James Marino, The Keepers of Mercia

Monday, November 24th, 2014, 7 p.m.

Join us as we celebrate Canterbury-based author James Marino, with his first novel, The Keepers of Mercia.

The Keepers of Mercia is a literary, character-driven fantasy novel. Set in a medieval land, and punctuated with elements of ancient Britannical myth and magic, The Keepers of Mercia strays from commercial fantasy in that the “fantasy” elements serve as a background to the real-life burdens, particularly but through the sense of fear and loss the protagonist, Binette, must navigate as she comes to realize that the adults whom she trusted and admired are often deeply flawed.

While Binette awaits her father in the large trade village of Riversplit, she encounters an elder who confirms scant rumors being spread by merchants that a religious legion in the far west, known as the Jebedah, has been pressing villages into its ranks through sadistic means. Stirred by the perceived stature of the elder, and an unexplainable sense of burden, Binette leaves home and journeys west with the elder and his bodyguard, a spirited warrior who is as complex as she is fierce. By the time Binette fully understands how dangerous a threat the Jebedah pose to all of Mercia, and as she struggles to contemplate the savage destruction around her, she learns that her role in assuring the land’s future will be far larger than she could have possibly imagined. As she struggles to cope with that reality, the trust and admiration she has for the elder are tested by events, past and present, that reveal to Binette the tenuousness of the line that separates righteousness from corruption.

James I. Marino worked in the Marketing Department of a Fortune 500 financial company for eight years before attaining a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Fiction Writing from Southern New Hampshire University and joining the English Department there as an adjunct professor.  James has a deep appreciation of nature that can be seen in the well-crafted images that punctuate his writing.  He lives on Havenhill Farm in New Hampshire with his wife Megan, their son Max, and several furry friends.

Event date: 
Monday, November 24, 2014 - 7:00pm
Event address: 
45 S Main St
03301 Concord
us