Monster hunters, spaceships and comedy of manners by indie author Mel Dunay
Three thousand years ago, the most advanced civilization in the world sank beneath the waves in a single night.
A handful of massive airships escaped, carrying the survivors who would become the Stormcrows. This is the tragedy that shaped Dr. Maxim os Storm’s people, and the reason they hunt monsters with ancient technology and unyielding determination.
Continue reading “The Fall of Thule and The Rise of the Stormcrows: The Atlantis Myth in Hunter Healer King” →https://youtube.com/shorts/1ZY9JAab5uc
Dr. Maxim os Storm can talk to animals telepathically, a gift of his Stormcrow bloodline. Here he rides Scrimshaw, Chloe’s fierce white stallion, in a vignette inspired by Wolf’s Trail, Book 1 of the Hunter Healer King trilogy. The Stormcrows are descended from survivors of a fallen Atlantis, and their abilities make them formidable monster hunters.
This part below was more or less the first thing I wrote on this book, but took place very late in the book’s chronology, kind of an “All is Lost” moment. By the time I reached this part of the manuscript, writing through the story in mostly chronological order, it became clear that I needed to change a lot of things around. Some character beats and dialogue remain the same in the final version, but this first draft was different enough to where I thought it would be worth sharing now that the book is released. Warning: contains SPOILERS for a key plot twist; I advise against reading this post if you plan to read Hunter Healer King 3 and have not done so yet.
Continue reading “An Outtake from Hunter Healer King 3” →
In the Hunter Healer King trilogy, “monster hunting” doesn’t just mean tracking werewolves and zombies. It means hunting the sorcerers who create them.
Algomancers are humans who bargained with evil forces to receive magical power. In exchange, they became psychic vampires who must feed on the pain and fear of others to survive. They command undead servants, transform people into monsters, and manipulate emotions like weapons. And when you see the words “monster hunting” in the context of this setting, “monster” means the algomancer as much as the creatures they control.
These are not sympathetic people. They target innocent children and animals, anyone beautiful or vulnerable, because innocence amplifies their power. They create suffering for sustenance. They are the reason Dr. Maxim os Storm carries a banishing dagger inscribed with ancient runes, and a revolver full of silver bullets.
Continue reading “Algomancers, The Psychic Vampires of Hunter Healer King” →https://youtube.com/shorts/ReUQaFI6FZ8
Chloe awakens in the snow and tells Maxim about her vision, where she saw him shining like lightning. A moment from Wolf’s Trail, Book 1 of the Hunter Healer King trilogy. Sometimes the most powerful scenes are the quietest ones.
What if you could live for 150 years, but your entire people were dying out?
Dr. Maxim os Storm looks thirty-five years old. He’s actually seventy. He’ll stay in his physical prime for another thirty years, and won’t show his true age until he’s past a hundred. This longevity is the gift, and the curse, of the Stormcrows, a clan of people descended from those who escaped the fall of Thule three thousand years ago.
But living longer than ordinary humans is only the beginning of what makes the Stormcrows unique.
Continue reading “The Stormcrows of Hunter Healer King: Ageless Monster Hunters Who Talk to Animals” →
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