A young civilization is turning the corner into the future, but first they must face a terrible enemy from their deepest past.

 

Title: Tales of the Ocean City Series

Author: Christopher Kaufman

Pages: Battle in the Sky 48 pp. & Descent Into the Abyss 63 pp.

Genre: Classic Epic Fantasy

 

A young civilization is turning the corner into the future, but first they must face a terrible enemy from
their deepest past – THE VORM.

The main characters are a young man named Harl’ut and his lifelong companion Vispushin – who is a perIanth, a kind of telepathic pegasus. Join them on this epic adventure as they lead a group of young warriors into the heart of the Vorm Hive.

Book One: Battle In The Sky is the first of five books which comprise the opening series of this epic tale.
Here, Harl’ut and Vispushin and The Princess Bryn’lynn, engage in desperate battle over the southern plain with savage Vorm warriors. You will be uplifted by the passionate and thrilling conclusion of the first
installment of this fantasy adventure. 

In Book Two: Descent Into The Abyss, Harl’ut recovers from his harrowing adventure from Book One: Battle In The Sky. He walks through the streets of The Ocean City, visits the Sculpture Garden and his friend, Elá, the bard, and engages in exciting training games with warrior/mentor, Calanctus. Then the story takes you down the throat of the vast volcano, Pla’than’taa, once worshipped as a god, where Harl’ut enacts a deadly initiation ritual, confronts the barbaric past of his people and battles a terrifying monster. 

Pick up your copies at https://kaufmantales.com/. 

Here’s what readers are saying about Tales of the Ocean City series!

“A collage of vibrant images adorns the pages of Tales Of The Ocean City, treating readers to more than a simple fantasy narrative. Well-chosen colors and designs add emotive elements and offer thoughtful reflections of the unfolding
battle sequence, creating an intensely immersive experience. Matching the feel of the imagery, the text includes abundant use of descriptive, almost poetic prose, which adds vigor to the exciting storyline. I found the overall experience to be hypnotic, both in the book’s vivid presentation and its innovation. Mixing qualities from graphic novels, abstract art, classic fantasy, and creative fiction, Christopher Kaufman’s book is an imaginative adventure that is sure to engage your senses.” 

— David Korson for Readers’ Favorite

Book Excerpt

“Vispushin! Aloft! ” cried Harl’ut.

With a thrust of her wings, the white pegasus shot upwards through billowing clouds. Harl’ut stood with his arms held out, balancing on her back. They burst into vast heights, the realm of Kurl’wra, the morning sun, whose powerful beams illumined iridescent mist on his golden skin. Far below, the ocean roared and thundered.

Vispushin reached the pinnacle of her high arc.

“Now…” she thought to him.

The pegasus hovered and Harl’ut dove backward from her haunches. In a swan dive, he clove through tiers of frothing clouds. He used his chest and arms to glide in a spiral through the planet Tir’whol’s thick atmosphere. He reached the cool misty air just below the clouds, jack-knifed and straightened, and sliced right into the churning ocean currents.

Dark purples and greens suffused his eyes as he penetrated cold shadowy depths. He arched his
back, frog-kicked and drifted lazily up towards a ceiling of shimmering blue light.

He felt rough tickles on his skin as he passed through a multitude of bulbous purple sea stars. A powerful current buffeted him as he reached the water just below the surface.

“Here!” Vispushin’s voice shimmered in his mind like watery light. With a vigorous kick, Harl’ut vaulted through crashing waves and snagged the sharp hoof of his bond-mate.

“Aloft!” he cried again.

Blazing glare trails blinded him. He grasped the white-gold mesh which clothed Vispushin’s supple form and clambered onto her heaving plush back as she strove upwards.

Reaching the air above the clouds once again, she settled into a steady rhythm of flight towards Ocean City!

It was time, he thought, time to join fully in the city life, The Ocean City…

Harl’ut pictured clearly in his mind the city carved from great spires of rock at the belly of a massive volcanic mountain once worshipped as the god, Pla’than’taa!

Now a vibrant city teeming with life. A place of hope, dreams and vision, where a young civilization was turning the corner into the future. A future Harl’ut yearned to be a part of.

