Trust & Travel Collide in Ireland
While living in Ireland in 2000, Eugene author Anthony St. Clair spent a few days in the small town of Clifden. Now his travels combine with a fascinating cast of complex characters and an epic storyline in a new novella. Home Sweet Road is the second Rucksack Universe book.
“At its heart, Home Sweet Road is about trust,” says St. Clair. “It’s about learning to trust the right people, and what to do when you make a mistake and trust the wrong people. Above all, this is a story about learning to trust yourself.”
About the Book
As falls Ireland, so falls the world. In Home Sweet Road, an ordinary woman hides extraordinary secrets from two men who are not what they seem—but neither is she.
Aisling’s grandmother was the most famous Awen of Ireland, but Aisling never knew that until she returned home from her travels, said her good-byes over the old protector’s grave, and learned from Jake Connemara that she was now Awen. No one has yet tried to steal the three relics under her protection, which combined are said to give the possessor the power to control the world. But when two strange backpackers arrive in Clifden, Aisling’s life and the fate of world rest on one moment.
Tiran and Jay became friends the moment they started talking on the bus to Clifden, but when they meet Aisling, rivalry threatens that new friendship. Jake, bartender at The Salt and Crane, tells Aisling a long-lost, ancient, more powerful relic is rumored to have been stolen from The Blast Memorial—the same day Jay and Tiran were there.
The time of Aisling’s test has come. If she fails, Ireland falls. And if Ireland falls, one of these men will bring the world to a terrible fate.
“Anthony’s got an amazing sense of the epic,” says one fan. “Each of the stories in the Rucksack Universe keeps building on the groundwork that came before. There’s a lot of long play being worked out through the stories and I just can’t wait to see how it all weaves together and falls into place.”
The Rucksack Universe is the globetrotter’s exciting fantasy world of wit, adventure and beer. Fans call the series “buoyant with a unique humor, twist and focus on international travel,” and “perfect for fans of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.”
Available Now
Home Sweet Road is available worldwide as a trade paperback. E-book available exclusively through Amazon and will be released in all e-book formats and stores in May:
The next Rucksack Universe book, the novel Forever the Road, will be published in 2014. It builds on The Martini of Destiny and Home Sweet Road.
Stores & more available at the official Home Sweet Road webpage »
About Anthony St. Clair
Live the world! Globetrotter, homebrewer and writer Anthony St. Clair has walked with hairy coos in the Scottish Highlands, choked on seafood in Australia, and watched the full moon rise over Mt. Everest in Tibet. Anthony’s travels have also taken him around the sights and beers of Thailand, Japan, India, Canada, Ireland, the USA, Cambodia, China and Nepal. He and his wife live in Oregon and gave their son a passport for his first birthday. More at www.anthonystclair.com.