About the author

I am a writer. I like to think I’m a good one, but that’s an opinion I undoubtedly share with every author in the world, so it doesn’t distinguish me much from any of them. Making you remember my name among thousands of others isn’t easy, considering that the literary and digital marketplaces are saturated, and I’ve even come to think there are more authors than readers these days.

But please remember this one: Leo of Monte Cristo.

Why that name?

It is the pseudonym under which I have signed as an author for many years. The name alludes to Leo Tolstoy, with whom I feel an identification in several literary and extraliterary aspects, and to the Count of Monte Cristo, a prisoner who, after escaping from prison, finds an island with an incalculable treasure that allows him to bring justice upon his enemies. Sounds like something I would definitely do if I were in his shoes.

Why would you have to remind me?

Because that will be my purpose: to create unforgettable stories for you, books worth revisiting, worlds where you can find refuge whenever you need it, no matter the reason. That’s how it’s been for me as I’ve written them.

I’ve published a few things in my country, and some people read them and gave them good reviews. Then came the silence. But silence for an author is rarely inactivity. You keep maturing ideas, rewriting scenes, and peeling back the layers that conceal the fossil, giving new life to the fragmented vessel that believes itself to be a seed. The result after these years is a multi-headed beast, so now I’m focusing on the task of cutting them off one by one, and the first attempt is to resurrect a short novel, a blend of gothic horror and science fiction, Intraterrestrial, originally published in 2017, which underwent its metamorphosis into the language of Bradbury, Tolkien, and Banville thanks to an American translator.

But I have several projects in the pipeline. Some, the older ones, are still genre-based, like the Codex Draconis saga, which blends high fantasy with chiaroscuro elements. Others, the more recent works, have escaped a specific category. Many ideas have been transformed into short stories. There’s also some nonfiction. My new ambition is, simply, to create literature. Here they are, not necessarily in the order in which I’ll finish or publish them:

Hell’s Circus.
The Dragon’s Granddaughter.
Chiliasm.
Phi.
Bone Wars.
Alpha and Omega.
Plaster Bodies.
Thy Kingdom Come.
Return to the Eternal.

At least three of those titles belong to series, whose sequels will also be released soon. But I won’t bore you with more projects I need to finish. If you’d like to see an example, I’ll close this presentation by letting three of my characters speak for me:

Selected quotes

Don’t be fooled by his age. Zarkon may be old, but unless he’s forgotten his knowledge, that only makes him more dangerous. It’s often said that the older a mage, the greater his wisdom. And Zarkon was considered the most skilled of his time when he was captured centuries ago. Even with my help, it won’t be enough, but a little help is better than none.

***
Rhod Astarnûn
The Dragon’s Granddaughter

The horsemen of the steppes mock my way of traveling and laugh when they recognize me. They call me the donkey priest. For centuries, more than they can count, they have ridden horses, even shooting arrows at them. Once I made the mistake—so they would learn a lesson and understand that humility is the way—of telling them that our Lord Jesus Christ also entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey and that there is no greater honor. Now it turns out that, in their language, behind my back or to my face, they call our Lord the god of donkeys. I know the term; I won’t repeat it here. Forgive them, my God, for they know not what they do.

***

Alopen
Chiliasm

What had we uncovered? What abomination had fallen into our hands? I didn’t dare, due to my allegiance to science, to propose a swift conjecture. Hermann, on the other hand, always a more open minded man, thought he had found the answer in old Nordic traditions, which he delved into with the same passion he had for each new exploration.

***
Franz Engels
Intraterrestrial