Shadow of the Soul Blade is a thrilling, dark fantasy adventure that features an epic quest across Ashana, the perilous world full of foes at every turn. The story is sure to thrill fans of fantasy as it weaves an epic tale and a quest with engaging characters.
Jay Roland is an emerging fantasy writer from Flint, Michigan. He grew up enjoying the classic sci-fi and fantasy worlds of Star Wars and Star Trek, Labyrinth, Ladyhawke, Conan the Barbarian, and Red Sonja, among many others.
This instilled a lifelong love of fantasy and the fantastic. As a kid, he enjoyed Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. Throughout the years, he continued to cherish fantasy. Roland became an IT professional and continued to work in the field for over two decades, working his way up the CareTech Solutions corporate ladder. He always felt interested in and passionate about fantasy and writing.
In 2017, Roland was inspired by the Darkthorne Chronicles setting, an RPG world. Since this time, he began writing things down and creating a solid magic setting in the world of Ashana. The world of Ashana, has been created by the author for the Darkthorne chronicles RPG. The author has meticulously crafted the most minute details that make a world feel solid and real.
Roland began a project of creating a singular story set in this singular world. He worked to create Shadow of the SouldBlade, a thrilling adventure set in the Darkthorne setting, the first release from this author that expresses a labor of love carried out through several years. The fantastical tale transports readers to a world of magic, monsters, and battles.
Shadow of the Soul Blade is an epic tale full of magic, mystery, and adventure. The readers join four central characters: the feral warrior Bastian, the talented mage Xander, the thief and rogue Kumori, and the powerful swordsman Reinhardt. Their adventure finds them at odds with each, so they need to overcome their differences as they grapple with multiple perils and dangers.
These four allies must now become friends and face an evil that is trying to take over the whole world. They are thought to be enemies, and now the quest to restore their names also leads them against an ancient evil that threatens to overtake Ashana. Will they accomplish this quest? There is only one way to find out.
This Book is sure to thrill fans of dark fantasy and epic tales. The story takes its time to build the world and the characters properly, and it all feels very real. There are many exciting adventures that will keep readers turning the pages and wanting to see what happens next. The story is sure to interest anyone with a love for old-school fantasy and epic stories that take their time to explore the world.
You can find more about the author on his website at www.jayroland.net. Stay tuned for the next step in his author journey and more stories that involve fantastic adventures. You can connect with other readers through Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19276174.Jay_Roland.
Get the Book and enjoy the epic story over on Amazon at
We had the pleasure of interviewing the author. Here are excerpts from the interview.
Please introduce yourself and tell us about what it is that you do.
My name is Jay Roland. I’m a father, husband, and IT professional with 20 years of experience in the corporate IT industry. I’ve been playing fantasy games like Dungeons & Dragons and Magic the Gathering for nearly 30 years. In 2005 some friends and I decided to make a new world and a new game. While we finished the Darkthorne project, we weren’t able to launch it because of the barrier to entry at the time. Since then, I’ve continued to run DarkThorne with various friends and family over the years. Finally, in 2019, I decided I was going to weave my own new storyline into a trilogy, the first of which would be set in the Kingdom of Ashana. After two years of writing and six months of editing, finally, Shadow of the Soul Blade was released in May of 2023.
Please tell us about your Book.
This epic dark adventure brings together four unlikely allies turned friends as they find themselves thrust into the middle of an evil beings plot to take over the world of Ashana. To restore their names and recover their freedom, they must overcome this ancient evil, or they may find they have no lives worth returning to.
Please tell us about your journey.
After publishing my Book, My focus has been on how to invite as many adventurers as I can to go on this journey with me. I currently have a 4.8 rating on Amazon. I’ve won UK talk radio’s Book of the Month for July and August, and I’ve received Readers Favorites 5-star seal for receiving three five-star reviews from their panel of professional reviewers.
What are the strategies that helped you become successful in your journey?
What has helped me become the most successful in my journey is being willing to go on the journey for the sake of the journey itself, not whatever’s at the other side. It’s possible that I’m just chasing rainbows, but what I’ve found along the way is even more precious than the pot of gold that’s supposed to be at the end.
Any message for our readers
To anybody who would be willing to go on this journey with me, and venture alongside these epic heroes, while they attempt to thwart the evil forces trying to overtake Ashana, you have my deepest heartfelt love and appreciation.
Thank you so much, Jay, for giving us your precious time! We wish you all the best for your journey ahead!