The Future Upon Him

Apprentice Storyteller Cormac aspires no higher than to become a Master of Lore. His world changes forever when a Great Sword chooses him as Thane. At this moment, at this Great Turning of History, he must accept that the fate of his world, from the Sunrise Sea to the Sunset Sea, rests on his shoulders. Princess Orianna of the Seven Families called forth the sword. She must attend to the Thane. Together they set off to fulfill their destinies as they journey across the Land of Otherwhere.

Apprentice Storyteller Cormac aspires no higher than to become a Master of Lore. His world changes forever when a Great Sword chooses him as Thane. At this moment, at this Great Turning of History, he must accept that the fate of his world, from the Sunrise Sea to the Sunset Sea, rests on his shoulders. Princess Orianna of the Seven Families called forth the sword. She must attend to the Thane. Together they set off to fulfill their destinies as they journey across the Land of Otherwhere. Otherwhere is a land very like our own. Passion, anxiety, desire, love. The lure of power that can seduce even the best of us. Nobility and rascality. Fear of our own mortality. The things we find in our world. All these are there. But there are differences, for Otherwhere is a world of magic and wonder. Strange beings. Sylvans. WXL, otter-like creatures who share a single consciousness. Dragons. Wizards. She-Who-Sits-by-the-Fire. As they journey, Cormac and the Princess encounter them all.

Donald Haynes worked as a lumberjack and in lumber mills. He worked in gas stations and automotive parts houses. He was a warehouseman, a salesman, a truck driver, a janitor, and a clerk in liquor stores and in grocery stores. He earned a BA from the University of California, Berkeley (literature), an MA from the University of Oregon (American literature; thesis on Melville), and a PhD from the University of Notre Dame (20th century American literature; dissertation on Frost). As a college professor he taught both literature and composition. He published scholarly and popular articles both regionally and nationally. He founded, managed and met a payroll for Haynes & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in corporate communication. As Executive Producer of a division in an NBC television affiliate, he built a national client list. As a partner in a video production house he wrote dramatic scripts produced for use in national corporate retreats for CEOs and CFOs.