WELCOME TO THE GLOOM CITY ARCHIVE
All the latest from the UK Author Sean Davies
A BIT ABOUT ME
Sean Davies lives in the English Essex countryside with his wife, two sons, and their two crazy cats.
He works in IT by day, and writes whenever he gets the chance – usually at night once the kids are in bed.
If he has any spare time between working and writing, he enjoys playing computer games, painting miniatures and drawing.
THE BOOK WIELDER SAGA'S EPIC CONCLUSION IS ALMOST HERE!
December 21, 2018
The Book Wielder Saga has finally come to its end – but does that mean the planet Mydia itself will end too?
The story follows on from nearly a year after the events of Reality Falling, and the three continents and Central Isle's troubles are far from over.
As the cast of loveable characters, both old and new, struggle against terrorists with a grudge against the new establishment, a corruption Demon with a love of causing cataclysmic chaos, and an ancient entity with an unknown motive, the origins of their world will be discovered – and their fate, and that of their planet's, will be decided once and for all.
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?"
Vincent Van Gogh
RECENT BOOKS
Expand Your Bookshelf
All of my novels are available through Amazon - click the links beneath the titles for more details & the official blerbs
THE HOUSE OF TWELVE
Sarah Fischer wakes up inside a strange house with no recollection of how she arrived there, and next to no memory except for her own name. Around her are eleven other individuals in a similar state, although many of them seem to be rather eccentric, to say the least.
They soon discover that they are trapped with no clear way of escaping, save for a cryptic clue on the bottom of a leather-bound sheet of ‘house rules’ that demands bloodshed on a nightly basis:
The House Rules:
Rule one: No escape. You can’t leave, plain and simple. Try to escape and you won’t like what you find on the other side.
Rule two: Make what you have last. Whatever food and water you currently find in the house is all that you will be provided with during your stay. No more will be given to you under any circumstance.
Rule three: When the music stops, someone must die. The music you can all hear in the background will cease between the hour of twenty-three and twenty-four; when this happens someone must die. Failure to comply with this rule will result in everyone’s death.
Rule four: Only one, and only when the music stops! One death, and only one death, must occur in the allotted time between the hour of twenty-three and twenty-four. Again, failure to comply with this rule will result in everyone’s death.
We hope you have a pleasant stay, and don’t forget: Redemption is the key to escape.
Background: This book was a challenge for me to write as I set out to make a short story, combining aspects of Saw 2 and Steven King’s 1408 (both of which are two of my favourite films) in a genre I'd never tried before.
My plan was to create a short, sharp storyline with plenty of religious, philosophical, and moral points hidden between the lines for people to ponder on – and hopefully I delivered!
There'll be a spoiler-filled blog post on this site with an in-depth breakdown of anything you might have missed, the common queries I receive, and a little insight into my experience of writing the House of Twelve.
GLOOM RISING & REALITY FALLING
Gloom Rising and Reality Falling follow Winston Reynolds, a young man who has recently discovered that he is a Book Wielder; a Supernatural being with the ability to cross into a dark reflection of reality called the Gloom.
As part of the Shadow Circle—an organised crime gang consisting of Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, and humans ‘in the know’—Winston gladly abandons his boring mundane life and uses his impressive talents to reach the top and revel in the high-life.
On the other side of the coin the stoic Inquisitor, Alice Eve, leads a mission to end the sordid corruption plaguing the planet, not knowing that her foes are far more than mere humans, and unaware of the significance of a strange shape-changing book she carries.
Unknown to Winston and Alice, they have caught the interest of mysterious beings lurking within the Gloom, beings that could change not only their own fate, but that of the of the modern-day world of Mydia forever.
Background: Gloom Rising was the first story I ever complete and its sequel, Reality Falling, was done soon after as I was eager to get them both finished while everything was fresh in my mind.
I had a lot of ideas for both books that I couldn't decide how to fit in at the time, but after a year or so I’d thought of some good ways to tie in the omitted content without detracting from the main storyline. So, I took down Gloom Rising and Reality Falling in their original, individual forms and reworked them into a single edition – packed with all the additional bits and pieces that I really regretted leaving out in the first place.
There were other parts that I had planned for Winston that just didn't work with his position as a Book Wielder within the Shadow Circle gang, mainly revolving around the shady Supernatural gangs hidden within Mydia's society, but I got to include most of them in Gloom Rising's prequel ‘Dreamleaf Blues’ from Genevieve Jameson’s perspective, as her storyline was a much better fit for them.
DREAMLEAF BLUES
Set five years before the events of Gloom Rising, Dreamleaf Blues follows Genevieve Jameson as her life takes an unexpected turn into the hidden society of the Supernaturals.
Shortly after her eighteenth birthday, Genevieve's best friend (and love interest) Annabelle Jones goes missing just before their joint birthday celebrations.
Genevieve obsessively follows what few leads she has, knowing that Anna’s disappearance most likely revolves around her secretive ‘job' dealing drugs—primarily the mysterious blue hallucinogenic, Dreamleaf. Genevieve ends up falling into the deep end of the criminal world, and the Supernatural one, under the promise that her cooperation will reward her with help in her search for Annabelle and the safety of Genevieve's loved ones.
Background: Dreamleaf Blues was an unexpected addition to the Book Wielder Saga, and actually started out as backstories and notes for the characters in Mydia's End (the final part of the series).
I got so into Genevieve’s tale that I decided to make it a full story, and was glad to have an opportunity to show off more of the organised crime gangs from the perspective of a fighter rather than Winston's position (as, in theory, he is meant to stay out of trouble!).
It was also a cool opportunity to revisit the Gloom through the eyes of Chloe O'Kelly, a very young and inexperienced Book Wielder, as I got to write about how the dark dimension is from the perspective of those without Winston's natural and unique talents, and truly showcase its weird, wacky, and terrifying dangers to the fullest.