Frank menser
Earth Tourist
This is the preface to my novel. It takes place on a world called Bard and on Earth as well. Xerxes the impostor steals the throne of Persia from its rightful king. In the course of the tale we meet the fallen hero Bernard Bear Stomper, his compeditor-Gaylord of the Golden Chin and their mysterious benefactor-Taffilo The Tenor one of the strange creatures that give their world its name. The novel is part serious/part comedy.
The tale was written without knowledge of the recent movie 300 which unfortunately came out just as I was begining to seek a market for BARD. Part of this novel covers similar material to that graphic novel and movie. For those reasons I temporarily pulled it from the market. However, since there is a year's work in this, I decided to test the waters here.
So....Does it look interesting?
THE BARD BUSINESS~By Frank Menser
Xerxes, son and heir of Darius, High king of the Persian Empire and master of the known world, sat within his chambers awaiting the arrival of a God. At least he thought the thing was a God, but whether it was one—or just a ghost, he had been unable to determine. Xerxes did know the apparition he had seen looked nothing like any God he had ever heard of save for himself and that resemblance to his own person was extraordinary.
The being was oddly transparent to his eye in the flickering torchlight, which was disconcerting. Apparently it was constructed of no solid substance. This Xerxes learned when surprised at its sudden appearance, he threw a dagger at it. Fortunately, the ‘God’ indicated to Xerxes that he would forgive the King’s sacrilegious act.
This strange God-being had spoken to him of wonders from other worlds. He claimed there were powerful magics that he could enlist to aid Xerxes conquests and to rid him of the troubling Greeks that were a constant thorn in his sandals. This very night, this apparition had sworn to return to the king with the means of obtaining that power.
When at last he arrived, there was nothing to announce the being in the way of fanfare. One second he wasn’t there, and the next he stood before Xerxes, resplendent in his strange transparency.
“Hail King of Persia,” the apparition said.
“I humbly welcome you to my presence great...what did you say your name is?”
Xerxes leaned forward for a better view. The God ignored his question and continued.
“I have brought unto you that power of which I have spoken. Behold King, a great ring that will open worlds for you, so you may learn and gain knowledge that will bring rich rewards.”
The being placed upon the King’s bed a plain silver ring. Xerxes looked at the ring dubiously. It was unimpressive, lacking any jewels or ornamentation to advertise its potential.
“Wear this on your finger, King and you shall be master of its power. But be warned Great Xerxes, that once donned, to remove it means death to the wearer.”
Hesitantly, the King picked up the ring. It felt heavy. The moonlight gleam of its pure silver enticed him, its power compelled him. Odd, he thought sensing its power; such a ring so heavily endowed, would seem too much for this vaporous being to lift. With a sudden move, he placed the ring on his middle finger. The apparition smiled unpleasantly.
“Now you are now my slave, oh foolish King,” the being said, “That ring you wear will serve only me! I deem it so, that you must now be transported to another place, another world where you will be but slave...and I will rule here in your stead.”
The king looked at his hands that were fading from his view and then at the God-thing whose colors solidified before his eyes.
“I fear my good fellow, you have been tricked.” The apparition laughed.
“Tricked, by whom? Who are you who dare this?”
“Why I should think it would be obvious by now. I am you. Or, to be precise, I am XERXES!”
The tale was written without knowledge of the recent movie 300 which unfortunately came out just as I was begining to seek a market for BARD. Part of this novel covers similar material to that graphic novel and movie. For those reasons I temporarily pulled it from the market. However, since there is a year's work in this, I decided to test the waters here.
So....Does it look interesting?
THE BARD BUSINESS~By Frank Menser
Xerxes, son and heir of Darius, High king of the Persian Empire and master of the known world, sat within his chambers awaiting the arrival of a God. At least he thought the thing was a God, but whether it was one—or just a ghost, he had been unable to determine. Xerxes did know the apparition he had seen looked nothing like any God he had ever heard of save for himself and that resemblance to his own person was extraordinary.
The being was oddly transparent to his eye in the flickering torchlight, which was disconcerting. Apparently it was constructed of no solid substance. This Xerxes learned when surprised at its sudden appearance, he threw a dagger at it. Fortunately, the ‘God’ indicated to Xerxes that he would forgive the King’s sacrilegious act.
This strange God-being had spoken to him of wonders from other worlds. He claimed there were powerful magics that he could enlist to aid Xerxes conquests and to rid him of the troubling Greeks that were a constant thorn in his sandals. This very night, this apparition had sworn to return to the king with the means of obtaining that power.
When at last he arrived, there was nothing to announce the being in the way of fanfare. One second he wasn’t there, and the next he stood before Xerxes, resplendent in his strange transparency.
“Hail King of Persia,” the apparition said.
“I humbly welcome you to my presence great...what did you say your name is?”
Xerxes leaned forward for a better view. The God ignored his question and continued.
“I have brought unto you that power of which I have spoken. Behold King, a great ring that will open worlds for you, so you may learn and gain knowledge that will bring rich rewards.”
The being placed upon the King’s bed a plain silver ring. Xerxes looked at the ring dubiously. It was unimpressive, lacking any jewels or ornamentation to advertise its potential.
“Wear this on your finger, King and you shall be master of its power. But be warned Great Xerxes, that once donned, to remove it means death to the wearer.”
Hesitantly, the King picked up the ring. It felt heavy. The moonlight gleam of its pure silver enticed him, its power compelled him. Odd, he thought sensing its power; such a ring so heavily endowed, would seem too much for this vaporous being to lift. With a sudden move, he placed the ring on his middle finger. The apparition smiled unpleasantly.
“Now you are now my slave, oh foolish King,” the being said, “That ring you wear will serve only me! I deem it so, that you must now be transported to another place, another world where you will be but slave...and I will rule here in your stead.”
The king looked at his hands that were fading from his view and then at the God-thing whose colors solidified before his eyes.
“I fear my good fellow, you have been tricked.” The apparition laughed.
“Tricked, by whom? Who are you who dare this?”
“Why I should think it would be obvious by now. I am you. Or, to be precise, I am XERXES!”
