My Literary works (Drylor The First Artifact)

[stuperhunt]

Hey everyone, this section is for our own creations so I would like to share my most recent one! I just recently got my second book published this month, Drylor The First Artifact. It is about a man that suffers amnesia and as he slowly regains his memory he finds out that his brother has gone hay-wire and has started killing mass amounts of innocent people. Drylor The First Artifact is my second book but the very first I've wrote in the fantasy genre.

I'd like some opinions on what everyone thinks about it so below is what the back of the book says, I am curious if it perks your interests at all and if you saw it in a store if you would pick it up and buy it or put it back on the shelf.

When a man wakes up inside a cage that is being carried through
an underground city, he has no idea where he is or what has
happened to him. As Von, a victim of amnesia, is taken to a jail
cell to await his fate amongst elves, humans, dwarfs, gnomes, and
halflings, he is told he is a member of the Royal Guard of Genisus.
It is not long before he is transported to the palace where he
meets an impatient king who eventually returns him to his jail
cell while deciding his destiny.

As Von’s memory slowly returns, he discovers that he is the only
one who can protect Drylor—a world that abandoned him—
from its greatest evil, his own brother. Through his journey to the
truth, Von meets an unlikely group of friends who are willing
to sacrifice everything to help him stop his brother Scarlet
from annihilating the only world they have ever known.

As Von’s past becomes clear and reveals his future, he soon
realizes the only way he can end his brother’s heartless
massacres is to find him and kill him.

Front cover:

 

[Yorick]

Honestly, on the off-chance that I happened to pick it up, I wouldn't buy it.

The book cover looks relatively bland. For what sounds like it could be a complex story filled with interesting characters, the cover has no art whatsoever. While I love minimalism, it doesn't fit the feel of what you're going for with the book's contents. Also from a design standpoint, blue text with a yellow outline might look a touch royal, but it isn't particularly appealing.

Along those same lines, I don't find the excerpt on the back particularly compelling. It shows too much and not enough all at the same time. The amnesia and sibling angle is kind of cliche, as are the inclusion of all of (seemingly all) the Middle Earth races. My distaste for Tolkien if nothing else would keep me from purchasing this, as it seems to be in similar vein.

That's not to say the synopsis isn't flawed either. An impatient king takes time to hear him out and weigh the decision? The usage of "await his fate" and "deciding his destiny", protect the world that apparently abandoned him, it all just feels so "typically epic" of this kind of story. The villain being so clear-cut stereotypically "evil" is also kind of a turn-off.

Were I in the store and saw this, I might leaf through it and read a page or so before making a decision, but based off of what I have to go on, I'd have to say that I wouldn't purchase it.