Guest Post (and a Giveaway!): Alyssa Roat & Castelon

Please join me in welcoming Alyssa Roat back to the blog today! She’s here to talk about her new YA Fantasy novel, Castelon and the legend on which the series is based!

CASTELON by Alyssa Roat
SERIES: The Wraithwood Trilogy #3
GENRE: Inspirational Young Adult Fantasy
PUBLISHER: Mountain Brook Ink
RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2023
PAGES: 468

Fifteen hundred years of Arthurian legend come to a head in the final installment of The Wraithwood Trilogy.

The sword of legend, ancient magic, and a dead man’s secrets—together they could save Brinnie’s world or end it forever.

Brinnie barely escaped Mordizan with her life. Battered and broken in body and soul, she knows she’s running out of time. And though she has discovered the identity of Mordred’s bane, no one knows where to find the legendary weapon.

To discover the truth, she and Marcus must journey to Castelon and seek the aid of the Council. However, their actions at Mordizan brand them as enemies and war criminals. Between Mordred’s armies engaged in full-scale war and the political machinations of the Council, Brinnie struggles to balance the battlefield and the courtroom while estates fall before Mordred’s wrath.

As magic ravages her own body, threatening her survival, the allure of ancient, forbidden power grows brighter. And only one man holds the knowledge of the weapon that could destroy Mordred once and for all—a man they buried in the gardens of Wraithwood.

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Other Books in This Series

What if I told you Arthurian legend was real?

by Alyssa Roat, author of Castelon

What if I told you Arthurian legend was real?

This may sound like the premise of a fantasy book (and it is—that’s what The Wraithwood Trilogy is based on) but in this case, I’m talking about real life.

No, there was no historic Camelot, and the concept of knights wouldn’t emerge for centuries to come. Disney’s The Sword in the Stone isn’t anywhere close to historically accurate for…well, any time period, really. And most Arthurian tales you’ve heard probably are completely fantastical, based on works written centuries after the fact (like the 15th-century Le Morte d’Arthur, a source text on the legend for many later adaptations, but a nightmare of blatant historical inaccuracy).

The medieval tales show Arthur romanticized into an ode to the fantasy of chivalry that bloomed in the 12th century, when the church began attempting to wrangle the wanton violence and destructive tendencies of the martial elite into something codified. (Don’t worry, heathens and peasants were still fair game for oppression and atrocities under the codes of chivalry.) Considering most warriors fought on foot at the time of Arthur, the concept of an elite cavalry of knights is anachronistic anyway.

But legends start somewhere. And in this case, I think the real thing is just as exciting as the stories.

No Camelot, no knights, no chivalry, certainly no jousting or plate armor—what’s left?

The fascinating world of 5th century post-Roman Britain.

Before the Romans arrived, early Celtic society was composed of loose tribes. In A.D 43, the invasion of Britain began when four Roman legions occupied the southern part of England. Most of England and Wales had been conquered by the 70s, beginning the process of Romanization. The main government was centered in Londinium, now London, where the vicarius, or emperor’s representative, had his palace, while provincial governors handled administration within their own provinces. Latin spread so that even the common people spoke the language. The Romanization continued until, by A.D. 300, Britain had roughly equal levels of public amenities, infrastructure, government, and cosmopolitan society as any Roman city.

But in the fourth century, Roman legions were called elsewhere in the empire, and the invasions began. In 367, Britain suffered a threefold invasion from the Picts, Saxons, and Irish. In 410, the Roman army effectively left Britain for good to defend a crumbling Rome, leaving Britain wide open to the invading Anglo-Saxons.

In this, the chaotic aftermath of the fall of Rome, we find a society in crisis. Aqueducts, roads, sewers, and fortresses fell into disrepair. History here enters a Dark Age, where our view of the time is essentially dark, with very few historical records.

And that’s where the tale of the historical Arthur, the Romano-British warrior leader defending Britain against Anglo-Saxon invaders, begins.

The Wraithwood Trilogy features a world predicated on the existence of this historical Arthur. Of course, I took many liberties—like adding magic. But part of the fun of writing this series was weaving together my (perhaps excessive) research about an obscure time period with what could have happened—if magic was real, and wizards really were living among us.

I hope readers enjoy this final installment in The Wraithwood Trilogy. They’ll learn shocking new secrets about Myrddin (the historical Merlin), Artorius, and even the blade Caledbwlch (hint hint wink wink). But whether you’re a history nerd or not, hang on tight—I think this book has the most twists and turns yet.

Alyssa Roat lives in the cornfields of Indiana, but she hopes to soon discover a portal to a fantasy world where she will run a bookshop for magical creatures. For now, she is a multi-published, award-winning author and has worked in a wide variety of roles within the publishing industry as an agent, editor, writer, and publicist. She has two black cats who allegedly have never been fed in their lives and occasionally help her write by walking across the keyboard. Her name is a pun, which means you can learn more about her at www.alyssawrote.com or on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook as @alyssawrote.

Other Featured Books by Alyssa Roat

Alyssa Roat is offering a print copy of each book in The Wraithwood Trilogy OR a $25 Amazon gift card to one of my readers! (US only for print copies. Ebooks available for winners outside the US. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.) This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

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What about you? What makes you want to read Castelon & the rest of The Wraithwood Trilogy by Alyssa Roat?