The Lost Empire Reading Guide

The Lost Empire Series Reading Guide

By Cody Williams

 

Dear Writers Café friends,

 

            The idea of doing the medieval Lost Empire Series first occurred to me years ago, as I was heavily involved in playing the game Social Empires on Facebook. I know, it’s strange where some ideas come from. The first story “The Twister” was first written back in 2010 on my brother’s laptop. The laptop crashed and the story was gone forever.

            About a year ago after getting heavily involved in J. R. R. Tolkien’s novels and Stephen King’s The Dark Tower Series, the idea once again popped in my head. I rewrote the entire first story from memory and added a few little details and the rest was history.

            I didn’t really know what to think about the series until the publication of the fourth installment, “The Flea Market”. That’s when this thing really began to take shape and I really enjoyed writing it.

            The original plan for the series was to do 13 installments and that would be it. This is no longer the plan. The 9^th and 10^th stories are underway and will soon be published with “James Meets The Man In Black” being the 10^th. This will not be the last one. Just the end of a season if you will.

            I decided to put together this reading guide for myself and for you so we can keep things straight in the story.

            After writing 10 of these I finally feel like I have a full grasp on these characters, parallel worlds, and storylines. Below is a list of Lost Empire stories and stories related to them. Under that is a brief explanation and point of origin when they entered the tale. Under that is a brief explanation of the different universes and worlds in the series.

            I hope this helps you guys as much as it has helped me. Buckle up! The quest for the Lost Empire continues very soon!

 

-Cody Williams

 

Lost Empire Stories

“The Lost Empire I: The Twister”

“The Lost Empire II: The Man In Black”

“The Lost Empire III: The Road To Avon”

“The Lost Empire IV: The Flea Market”

“The Lost Empire V: The Shape Shifter”

“The Lost Empire VI: Prophecy”

“The Lost Empire VII: Lenora”

“The Lost Empire VIII: The Eye of the Tiger"

"The Lost Empire IX: The Cave"

"The Lost Empire X: The Ole Grady Farm"

"The Lost Empire XI: The Swamp People"

"The Lost Empire XII: James Meets The Man In Black"

"The Lost Empire XIII: The Secret Forest"

 

Lost Empire Related Stories

“The Rest Stop”

“The Happy Place”

“The Rabbit’s Foot” (w/ Joe Price)

“Wilma"

"The GPS"

 

Main Characters

·      James Thomas: Main Protagonist. From the Lost Empire of Dillon. Grouchy loner who doesn’t like much company. Nobleman for King Aaron of Dillon. Leader of the Quartet.

·      The Man In Black: Main Antagonist. Introduced in the second installment. Has many names (The Man In Black, The Shadow Man, Edward Carter, Eric Carter, EC to name a few) Used to be a Lowlander for Bloody Mary but was forced out never to return to Lowland. Wants to take Bloody Mary’s place as ruler of Lowland. Racks havoc everywhere he goes.

·      Walter Bing: Protagonist. Sent to help James reach his Lost Empire of Dillon. Gets visions. From a 1950s New York City where he left to assist James. Traveled to the parallel universe through a “thin spot” where realities cross over in the New York City Public Library by turning to page 555 in a J. R. R. Tolkien novel. Second Quartet member.

·      Lenora: Protagonist. Love interest of Walter Bing. Was rescued by James and Walter when the Lowlanders had her chained up. Sister to Wilma who was apparently captured by the Lowlanders. Member of the quartet.

·      Cain: Talking tiger that was rescued by James and his now Quartet. Latest member of the quartet.

Bachman: From 1950s New York City. Was believed to have been hanged for being a glower but was able to use his glowing power to replace himself with Walter’s father. Long time rival of Walter Bing. Joined the man in black but was banded and sacrificed to vampires. Now works alone as an insurance policy and a dealer for needed items.

 

Different Worlds

·      Earth: Common world that you and I live in

·      Middle Universe: A world that has many parallels to Earth but is a medieval universe. World that contains The Lost Empire of Dillon that James so desperately wants to return to.

·      Lowland: a stand-alone kingdom universe where Bloody Mary reigns with her henchmen, The Lowlanders. Lowland is the bridge between Earth and Middle universe. Bloody Mary wants to make Lowland the capitol and take over the other two universes.

Terms

·      Shape Shifter: A shape shifter is a being that can change into anything at will.

·      Glower: A glower is a being with the supernatural power to “glow” and find missing items or lost items.

·      Vampires: Supernatural beings that in Earth are traditional blood suckers. In Middle universe, however, they are more like werewolves and change into green hairy monsters that eat intestates.

·      Sheath: A device that holds a knight’s sword

·      Skinner: A supernatural being that has pasty white skin and inch long fingernails. They are usually bald and pointed ears and jagged pointy teeth. They skin there pray with long knife like finger nails and proceed to eat the skin strips. They drink the excess blood and then gut their prey for sport and then leave the remains to rot.

Author's Note

I listed the genre as nonsense because that may very well be what it is. You may like it or not like it and I may just have wasted my time by doing it, but I hope it helps. It sure has helped me. Thanks for reading! More Lost Empire Stories to come soon!

-CW