The Green Mage
The First Chronicle of Tessia Dragonqueen
(The Talon Trilogy: Vol. 1)
by Michael Simms
ISBN: 978-1-956440-18-8 paperback $21.95
ISBN: 978-1-956440-19-5 ebook $9.99
March 2023
The Green Mage is a tale in the finest of sword and sorcery tradition—a hero’s journey told through the eyes of the mage.
Norbert Oldfoot is a simple mage who makes his living traveling the Bekla River Road, selling trade goods, performing healing magic, and singing traditional songs of heroes. He becomes friends with Kerttu, a coppersmith who has developed a new alloy which is perfect for manufacturing swords. When Kerttu is kidnapped by the evil Wizard Ludek, Kerttu’s teenage daughter Tessia, a skilled hunter, recruits three friends, including Norbert, and sets out on a quest to find a legendary dragon who lives in the mountains. With the help of the dragon, Tessia plans to save her father. Little do they know that in order to save Kerttu, they will first have to save the kingdom.
“Whether Michael Simms is writing a personal essay about growing up with autism or poems about our dying planet, a barfight, or the mystery of a hummingbird’s radiance, he is a master storyteller whose narratives hold memorable moments full of fresh and telling details that unlock the heart.”– Peter Makuck, author of Wins and Losses: Stories
Born and raised in Texas, Michael Simms has worked as a squire and armorer to a Hungarian fencing master, stable hand, gardener, forager, estate agent, college teacher, editor, publisher, technical writer, lexicographer, political organizer, and literary impresario. He is the author of seven collections of poetry and a textbook about poetry. In 2011 Simms was recognized by the Pennsylvania State Legislature for his contribution to the arts. Simms and his wife Eva live in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Mount Washington overlooking the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers.
kpdavis –
Michael Simms is a smart guy. And he has the eyes of a child! There are lessons hidden in the adventure here. Lessons about home and family and about war and grief. I highly recommend it.