New Book

So, for those not aware, I've been working intensively on a rewrite of a fan fiction novel I wrote back in January for a couple of months now with the intention of changing it into an original fantasy fiction novel which I would be able to publish. I finally finished it and put it up on Amazon through their Kindle Direct Publishing site. Here's the Link if you're interested in checking it out (you may need to copy and paste):

https://www.amazon.com/Lightborn-Epic-Fantasy-Tale-Messiah/dp/179293291X/ref=sr_1_2_twi_pap_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1546923975&sr=8-2&keywords=Lightborn

Here is also the Introduction:

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a well known story to most people in the civilized world. If they have not heard it within the confines of their own church or religious community, then there is a good chance they would have heard it through cinema or television. It is the story of all powerful Divinity taking the humble form of a weak human being in order to heal and rescue the world from its darkness through not only that human being’s life and teachings, but also and especially by means of his brutal death and miraculous self-resurrection. It is the story of human beings misunderstanding who that Divinity truly is, and that Being showing up on their doorstep to set the record straight. It is also a story of that Divinity’s redemptive love and forgiveness for those thought lost to the darkness by those who professed to represent that Divine Being’s will and interests.

It is a story which deserves to be told again and again.

The story you hold in your hand began life as a fan fiction writing set in the world of a popular massively multiplayer online fantasy role playing game (MMORPG). I had first thought of the idea of setting a Gospel story within an epic fantasy world of dwarves, elves, humans, and orcs decades ago and things finally came together about a year ago to where I could put it down into words through the medium of fan fiction. To be honest, I didn’t know how it would be received at first, and thought maybe I would be asking for trouble in posting it. But as it went live on the fan fiction website, it started garnering hundreds, and then thousands of views with heartfelt, emotional reviews by readers, fans of the original game in which world it was set, who didn’t consider themselves religious or spiritual at all. It was then that I realized why.

It wasn’t because of my fabulous turns of phrase or great skills at writing. It is my belief that it was because they were seeing and meeting Jesus in a way that spoke to them apart from the stained glass windows and preacher’s sermons.

After watching this phenomenon and reading their comments for almost a year, I began to wonder if maybe I should try and rework it for a larger audience. The original RPG world of the story in which the fan fiction work was set borrowed heavily from traditional epic medieval fantasy tropes and archetypes which by their very nature as ideas and concepts cannot be copyrighted or trademarked. With this understanding, I began the undertaking of reworking this novel into an original work of fiction apart from the intellectual property of the world in which it was set. All names, origin stories, and material that referred specifically to the copyrighted material found in the fan fiction story world in which it was set have been changed, removed, and rewritten so as not to infringe on the rights or trademarks of the owners of that material.

Here you will not find Roman soldiers, Pharisees, and Tax Collectors. Here you will not even find a “cross” in the traditional sense. Instead, you will find within these pages magic, elves, lycanthropes, a nation of undead zombies, and holy knights devoted to their faith. Here also within these pages you will find a very human man, born of a virgin and called by Divine Light to redeem and save a lost people and a world on the brink of war.

Hopefully, as it is my intent, you will also be able to meet and see the One who is Light that I have come to know in a language and a way that speaks to you.

-Allen Martin Bair