Rick Graham

The Woodcutter King Rick Graham

The whilom Wardens of Wudelic woods are watchers and sentinels of the wild. Proud as towering pines, their history is as an old language etched into ruins. They are now known as the Woodcutters. Folks are not sure what to make of their Ghost-lights, eerie glowing orbs that sit on their brow. The patriarch, Alaric, is a descendant of the first Warden, having the ear of the woodland goddess, Lhodyn. She is the embodiment of all that is wild - capricious at best, vindictive at worst. War descends over Alaric's village as borderland marauders murder and enslave all. In reaction, Lhodyn seizes the village children and hides them within her woodland realm. Alaric is now faced with a hard choice, to remain and endure certain brutality while he searches for the young ones or flee with the remainder of his family, their best chance for survival. The Woodcutter King is a fusion of narrative styles, blending literary sensibilities with fantasy aesthetics. The heart of the story is about a father and son and their experiences after a family tragedy. But in true epic fantasy form, there is more at play than their personal struggles. Something mysterious lays hidden in the Wudelic Woods, just as they are beginning to discover.