Bitterwood: The Complete Collection
About this ebook
The individual works:
Tornado of Sparks: The dragon Vendevorex demonstrates his magical powers for the dragon-king Albekizan in a test that orphans a human infant. Can Vendevorex reunite the child with her only remaining family?
Bitterwood: Dragons rule the world and humans serve as their slaves, pets, and prey, with only the mysterious dragon-slayer Bitterwood fighting the dominant dragons from the shadows. But when Bitterwood slays the beloved son of the dragon-king Albekizan, the dragons launch a war of extermination against all humans. Can mankind survive the combined might of the dragons?
Dragonforge: As a war spreads throughout the dragon kingdom, a band of human rebels take over the armory of the dragon armies, the legendary Dragon Forge. As the dragon armies mass to take back the fortress, Bitterwood finds himself in the fight of his life, facing off against the most dangerous dragon of all: Blasphet.
Dragonseed: With the dragon forces in disarray, the humans face their own woes as allies banded together to fight the dragons begin to take up arms against each other. With all of civilization on the verge of anarchy, can Bitterwood save the day by joining forces with his worst enemy—the sun-dragon Hex, the last surviving son of King Albekizan?
Dawn of Dragons: 1000 years before Bitterwood, a man named Alex Pure gets disemboweled by a dragon. It’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Also, the apocalypse.
The bonus Dragonsgate: Prelude and Omen novellas included in the ebook edition:
Hunted: The sky-dragons Graxen and Nadala are trying to make a new home in a distant valley. With Nadala too pregnant to fly, Graxen must hunt for them to survive. But as he stalks his prey, something bigger and more dangerous than a dragon is stalking him.
Haunted: Bitterwood has settled into the quiet life of a farmer. Then, dragons raid his henhouse, leading Bitterwood to a confrontation with his most dangerous adversary.
Hurt: On a mission to recover a stolen shotgun, Anza faces off against the earth-dragon boss Bigmouth. But when she winds up shot by the very gun she came to retrieve, can she finish her mission before her injuries finish her?
In praise of Bitterwood:
“For the sake of humanity, join in Bitterwood’s revolt.” – Kirkus Reviews
“A grabber from page one, a smart tale of adventure and revenge sprinkled with echoes of our own dangerous times. James Maxey’s world of dragons and humans at war is so solidly and engagingly rendered that I never wanted to leave.” – John Marco
“Bitterwood is an unlikely hero in a rich world, with a rich history that holds many surprises. James Maxey tells his story with a sure hand. Enjoy the journey!” – Carrie Vaughn
"Fine action and cool world building. Anne McCaffrey through a mirror darkly." – E. E. Knight
“A magnificent hero story.” – Orson Scott Card
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About the author
I live in Hillsborough, NC with my wife Cheryl. I'm a graduate of Orson Scott Card's Writing Boot Camp and the Odyssey Writing Workshop. In 2015, I was awarded the title of Piedmont Laureate.
My works to date are:
Steampunk:
BAD WIZARD. A grown up Dorothy Gale pursues the villainous Wizard across a magical landscape to keep him from conquering the Emerald City once more. It's zeppelins and lightning guns in the Land of Oz!
Superhero novels:
Nobody Gets the Girl (2003): A tale on an invisible man and the women who dig him.
Burn Baby Burn (2011): A love story about two supervillians on a crime spree.
Coming Soon: Cut-Up Girl!: A young girl with the power to create duplicates of herself by cutting off body parts gets swept up into a war between the Lawful Legion (the only superhero team authorized by the government) and Red Line, a team of super-powered vigilantes fighting to save a world that fears them.
My Dragon Age novels:
Bitterwood (2007): In a world where dragons rule over men, the mysterious hunter Bitterwood wages war against the beasts from the shadows.
Dragonforge (2008): When all out war breaks out between dragons and men, the human forces stage a daring attack on the heart of the dragons' military might--the fortress town of Dragon Forge.
Dragonseed (2009): As war takes its toll on both mankind and the dragons, disease and famine threaten to sweep the land. Does salvation lie in the talons of dragon claiming mystical healing powers, who feeds his followers the miraculous dragonseed?
Dawn of Dragons (2013): A prequel to Bitterwood, set 1000 years before the first book, telling the story of Morningstar, the first dragon, as he escapes his creators and makes his way through a world falling apart in the aftermath of the rise of Atlantis.
The Complete Bitterwood. An ebook collection that collects the three core Dragon Age novels, plus Dawn of Dragons, plus the bonus short story "Tornado of Sparks/"
My Dragon Apocalypse novels:
A more lighthearted take on fantasy than my Dragon Age novels, the Dragon Apocalypse novels blend my love of epic fantasy and my love of superheroes. In each book, superpowered adventurers pit themselves against the primal dragons, elemental beings who are manifestations of aspects of nature.
Greatshadow (2012): Twelve superpowered adventurers band together to slay Greatshadow, the primal dragon of fire. But, before they fight the beast, can they first survive each other?
Hush (2012): When the warrior woman known as Infidel journeys to the frozen north in order to fulfil a promise made to a dying friend, she winds up swept into a plot by Hush, the primal dragon of cold, who plans to murder the sun and plunge the world into permanent winter.
Witchbreaker (2012): Centuries ago, the knight known as the Witchbreaker nearly wiped out the cult of witches. Now, a young witch named Sorrow seeks to launch a new golden age of witchcraft by seeking out the legendary queen of witches, Avaris. She's joined on her quest by an amnesiatic warrior who seems to have come from a different time. Could her new closest ally secretly be the long lost Witchbreaker?
Coming in 2016: At long last, the final Dragon Apocalypse novel! Tentatively titled Cinder, Infidel and Stagger must reunite to save their daughter, Wylde. Conceived in the spirit world, Wylde possesses the power to slip between the realms of the living and the dead. When Wylde is told by a hellbound spirit of living men who have wound up trapped in hell, she leads a party gathered by the Church of the Book to rescue the trapped innocents. But one member of her party has a hidden agenda, and seeks the destruction of all reality, that it might be rewritten in accordance with Divine Truth. When the primal dragons unite to destroy mankind to save themselves. Will Stagger and Sorrow rescue their daughter from hell only to return to a world scoured of humanity?
Short story collections:
There is No Wheel (2011): Ten critically acclaimed short stories collected from the pages of Asimov's, Intergalactic Medicine Show, and various anthologies. Dark, weird, funny, and truthful.
