The Giant

About the Book

"Stop right there.” It was a voice of measured power, a voice comfortable with command.

With these words, we are introduced to a new character in the pantheon of heroic figures, a giant in stature and strength who is but too human in aspiration. Nature has favored him as undefeatable in combat, society has cast him as military champion, yet he longs for tranquility of home and delectation of family. What must he accomplish to earn the right to claim his desire? What must he sacrifice?

The port of Girasol, known to all as “the beautiful jewel,” offers the giant a winter’s respite from his wanderings. He finds amicable welcome among denizens in the local tavern and there, too, he finds Soessa, the copper haired round girl who warms his heart through the coldest of nights.

When the village is threatened by pirate siege, local moneylenders implore him to raise armed defense but, averse to presiding over even one more battle, the giant defers accepting their commission. He encounters trolls with peculiar dietary penchants and wondrous skills, who fathom greater threat concealed within folds of the pirate attack. For they remember the Demonic Titans’ vow to take as brother he who releases them from interment imposed in ages past by the Great Powers. It is Schadenfreude, master of the pirate fleet, manipulator of lives, who intends to redeem the Titans’ promise. His cruelty is exceeded only by their treachery, his madness by their craving.

Town dwellers, bucolics of the country wide around, troll tribes, caravaneers from the distant east, and swamp-saurians crystallize alliances to resist their common enemy. However, their stand against the far stronger pirates is doomed without the giant’s aid. Devotion among the confederates to their families and to the beautiful jewel enables the giant to see his own thread in the grand tapestry of the ages and to choose a course of action by which he can both defend Girasol and attain the life of peace he seeks.

Some of The Giant’s Supporting Characters

A lizard of a man, the Saurian scout fell upon her with his teeth, biting and gnashing and tearing until she moved no more. The lizard’s tongue lapped blood from once beautiful flesh. He snickered quietly to himself, “Sweet. Very sweet.”

How in mid winter did one furry little Tribal Luminary, the troll princess Mozin Bur Mai, bid Girasol’s harbor calm with no more than chant and seashell? One might sooner know “why?” than “how?”

About the Author In cadence evoking storytellers of oral tradition, Sam Friedland weaves a classic tale of heroes and villains, of challenges and triumphs, of origins and ends. Throughout his fantasy novel, The Giant, he casts his sharp eye for detail across olden earth and into its inhabitants’ hearts where he reveals delicate yearnings and prickling greeds. In some, he uncovers frantic impulse or sanguine rancor. In others, he finds lust or exuberance or wisdom. Then, using language ranging from lavish prose to dotty doggerel, he paints characters and scenes that will halt your breath and draw your sighs and gape your jaw and wide your eyes. Add Review Name Email Ratings Please Enter Rating Comments Please Verify