Fantasy Weapons Lore: Grond of Morgoth

Some of you have heard the name Grond. For those three people left in the world that hasn’t seen the Return of the King, then you have now met one version of the weapons known as Grond. This is the massive flaming wolf headed battering ram that Sauron’s army of orcs used to smash the magic gates once built by an ancient race of men with elven blood and long lives. That’s a mouthful. Throughout the thousands of years of history in Middle-Earth, Grond has taken a few forms that are suspected to be designs of Sauron’s masterful engineering and magic.

During the time of the Return of the King, Grond was a one hundred foot battering ram that stood sixty feet tall. The head was forged from black iron. In the movie, the mouth was filled with fire, but I don’t believe Tolkien envisioned it that way. About the only use fire would have coming from the mouth is intimidation. Tolkien was an experienced military man who served during World War 1, and although the orcs are a flashy raging mass of unthinking hate, they weren’t unorganized when directed by Sauron’s generals like Gothmog. I would assume that just the sheer size would be enough to scare the Gondorians. Hauling fuel for the fire would be an unnecessary additional resource to be carried across rivers and mountains all the way from Mordor. That said, it did add some nice cinematography for the film so it got two thumbs up from me, no matter how impractical it was.

Book Recommendation: Shift

I absolutely love this series and I'm very excited that Matt Merrick takes himself seriously as a writer. After publishing Exiled and then seeing the critiques about a couple of typos, he gave Shift double the attention. Replacing his original editor and then adding a second copy editor, along with an army of beta readers, Merrick has outdone himself. Not only is the writing improved but the advanced editing is obvious and has made Shift one of the few books I would place out there as a must read for anyone who loves action and adventure fantasies. Here is my review for Goodreads, that will soon be on Amazon. Happy reading everyone. I'll be back Monday with a new weapons weekly about the Aztec culture. Have a great weekend.

Shift by M.R. Merrick

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


If you loved Exiled, you'll absolutely love Shift. This sequel to the action packed adventure Exiled takes you on another journey through dimensions and battling demons. Chase and company try to not only save the universe, but find out the truth about themselves. Merrick's writing has improved a great deal since Exiled, it's phenomenal actually. Not only has he improved his editing by far, and Exiled wasn't that badly done, but his ability to make the characters even more real has grown. The self searching and character development in this story was very well done. As expected, the story is stuffed cover to cover with adventure, drama, action, a little romance and comedy tossed in to leave no dull moments anywhere. I can't wait for the next in the series. As all serial endings, it leaves it open for another face off another day, but at the same time closes the chapter on the events of the plot. I loved this book. Someday someone in Hollywood needs to see this series, it would make awesome action movies.



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Weapons & Warriors: The Kanabō of the Samurai

Art by TL Jeffcoat

Although the Katana and other smaller blades were the most famous and most common weapons a Samurai used, they weren’t the only weapons in his arsenal. The Kanabō was probably the heaviest of the weapons a Samurai trained in. This two handed monster varied in actual length and weight, but there were those made that were the length of a man and were heavy enough that when swung down in a chopping motion they were powerful enough to destroy what they hit.

The thick club-like shaft was usually made with a very strong heavy wood, and sometimes with iron. Then one end was studded with iron spheres. The studs were inserted in rows along the length of each side of the shaft. Once completed it looked like a giant baseball bat with iron balls lined along its length.

There is a saying in Japan that goes “Like giving a Kanabō to an Oni.” What is an Oni you ask? It is basically a mythological Japanese demon that was supposed to be very strong. Strong enough that artistic depictions of them often had them wielding the Kanabō with only one hand. So the saying basically means giving someone an advantage while they already had the best chance; never a good idea.

Welcome To My Imagination (Cover Re-Reveal)

Illustration by Steven D Jones

Just a quick recoloring of the wording. Threw in a little light on the lettering so it doesn't blend into the rest of the darkness too much, but still looks bloody. Increased the size of my name as well so it didn't just look like crimson scribble. It's no longer a crimson I don't think, but that was probably too dark of a red for the darkness of the rest of the cover. This stands out a bit more I think.

Ok, back to revisions for this book, have a great weekend everyone! Don't hesitate to let me know if you see anything that could still use improving.

Book Recommendation: Exiled

I'm not a professional book reviewer, and I don't do a lot of reviews unless the book stirs more emotions than, eh I liked it or I didn't. I don't have much to update other than what I've mentioned in my last post. Writer Ramblings: Writing More Than 1 Novel at a Time? which ended up being sort of an update instead of an actual rambling about people who write more than 1 book at a time. So tonight I share a review I did for a book that came out a month ago, and I'm still waiting for the paperbacks. This is one of my favorite novels.

Exiled, Book 1 by M.R. Merrick

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is probably one of the most exciting books for me since I read The Sin War trilogy by Richard Knaak.

I love the cover of this book. I want a wall in my house painted just like this picture (and someday I'll be a millionaire and have the money to pay for a wall painted like this, right? I can dream.). The book starts off with a lot of action and the character development is pretty good. I enjoyed the plot, I love a story that appears at first to just be one man’s struggle then suddenly he has to save his world from the forces of evil. I thought some of the story was predictable, but the story was written well enough that it didn’t bother me. I myself wouldn’t have written the story any different. It was excellent. Action filled, but not monotonously so. The hero was likable, and the first person point of view from the protagonist was a fresh take as I’ve only read one other fantasy type novel that stuck with one person’s point of view. There were a couple things towards the first half of the book that look like minor errors. A couple typos, but they didn’t interrupt the flow any more than stopping to notice them before barreling on. I thought about knocking a star off for that, but as I became obsessed with finishing the book, I was satisfied after a very explosive and climatic ending. I am ready for the next installment.



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