The Fireside Tales

Every world has its history. Every kingdom has its legends. And every fireside has its tales.

Set within the world of Dakota McElhinny's The Realm Series, this epic fantasy anthology ventures beyond the great wars and central characters of the novels to uncover the older stories lingering beneath them: tales of knights and wanderers, elves and dragons, ancient kingdoms and forgotten roads, strange creatures, mysterious lands, old magic, dangerous bargains, and ordinary souls who find themselves caught in extraordinary events.

Across its sixteen tales, familiar elements of classic epic fantasy mingle with mythology, folklore, fairy tale, medieval romance, adventure, mystery, and darker fantasy. Here are stories touched by the atmosphere of old legends; stories in which the world feels larger than the characters who walk through it and history stretches backward into an age that can never be completely recovered.

The result is a fantasy anthology intended to feel not like a modern collection of disconnected adventures, but like a volume that might itself have been discovered somewhere within the Realm: an old book taken from a dusty shelf, opened beside a winter fire, and read beneath the flickering light.

For readers searching for fantasy books with dragons, elves and magic, knights and kingdoms, mythological fantasy, medieval fantasy adventures, or sword and sorcery stories, The Fireside Tales offers a journey through a world steeped in the traditions of classic fantasy storytelling.

Among the tales are legends such as "Elioud the Eldest," which reaches toward the ancient mysteries surrounding one of the Realm's elder figures and the secrets gathered along forgotten paths.

There is "Chess," a tale from the Isle of Chesshold, where two kingdoms struggle over a fertile valley lying between mountains while powers far greater than either throne watch from east and west.

There is "The Little Woman of the River," in which a hunter's pursuit leads him toward something stranger than any ordinary quarry-and toward a prize beyond the power of even mighty rulers to grant.

Other stories lead into different corners of the Realm, where heroes, creatures, travelers, and legends await their turn beside the fire.

Each tale stands upon its own, but together they contribute to the larger mythology of The Realm Series. Names, places, relics, beliefs, creatures, and fragments of history may take on new meaning when viewed beside the novels, while readers encountering the Realm for the first time can experience these stories simply as tales of wonder, danger, tragedy, adventure, and mystery.

This is a world where the distant past is never entirely dead. Ancient deeds leave scars. And sometimes a story is the only thing preventing the truth from disappearing. altogether.