple and the King has just been published through Amazon KDP! Be sure to pick up your Kindle or physical copy, and if you do, be sure to leave a review!

Kindle Link:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BWH8R8X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522780982&sr=8-1&keywords=the+cripple+and+the+king

Physical Link:https://www.amazon.com/dp/1980686076/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522781006&sr=8-2&keywords=the+cripple+and+the+king

Thanks so much,

Peter

The Sword to Unite by Peter Hopkins (Book Review #196)

Review Tales

This review was kindly requested by the author, Peter Hopkins.

The Sword to Unite is a fantasy novel written about a man named Cedric. He is the Lord of Orford and he suffers from dark visions and omens. When a tome is stolen he makes all efforts to find it and on the way, uncovers some truth behind his own past and reason. There is an ancient prophecy and Azrael, the wraith of corruption has returned. Just like any fantasy book, you have read, a group of magicians, beasts, and forest flock get together in order to stop Azrael. However, only the heir of Adalgott, who was the first King of the North, can stop him. Cedric needs to gather all the lords of the lands to unite, as the force is too strong to beat. The one thing Cedric needs is the blade of Geanlaecan, which coincidently becomes the…

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Flash Poetry: The Yellowtail Hound

Yelp and kick

The gadfly pokes and prods the hound

Beast of bellowing booming cry

Left whimpering by a speck

Descendent of wolf

Turned his yellowtail and ran

Bark left useless

Against his opponent’s bite

 

Just a little poetry to break up the week guys, I’m going to try getting a few more of these out when I can. As always, thanks for reading

-Peter

The Map of The Cripple and the King

With the first draft of The Cripple and the King complete, I thought I should share the map done for the book, wonderfully crafted by Anna Vasyuk who also designed the coats of arms for the various houses and kingdoms. I’m very excited to share this map, I really think it’s terrific and will add so much to the novel when it is released!

 

-Peter

The Sword to Unite…Published with an Actual Publisher!

Hello everyone! Exciting news, The Sword to Unite has been republished by Digital Fiction Publishing, featuring the exciting new ability to read the book for free through Kindle Unlimited or for the low regular price of 2.99. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, now is a perfect time. Check it out here!

The Cripple and the King First Draft is Complete!

Hello everyone just wanted to send out a quick update post for the secoond book, The Cripple and the King, since just today I’ve finished the first draft! I am beyond excited to begin submitting the book for queries and can’t wait to keep my followers up to date on the progress. Check out the book cover and the blurb to see what’s to come in the next few months!

Thanks,

Peter

 

Blurb:

The ancient Nacian Empire is gone, the lion which tamed the world has faded into a hollow shell of its former glory. King Lucan ascends the throne after his brother, Vespasian, is brutally blinded by an unknown enemy and declared incapable of ruling. Lucan is forced to take the heavy burden of the crown he never wanted or asked for, nor the one his father thought he deserved. With the help of Vespasian, Lucan must learn, and quickly, if there is any chance for his rule to last. Along the way, he must conquer enemies both external and internal and take a journey which will show both the greatest goods and darkest evils in the world.

Game of Thrones Season 7 Review

There’s nothing quite like reviewing a show that’s been out for a few weeks…you know… after nobody cares what you think about it. But I thought why not? I am a huge fan of Game of Thrones; the political intrigue and constant shifting games of deception between characters are terrific fun to watch, with fire spewing dragons as icing on the cake.

To start off, I should say my favorite season was most likely season 2, I think we got the best character plots for my favorite characters; Arya, Tyrion, and Stannis alongside Davos. Arya in Harrenhall was classic Game of Thrones; a mixture of grotesque violence, intrigue and a world of mystery with the introduction of the faceless men, and great character interactions between her and Tywin. We are introduced to Stannis and Davos, one of my favorite pairs of characters to see interact with one another. Tyrion is given some great moments in this season as well; tricking Grandmaester Pycelle into revealing he was feeding information to Cersei, banishing Janoy Slynt to the wall, and his defense of King’s Landing. Everything about this season, the downfalls and the victories, felt deserved, which I will get into is my major gripe with season 7.

Let me clarify, I still enjoyed season 7, though I feel it was somewhere close to the quality of season 5; a little lost in what its goal exactly was. I think this is largely in part due to the fact that the show is no longer based on the books by George R.R. Martin. Though D&D have proved themselves competent showrunners, I fear their talent may only lay in their ability to translate from book to screen. For example, that zombie polar bear. Why? Just why? It supposedly cost 2 million dollars to put on screen…was it worth it? Does anyone think to themselves after watching that episode, ‘gosh those firebreathing dragons and the death of Viseron were neat but geez that polar bear that lasts less than two minutes was something!” That time could have been used letting the characters interact with one another in interesting ways, rather than them just walking and talking, never to interact the rest of the episode again.

This point leads to my main issue with the season; everything feels rushed. Sure, seven episodes can really make it a tightly woven story, cutting out some of the unnecessary fat the show previously suffered from, but now we’re left with less story and character than we are used to. This is the most evident with the Winterfell plotline; it isn’t the least bit interesting when you decide to not show half the plot. We didn’t know about the cat and mouse game between Arya, Sansa, and Littlefinger, instead, we got a strange set of scenes between Sansa and Arya that make very little sense. Arya accuses Sansa of not doing anything while their father died, even though by rewatching you can see her kicking and screaming violently, begging Joffrey to stop. I can’t tell if Arya actually means this at some point or was always tricking Littlefinger, which makes the whole thing rather muddled.

I eagerly await the release of season 8, and hope that the focus returns to the meaningful interactions between characters. I have high hopes for the ending of the show, since G.R.R. has secretly told D&D the ending; perhaps this season they were a bit more in the dark on what to do, and that they’ll have a clearer picture with the final season. Again I must say, even though this season was a bit weaker, its one of the better seasons of any television show to date.