The Sand Sea by Michael McClellan September 2, 2024

 One of the first books I saw advertised on social media, was Michael McClellan's The Sand Sea. It was an obvious send up to the classic adventure stories of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It tells of an expedition to a great desert an in alternative version of 1879. The expedition is a cover for a quest to find the Staff of The Lion, The Ram, and The Serpent. It is connected to a prophecy in which a foreigner from across the sea will restore balance and bring about the downfall of the Qallifa. Selena Savanar was taken from her family as a child and is now hunted by the Qallifa's Grand Vizer, Jemojeen Jongdar. Peter Harmon is drawn to Harold Milton Stanwich's expedition to find the oasis where a piece of the Staff was last known to be seen and is eventually swept into a war between the Qaliffa and the free people of the Sand Sea. There is a hint at a sequel near the end, and I look forward to reading it. The characters are not very unique, Peter is an inexperienced adventurer and not a warrior but starts using his intellect to settle conflicts. His cousin, Jack Caldwell, starts off as an arrogant jerk, but becomes more practical as the story progresses. Hannah Huntington is an avid hunter, but not very skilled in combat. She is opposed to arranged marriages, and marrying Jack, and other than that, is mostly seen as just being pretty. Stanwich is the stock explorer character, and there are many other characters I do not have time to talk about. The last thing is Jongdar is a fierce villain, and a real threat. It was not on Smashwords where I publish my books, and I will allow McClellan to take his time in writing the sequel, because I know how long it takes to make great art, and sometimes there are technical difficulties, like I am having now. If you are interested in reading my work, or the work of other independent authors, click on the link. Smashword.com