The Novels of Tom Arden
The Orokon Series (1997 – 2001)
- The Harlequin’s Dance
- The King and Queen of Swords
- Sultan of the Moon and Stars
- Sisterhood of the Blue Storm
- Empress of the Endless Dream
Click here to read an essay by Tom that explains much of the theme and content of The Orokon.
Other Novels
- Shadow Black (2001)
- The Translation of Bastain Test (2005)
The Orokon
Book I
The Harlequin’s Dance (1997)
“[Characters] as memorable as any characters Dickens created. The Harlequin’s Dance is full-blooded, vivid stuff” – Starburst
“builds to a stunning climax” – SFX
The god Orok gave to his five children crystals of surpassing beauty, to be embedded in a circle on the Rock of Being and Unbeing, whence had sprung the gods, the earth and all its peoples. This circle, known as The Orokon, ensured the harmony of life, until the dark god Koros plucked his crystal from the Rock and plunged the world into chaos and despair.
The true king of Ejland, Ejard Red, has been betrayed and captured, and his throne seized by his twin brother, Ejard Blue. In the village of Irion the crippled boy known as Jemany Vexing lives with his dying mother and his fanatical Aunt Umbecca. Unable to walk, Jem is condemned to a wretched half-life, until he meets a mysterious dwarf … and with his new strength comes a new friendship, with the wild girl Catayane.
As the horrors of the Bluejacket regime begin, Jem becomes aware of his greater destiny – to find and reunite the five crystals of The Orokon. But he is not the only seeker: the evil sorceror Toth-Vexrah has his own plans and will let no one stand in his way.
Book II
The King and Queen of Swords (1998)
“Arden takes some attractive risks … a writer in whom we can have real confidence” – Dreamwatch
“A triumph of which Arden should be justly proud” – SFX
Click here to read an extract
Once there was a land with five evil kings, and each king had an evil queen. These were the King and Queen of Quills, of Wheels, of Spires, of Rings. Each of these rulers wielded great power, but most powerful of all, most wicked of all and, above all, most feared, were the King and Queen of Swords.
That was long ago and now the King and Queen of Swords are only painted faces on playing cards, flicking across the green baize of gaming-tables. Or are they?For Jemany Vexing, true Prince of Ejland and Key to the Orokon, keeps hearing their names, in song and in story, as he sets out on the second stage of his quiest, seeking the long-lost mystic crystsals of the gods.
On the run and lying low, Jem is disguised as a wandering Vaga-player, making for the great southern city of Agondon. There, he hopes his mysterious new guardian – promised to him by the enigmatic harlequin – will guide him to the green Crystal of Viana. But Lord Empster is not all he appears to be, and Jem must wonder if his guardian is really good or evil – until adventure overtakes him and there is no time to wonder any more.
Meanwhile Cata, Jem’s lost love, is caught in the machinations of the evil, ambitious Aunt Umbecca. Robbed of her memory, scrubbed and civilized, the wild girl has been turned into a lady. Cata recalls nothing of her powers — or of Jem. But her memory is beginning to stir, and soon she discovers a destiny that leads her from a mysterious meeting in a midnight wood to a bloody battlefield in a distant land.
Rich in magic, mystery, horror and humour, The King and Queen of Swords, the second volume of Tom Arden’s sweeping fantasy epic, vividly depicts an eighteenth-century world of armies and assassins, brothels and bandits, love and longing, ransom and rape – and looming over it all, the ancient riddle of the King and Queen of Swords.
Book III
Sultan of the Moon and Stars (1999)
“Treachery abounds and wild magic is almost commonplace [in] this wonderful baggy monster of an epic … mixes thrills and ironic humor with delightful camp profusion” – amazon.co.uk
“A wildly innovative, marvelously unpretentious mix of chaos, magic, manners, satire and adventure … like a Jonathan Swift tale rewritten by Jane Austen, turned into a play by Oscar Wilde and then filmed by Terry Gilliam, it must be read to be believed” – Wavelengths Online
Click here to read an extract
The vision came in the wilderness long ago, commanding the Sultan’s ancestor to lead his peoples to the place that would be called the Sacred City. There, deep within a rocky cavern, there burns an immense, roaring column of fire: the Sacred Flame. Worshipped by millions, it is the source of the Sultan’s power. But the Flame harbours a terrible secret – and so does the Sultan.
For generations, the Sultans of Kal-Theron have held their desert realm in a cruel, implacable grip, but now, as a ruthless invader threatens, not even the Sacred Flame may save the ancient empire.
Into this seething hotbed of political machinations and rebellion stumbles Prince Jemany, son of Ejland’s deposed king and true heir to the throne, as he plunges into the next stage of his perilous quest, seeking the long-lost crystals of the Orokon. Already the anti-god, Toth-Vexrah, has burst free from the Realm of Unbeing and is working his evil upon the susceptible and easily swayed. Only Jem stands in his way, but now he faces dangers closer at hand.
In an Arabian Nights world of eunuchs and genies, magic carpets and mysterious veiled women, dark magic is stirring. Cut off from his companions, Jem is trapped in the bizarre, horrifying dreamworld of the enchanter Almoran. Meanwhile, his lost love Cata becomes embroiled with the Shimmering Princess, the idol of millions, whose fate holds the key to the Sultan’s empire – and to the whereabouts of the third crystal, the pulsing red crystal of the fire god Theron.