David McLeod

Sometime in the remote past, a tween named Arthur leaves Arcadia to seek his friend, kidnapped by slavers and taken to Eblis, the land of dark magic and evil. Armed only with his wits, inchoate magic, and a dagger, Arthur begins a Heroes Journey.

It's always a good feeling when someone discovers one of these stories, and even more so when someone takes the time to post their thoughts. Thank you for sharing your experience and evaluation of the story. I really hated Casey's death; however, if you've ready any of the stories that take place on "World" (e.g., George of Sedona, Master of Fire) you know that in these realities, reincarnation is a fact. You may see Casey, again! Again, thank you for your review. I'm sorry it's taken so long to get back to you. David

Chapter 5 The Reality of the Reverends One of the men in green led us to a door, and knocked. I didn’t hear anything, but he must have. He opened the door and gestured for us to enter. He did not come in with us, but closed the door. There were a dozen boys in the room. I recognized some of them as boys we’d seen at the tables in the mess hall at lunch. Some were in robes, although theirs were belted. Others were in trousers and shirts, much like I had worn to Service when I was a child. “The

Chapter 4 Military Options The only way to erect such a common power, as may be able to defend [men] from the invasion of foreigners, and the [injuries] of one another . . . is to confer all their power and strength upon one man, or upon one assembly of men . . . —Thomas Hobbes, “Leviathan,” 1651 CE. Earth Analogue III Word was passed that the Enterprise VII would visit the Edmonton School after her diplomatic mission to Salt Lake City. The excitement that announcement stirred was o

Kevin I was on guard duty the day the car arrived. Even though the wards were in place, there was always someone on guard—one of the gods and one of the Scions. The Scion, today, went by “Hank.” I don’t think they had real names and if they did, the names were probably something unpronounceable and Greek. Hank looked like he was right out of the old cowboy movies: weathered face, bow-legged from living on a horse, wrinkles around his eyes from squinting into the sun—until you looked closer and

Thank you. Hope I can keep it up!

That's both a compliment and a challenge. I'll do my best.

Chapter 3 A Bright and Glorious Future Passengers will please refrain, From flushing toilets while the train Is in the station, Darling, I love you. If you have to pass some water, Kindly call the Pullman porter, He’ll place a vessel In the vestibule. — Traditional, to the tune of Humoresque After breakfast and another stop at the outhouse, Matthew and I were put on a train. One of the new Deputies locked our feet into shackles that were chained to staples set in the floor of the

Chapter 2 El Paso, Texas Florence Nightingale Orphanage Earth Analogue An infant opened his eyes. He did not cry, yet a nurse came immediately to his crib. “You’re dirty,” she whispered to avoid waking any of the forty other babies. “Let’s take you to the nurse’s station to change you, what do you say?” Thirty minutes later, the baby was changed and had finished a bottle of formula. The nurse returned him to his crib, but did not record that he’d been given a bottle. The day nurse who ca

Chapter 1 ______ County Sheriff’s Boys’ Ranch Southwestern USA, Earth Analogue The swamp cooler had broken more years ago than anyone remembered, and the only air conditioning was the night air that crept through the barracks in the hours after sunset. It was only then that the boys found respite from the heat. In the morning, hot air from the desert raced ahead of the sun. Its breath woke some of the boys before darkness fled. The lucky ones, the ones whose injuries were not too great, the o

Three Earth Analogues come together in "0300 Book 2." Here are beginnings of two of them.

First, I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to see your reviews. Apparently, I've not set the site to notify me. Further, medical things and a long manuscript have taken my attention for some time, now. Second, thank you for your comments. Yes, in this universe, mithral is aluminum. You'll find a long discusion of that in the "George of Sedona" story, i the chapter, I believe, "Forging the Sword." On the other hand, it's not quite like aluminum in our particular reality. As we know, "chemistry" is simply physics at the valence electron level. There are some differences (slight) among basic forces (strong, weak nuclear force, e.g.) in the analogue of World. Chemistry "behaves" differently, and it requires magic to make some reactions work, especially when dealing with mithral. And, you were correct. It was Japura's father.

First, I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to see your reviews. Apparently, I've not set the site to notify me. Further, medical things and a long manuscript have taken my attention for some time, now. Second, thank you for your comments. Yes, in this universe, mithral is aluminum. You'll find a long discusion of that in the "George of Sedona" story, i the chapter, I believe, "Forging the Sword." On the other hand, it's not quite like aluminum in our particular reality. As we know, "chemistry" is simply physics at the valence electron level. There are some differences (slight) among basic forces (strong, weak nuclear force, e.g.) in the analogue of World. Chemistry "behaves" differently, and it requires magic to make some reactions work, especially when dealing with mithral. And, you were correct. It was Japura's father.

