“KING OF DREAMS ... Greg McLeod has created a wonderful fantasy world filled with amazing characters – both good and evil. His writing is clear and direct with sharp dialogue and tremendous action that keep the story moving along to the enormous clash of forces that will determine the outcome of the Seven Kingdoms. King of Dreams: A Vereldan Tale is a book that is hard to put down since it draws the reader directly into the story with its vivid accounts of battles, treachery and bravery. I Love It! Given the subtitle, I am hoping there is more to come!” - Melinda Hills
“KING OF DREAMS ... excels in the political and cultural fable with an unerring humanist sense of the dangerous will to power. ... McLeod has the imagination and skill to deliver a fully figured world with its own language and customs that readers can visualize. The astonishing texture of details makes each character feel alive and real. ... It takes a crafty writer to create a multi-faceted story that is also an easy read, but McLeod does just that. ... one of the rare books that manages to be compact with details while avoiding the mistake of being redundant.” - Lit Amri
“ KING OF DREAMS ... I can't say how much I love a fantastic fantasy novel and with King of Dreams ... author Greg McLeod has created a world of wonder and danger that I really enjoyed delving into. This is the kind of book that you don't just read; you fully fall into the world, you enjoy the characters and the depth of work that is being woven around you. ... In short, if you are a lover of fantasy books, this is a great one for you; you will enjoy every moment and every page.” - Kathryn Bennet
“KING OF DREAMS … a classic example of an epic fantasy novel. There are lots of characters, plenty of drama, swords, sorcery, betrayal, love, and unlikely heroes. … Adding to the suspense, many of the characters are mysterious and it’s not entirely clear who can and can’t be trusted. This is an excellent element to the novel. Just when the reader thinks he or she knows what’s going to happen, McLeod throws a curveball. In fact, there are several major turning points in the story and many of them are shocking, enhancing the overall experience. …This novel is impressive and it will keep many readers engaged and guessing. … [McLeod] doesn’t leave that many loose ends, but it will be interesting to keep an eye on this author to see if he has a plan for a sequel. Hopefully he does.” - T. B. Markinson
— Self-Publishing Review
“GODHEAD “Ancient forces are at work across the known world and its alternate dimensions that may lead to their complete destruction. From Diggers Row in the American West where a young man disappears right in front of his friend’s eyes, to an ancestral castle in Bavaria and further beyond to the land of Vereld, elements are coming together to fulfill a prophecy recorded by an autistic boy and memorized by his healer. In Godhead: Book I of the Aldariad (Volume 1), Greg McLeod brings pieces together like a chess master, setting them up on a giant playing field to battle for the right to sole existence across the universe. People from different worlds and times, as well as mysterious beings and hybrid creatures created by black sorcerers, follow what seem to be pre-destined paths to a show-down foretold ages earlier. Unfortunately, the world has lost its knowledge of these dark forces and no longer has the power it once did to stand up to the evil that has quietly consolidated its control over malevolent men and vile elements hidden within the earth so that no land is safe. It is only a question of time and if the three forces spoken of in the prophecy can come together to make a stand. Greg McLeod is a master storyteller who, in a great book, creates vivid images, well-developed characters and fantastic settings in which a plot, millennia in the making, can unfold. Across worlds and times, people have become complacent about goodness and are about to be confronted with pure evil that has had plenty of time and no shortage of devout followers to grow into an overwhelming force. Godhead: Book I of the Aldariad (Volume 1) brings the disparate groups together much as Tolkien does, overcoming obstacles and learning piece by piece what their role may be as the story unfolds. Action, emotion and deep contemplation add to the excitement of this wonderful tale.”” - Melinda Hills
