Over the years, I have collected around 300 fantasy works: books, games, manga, and more. All different, all personal favorites. That makes sense, since I also create stuff in this genre. Nearly every story in my collection shares two things.First, they are character-driven. Second, they are rooted in alchemy, esoterica, and the occult. Tales of Khayr [...]
When I was younger, growing up in northern Virginia, I came across an article by Shibly Zaman about how Dracula’s legend was tied to real history, especially the Ottoman frontier of the 15th century. The idea stayed with me. From legend to living history Today, my team and I at Tales of Khayr are bringing that dark history [...]
You’ll hear it in forums, in reviews, at conventions, even from authors themselves. The tired refrain comes dressed up as wisdom: “Stop asking questions, just enjoy the magic.”It is less encouragement than a command, meant to silence doubt. Consider the old tale of the rabbit in the rut. It sits as the cavalry thunders by, hooves [...]
There are stories that strut into the light, and then there are stories that crouch in the dark, grinning. Brotherhood of the Wolf: Blood Tax is firmly the latter, a dark fantasy comic series that doesn’t just flirt with horror; it shackles itself to it and drags you into the forest. Historical fiction? Hardly. This is [...]
Thanks to a graphic-novel tradition that treats history as tinder, Brotherhood of the Wolf lights its match in the 15th-century Ottoman frontier, where politics, superstition, and steel keep terrible company. Imagine the original Predator premise translated to Janissary roads and border monasteries, a “What if” that starts as an errand and turns into a hunt. [...]
“Great stories deliver the elixir—always” (Selvir, Creative Director of Tales of Khayr) I chose to share this quote with you because it’s the secret behind every story that grabs your heart and stays with you forever. It’s the one principle that defines why you love the movies, books, or shows that move you most. As you’ll [...]
When fantasy fans reach out to me, it’s usually because they’re craving one of two things… First… they want to escape the same old medieval Europe—those Ren Faire clichés with noble knights and dwarf kings—and dive into a world they’ve never seen before, like the Bronze Age deserts of North Africa or the blood-soaked forests of [...]
Yet again I find myself in search of intelligent conversation! Shunned by my companions, encouraged to “Find someone who gives a sh&t,” I am reduced to this; filtering through a pile of missives in search of mental stimulation, that most elusive of things. I suppose now is as good of time as any to tidy up [...]
Even though I’ve built a great career in tech and could’ve coasted for life, I made the call to do something way harder: Tell the kind of stories no one else is telling—and do it my way. Because waiting around for Netflix or Marvel to “represent us” is like waiting for Dracula to stop biting people. And yeah, [...]