Control: The Dread Lord Icon

I, Dalton Lewis, wrote a fantasy novel. It’s called The Dread Lord Icon, and it’s on sale now. This book fuses a fantasy epic story with a college story — I wanted to show a story about growing up and moving on after high school. Showing adulthood was a goal of this story. Many people had complained that I only wrote about high school students, and I wanted to rectify that.

I loved college. I remember going there and meeting smart geeks who had similar interests to me. I remember playing video games for countless hours with them — playing Elder Scrolls and role-playing games and strategy games. Taking a night going to the Bijou to see independent movies was something that took up many a Friday night. We would watch local bands play and drink liquor until we puked in the dorm toilets. Everything was exciting and new and fun and amazing. There were no parents or adult figures to tell us to behave or go to sleep or clean our room or anything. Telling a story about that time of my life seemed like a great opportunity to say something about the human condition.

I wanted unforgettable characters in this fantasy college epic. Icon struck me as a quiet reader who wants to be pretty damned heroic — saving lives and helping people. Devane is the prototypical knight — a man who is kind and giving to everyone except for his enemies. Allele is a brilliant detective and fiery personality. Vielle is a cynical, angry young intellectual who thinks that the world will go to hell — and is mostly proven right.

Setting a scene is really important to a fantasy story. I wanted to evoke a real Middle Eastern fantasy city with djinn, elves, dwarves, orcs, and the like all trying to live along with undead forces and normal humans. I wanted to create a place where visitors from East and West would visit and exchange their cultures and beliefs. I wanted a place that was the center of everything.

I wanted a wise mentor for the characters, but I wanted a different one than most. I wanted Professor Ahmed to have absolutely no physical skills or magical combat skills. I wanted him to simply want peace: to be a representative of the people who have seen how deadly war can be and want to avoid it. That adds depth and tension to the inevitable fights because Ahmed doesn’t approve of any such fighting. As Icon becomes more famous and successful Ahmed is increasingly disgusted by his fighting.

That’s my novel — an attempt at a pulp fantasy novel combined with a story about growing up and attending college. I wanted to write the best novel that I possibly could. I want you to give it a chance.

Thanks, and take care, friends.