“GODHEAD In Godhead: Book I of the Aldariad (Volume 1), Greg McLeod weaves a fantasy tale that merges with the real world in a magnificent, gripping saga. Seemingly disparate stories are begun, and then abruptly stop; only to be picked up again as the threads linking the two dimensions are drawn together. In Diggers Row, in the American West, in 2001, a boy named Billy disappears before his friend’s eyes while they’re out hunting. Then we are transported to Vereld, a world grown complacent over time with no apparent threat to make maintenance of the fortifications against enemy invaders seem a necessity. We meet Rather, a healer – although he terms himself more hedge wizard than mage – who is summoned to the house of a peasant couple to attend to their autistic boy. Something is terribly wrong. The boy, a savant, has covered the walls in his bedroom with prophetic sayings. Rather is able to translate and, having an eidetic memory, remember them. Then all hell breaks loose… The reader is swept into a loathsome maelstrom of black magic as a grim and awful dark god awakens and starts to get his grip on a world totally unprepared for the onslaught. There are many sorcerers willing to invest their powers in the creation of hybrid, monstrous creatures to fight in a battle that draws on black and white magic. As the story unfolds, we are introduced to three Redeemers – Anili, Jon and Orrin - whose stories merge so that they can fulfil their part of the prophecy and save humanity. The story moves from Billy’s disappearance - which elicits the interest of the US security forces, and other, more unscrupulous parties anxious to commercially exploit this new dimension’s resources – to events in Vereld that link the two dimensions, to the Nazi interest in Jon’s great-uncle’s castle that holds a great secret, and finally unites the three people who can stem the impending tide of destruction. I absolutely loved this book. It’s hard to find the words to encompass the scope of this bold and brilliant tapestry. Although there are strong hints of the influence of Tolkien, this story is uniquely the author’s own. Greg McLeod is a true ‘Wordlord’ in that he can describe a scene so beautifully and yet so succinctly that the reader imagines themselves transported there, be it a battle, a moment of quiet beauty or introspection, or the unfolding of a character’s development. I was captivated by this tale and although the abrupt changes in the story, as a new scenario is introduced, take some getting used to, the author deftly draws the reader back and reignites their attention. I loved the side characters who got equal attention in their portrayals as much as the main characters. The seven Unborn, misshapen and frightening to behold, but tender, compassionate and gentle, were wonderful. There is such a vast cast of characters that one is hard pressed to pick out particular names. They are all well developed and serve their purpose, from Baran the soldier tasked with protecting Anili, to Torgrim the wizard mentoring Jon, to the forest folk who saved Orrin from captivity. I also enjoyed the quotes that prefaced each chapter, in which a reader may glean more about coming events as well as information about how the magicality of Vereld works. Greg McLeod has created a compelling tale of good versus evil, with a unique and yet realistic fantasy world, populated with characters that rise to fulfil their destiny for the greater good, no matter what the cost. This story has everything for the fantasy fan, as well as the reader who enjoys a deep, well constructed plot, believable and appealing characters, and imaginative and credible world-building. ” - Fiona Ingram
“BANEHUNTER In a fast-paced thrill ride of a read by author Greg McLeod, Banehunter: A Vereldan Tale is a book you won't soon forget. Filled with adventure and excitement, as well as interesting characters, great world creation and a wonderful story line, readers will be hooked from page one, and will keep turning the pages until the very end. Follow the story of a kingdom infested with the diabolical Bane, monstrous creatures of alien origin that are more deadly than anything seen before in the world of Vereld. The Bane might take over the entire kingdom, and the inhabitants are likely to suffer a tragic outcome if they cannot successfully battle against the creatures. It seems the kingdom's only hope might lie in a disgraced ranger, Graeme Banehunter, or perhaps the daughter or son of the Lord of Longvale, Breanne and Arden. None of these potential heroes are without their own baggage, and none are certain of their skills in battling the Bane, but they may be the kingdom's only hope. I very much enjoyed Banehunter: A Vereldan Tale. Author Greg McLeod has provided his readers with a stellar new story and a look into his world of Vereld. Any reader who enjoys a great work of fantasy should absolutely pick up this book. I am pleased that it appears there will be more to come in the Vereldan series, and certainly hope that author Greg McLeod is already hard at work on the next installment. I, for one, will be anxiously waiting for it. ” - Chris Fischer