First, let me apologize for not replying to you sooner. Between medical problems and a manuscript deadline, I've not been able to check mail and notifications. I was very pleased, when I finally signed on, to find your review.Second, thank you for the review. In the "old days," people posted more reviews than today. Don't know what happened. Authors write for many reasons, but I think everyone wants to know if he or she has touched someone. Thank you.,

Lucas “Mark doesn’t know where he is . . . or when he is?” Eddie asked. “That doesn’t make any sense!” “Eddie, we’ve talked about how the gods—and Mark—can go from place to place just by thinking about it. We’ve never talked about time. Some of the gods can make time stand still. They say they slip in time. One of them, who Mark met, can travel in time. We’re afraid that Mark may have traveled in time, too.” “That’s a reasonable assumption,” Ben said. “Especially since no one seemed able to l

Lucas and Mark—Part VII “A man is what he wills himself to be.” Jean-Paul Sartre in Huis Clos 1944 C.E., Earth Analogue VI Mark I must have fainted or something. When I woke up, I was lying on the bed where I had spent the night. I still had on clothes—which weren’t anything much more than the skirt-thing and sandals. I wondered where my real clothes were, and then realized that was a pretty stupid question. What did it matter where my clothes were? I was the prisoner of Set. I thought he’d

In no particular order: L.I.E. For a Lost Soldier Latter Days My Own Private Idaho The Big Gay Musical L.I.E.: gritty, dark, outstanding despite the unhappy endings. For a Lost Soldier: wonderful use of tension. Again, an unhappy ending. Latter Days: at last, a happy ending. A lot of truth behind the stereotypes (which were well handled) My Own Private Idaho: tough to watch this all the way through, but the pain is worth it The Big Gay Musical: another happy ending (actually, a couple of them); more truth behind stereotypes; a lot of fun

Lucas and Mark—Part VI “Even we, who are of the Light, may fear the things children in the Dark hold in terror.” —Lucretius, de Rerum Natura c. 60 BCE, Earth Analogue III. Mark Something had gone wrong. I wasn’t where I wanted to be. It took only a couple of seconds to know that I was in my dream but I wasn’t flying—and I wasn’t dreaming, either. I was standing in a long tunnel. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of rough, tan-colored blocks. The air was damp, and water dripped f

Lucas “Daddy?” Mark’s voice was soft, but I could hear a quiver in it—and I felt his fear. “There’s something else. It’s about when I went looking for Eddie.” Eddie had stopped singing the Popeye song, but we could still hear his splashes. He’d be in the tub for a while, and Mark and I would have some privacy. I realized that bath time was not going to provide sufficient opportunity for private talks—especially if the boys insisted on bathing together—and that I’d have to come up with somethin

Nomos/Captain Marlberg Eddie had agreed to live with Lucas and Mark, but only after Mark had stipulated that next time, he got to be in the middle. Mark blushed furiously when he realized what he’d said, and looked at me as if I were going to judge him—maybe even arrest him—for telling me he and Lucas, and now Eddie, were sleeping together. I think I managed to hide my amusement, and hoped that Mark hadn’t caught that. I could have said something, but suspected that it would be better to ignore

Lucas & Mark—Part III I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who. —Rudyard Kipling, “The Elephant’s Child” Zeus rang the doorbell rather than popping into the living room; Mark stumbled across the room with his walker and let him and Aiden in. Before I could offer coffee or soda, Mark had grabbed Aiden and hugged him. “Aiden! Are we going out for pizza?” Aiden shrugged off Mark’s hug, looke

Lucas & Mark—Part II Monday, December 24 I was up at three o’clock, as usual. Mark slept in, as usual. He woke at six, after I posted my blog. While I drank coffee, Mark sat at the computer eating cereal and reading my blog. He always read my blog. “Mark? I need to run some errands, today. Do you suppose you can entertain yourself?” “I can go with you,” he said. “Not on all of them.” “And just why not?” I couldn’t come up with an answer. The real reason was that I wanted to get a Chri

The pace of the story is superb, the tensions are well played. Outstanding use of familiar characters and settings.

Sunday, December 23 Sirens no longer woke him although they were often woven into his dreams. On this night, he woke briefly to the pop, pop of gunfire. Small caliber, not close he thought. He fell asleep before the sirens began. He no longer needed an alarm clock. His mind and body were attuned to the city and woke when it did. The subtle vibration of the kitchen vent fans from the deli below his bedroom signaled three o’clock. Had he been inclined to go back to sleep, the slamming of the dum