The piercing cry of a sea-eagle shattered his thoughts, a winged shadow passed across the sun at a great height.

Harl’ut leapt to his feet, cupped his hands to his mouth and issued his characteristic call…

“Keeyaaaa!”

The giant eagle paused in its flight and answered, then turned and flew off.

– Excerpted from Tales of the Ocean City: Book 1: Battle in the Sky by Christopher Kaufman, Three Dashes Publications, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

Guest Post By Christopher Kaufman

The Inspiration Behind Tales of the Ocean City

First, I would like to share that I am a creative artist of long standing. I have my ongoing classical epic fantasy series, Tales Of The Ocean City, music works for the classical concert stage and film, and ‘environmental works’ featuring live performance and soundscapes crafted from hundreds of natural sounds. I also have family audience-based theatrical works which, like Tales Of The Ocean City, are simultaneously books with colorful illustration where each page is a work of art, effulgent audio albums filled with cinematic/symphonic music, performance films and concert performance pieces. My readings performances of TOC feature live narration as the graphically illustrated pages stream on screen and the music pours through speakers.

I began writing fantasy stories with colorful illustrations when I was nine years old. Later, as a young student at The New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, I discovered music; there I played oboe and piano, sang bass solos in Handel’s Messiah and began composing. I continued my schooling in music all the way through a Doctorate in Music Composition (Cornell University) and followed that with leading a performing arts group titled CHIRON Performing Arts – through which I’ve presented the work of hundreds of artists of all disciplines. Later, I founded a series titled The Phantastic Theater – new music for people of all ages all at once, where I find creative ways to present new music and art and for which I’ve created and produced my theatrical pieces mentioned above.

All through the years of music school my stories never left me.  

I am the type of person that needs to dive into imaginative fantasy scenarios every night to get to sleep.  So, I finished my schooling phase with my music degrees and the vast event structure for Tales Of The Ocean City – through book eight, which I am completing now!

I started writing down these stories in the early 2000’s, but it was only when I initiated my home music ‘lab’ and began creating the text, music and narration at the same time that I found my voice as a storyteller. After two Audio Albums (TOC books 1-2), and then adding the element of the graphically illustrated pages filled with art and color, the style for these works was established.

Tales Of The Ocean City tells the tale of a young civilization turning the corner into the future. The city as a whole must do this by facing a terrible enemy from the deepest past, The Vorm – with whom they co-evolved in ages past on their ancestral isle. The main characters are young Harl’ut and his lifelong companion, Vispushin – who is a perianth (a kind of telepathic pegasus).  They are very close, like family. They speak to each other mind-to-mind.  Harl’ut too must face the past.  At the end of book two he undergoes an initiation adventure where he descends into the volcanic mountain, Pla’than’taa – from the belly of which The Ocean City was delved. There, he interacts with personifications of past god-like figures and battles a terrific monster. He then leads a cadre of young warriors into the Vorm Hive on a vital mission.

My work as a composer has informed my storytelling.  In musical harmony you have chords with great tension that resolve (cadence) into more consonant ones.  In TOC there are situations of conflict that resolve, such as the visceral battle scene of book one that ends with a heightened and inspiring resolution. Music has given me a strong sense of pacing. I know when to write short, direct sentences to move the action (of which there are tons) at a terrific pace, and when to take time and paint a glorious picture.

I believe in the transforming power of imagination. This is a theme that runs throughout all of my creative projects. I hope that the experience of my stories helps people see, hear and live with imagination more fully – this is the cure for all that ails us. 

I would like to acknowledge the writers that have informed my work and imaginative life and to whom I am eternally grateful; Tolkien, Lovecraft, McCaffrey, Dunsany, Lewis and my favorite,  Lloyd Alexander – who spoke about writing for adults for many years and enjoying it, yet, when he started writing for young people, the emotions became deeper and more powerful, not less so.

This may be why my Tales Of The Ocean City appeals, not only to YA audiences, but to Adult Fantasy Lovers as well.

Thanks for tagging along! Live with Imagination! 

See you in the places Beyond The Fields We Know, to paraphrase Dunsany.

Christopher Kaufman

My works are available at kaufmantales.com.

 

Sponsored By: