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 the Balkans.
Second… they want a story that feels alive with wonder, where the magic is dark, forbidden, and incomprehensible—something that could drive you mad if you understood it—and where the characters’ lives unfold long after the final battle, showing you the scars and the triumphs of a world that keeps breathing.
And for whatever reason, when they picture that perfect story, it’s always a fantasy epic that wrestles with the big questions—Who am I? What does power really cost?—while heroes face down grotesque beasts, not with a prophecy or a “girl boss” attitude, but with grit, faith, and a willingness to ask for help.
That’s the dream.
But here’s the thing you have to understand about the storytelling game today…
AI art might seem like a shortcut to that dream, but it’s a dead end. It can only churn out more of the same tired tropes—like Breaking Bad but everyone is swole! Swole Harry Potter! Swole Lord of the Rings! It can’t create the wonder, the depth, or the originality you’re craving.
The more AI art I see, the less impressed I am. I recently listened to legendary Chuck Dixon on a podcast, and he nailed it: “AI won’t replace great artists, but it will slaughter the mediocre.”
I saw this firsthand when Selvir, our creative director at Tales of Khayr, tested ChatGPT on writing a screenplay. It was a disaster. The output was so generic, so lifeless, that Selvir now only uses ChatGPT as a conversation starter—or a tool to test ideas, like a Star Trek computer. The actual writing was quite bad.
Selvir put it perfectly: AI creates a dangerous feedback loop for producers, emboldening their worst instincts while good writers are forced to compete with this soulless noise.
But the problem runs deeper. young artists might never get the chance to build their skills because AI art is so cheap, flooding the market with derivatives.
AI can’t tap into the collective unconscious—perhaps the true “source” of human art. It can only compute cannibalized derivatives, feeding on human creativity until it runs its course.
Compare that to AI chess, where a computer can run every permutation faster than a human because the moves exist independently.
But AI art is nothing without new human input to steal from.
My name’s Wes Al-Dhaher, and after two decades crushing it in tech, I got fed up with seeing Muslims painted as villains—or left out of stories altogether. I decided to do something about it.That’s why I founded Tales of Khayr and created Brotherhood of the Wolf, a dark fantasy comic set in the 15th-century Ottoman Empire.
It’s a story where Muslim monster-hunters battle beasts, face down fear, and find light in their wounds—rooted in the grit of Islamic values like, “We either live as ghazis or die as martyrs,” without ever preaching.
I’m a physical-only guy—because comics are best as physical media as opposed to pixels. Brotherhood of the Wolf: The Lesser Evil is a first-edition experience: the heft of the page, the smell of the print, the thrill of turning it yourself.
And the response has been delightful. Kirkus Reviews called it “an offbeat and often compelling pairing of plot and illustration.” The Seattle Book Review said it’s “impressive to behold,” noting that readers who slow down for the art “will marvel and wince in equal measure.”
AI isn’t going away. But neither are authentic, human-driven stories. The question is, are you ready to experience a story that AI could never create?
You can get your first-edition copy of Brotherhood of the Wolf: The Lesser Evil right now. This is a collector’s piece, a story you’ll want to pass down, a rebellion against the same old narratives. Click here to get your copy of Brotherhood of the Wolf: The Lesser Evil now
But heads up—I’ve only printed a limited run of first editions, and they’re moving fast. Once they’re gone, it will be a while before I reprint this chapter in this format (with a slightly higher price). If you want to own a piece of this storytelling revolution, grab your copy before they’re sold out.
If you’re ready to stop settling for AI-generated fluff and start experiencing stories that matter, go here and get your copy before it’s too late.
Let’s build a storytelling revolution AI can’t touch.
-Wes