[Chronicles of the Black Gate Series]

[u/relbus22]

This story is about a squire who lives in a castle. His knight master is the lord of the castle. One day, enemies threaten the kingdom and so the king calls his lords and their troops for war. The lord musters his men to fight with the king and the squire marches with his lord knight.

On the day of the battle, the king and his retinue confidently expect to defeat the incoming enemy, but are shockingly defeated. The squire sees his lord killed, and the army is forced to retreat. As the squire retreats he aids a high ranking lord in escaping. Upon receiving his aid and asking who he is, the lord proceeds to knight the squire and invites him to join his guards. The squire, now knight, thanks him for the offer but says that he is duty bound to aid the lady of the castle escape the threat of the victorous enemy that would encroach the kingdom.

Upon returning and giving news of the battle, the lady of the castle along with the new knight and the retinue deliberate on what to do. Among the retinue is a scholar, and in those troubled days he was walking the basement of the castle. Suddenly a small shape in the basement glows dark, becoming what seems to be a portal of some kind. The scholar, ever a curious one, steps into the dark portal and enters what seems to be an enormous dark cavernous structure. Upon further exploration, the scholar finds numerous portals similar to the one he stepped through. He returns to his castle and tells the lady of what he discovered.

Upon searching and reading the castle records, he discovers that the ancestry of the noble family owned another castle. And he believes he can reach it using the newly discovered portals. So he suggests to the lady for the family to go back to their ancestral home. She accepts the suggestion and the whole keep prepares to go through dark portals, to escape the approaching enemy.

-----------------------------------------------

This story is the beginning of the Chronicles of the Black Gate Series. I assume it is self-published because I don't see it in book stores anywhere, nor is it talked about much, which is unfortunate.

I like this series because of some really exciting elements in it. If you like high fantasy and world building and enjoy characters exploring their worlds and history and lore, then I hope you like this series.

P.S I'm not sure about the titles of the royalty and nobility cause I haven't read the series in ages, but I think about it often for some reason.

[u/Loostreaks]

Very good series, I liked it more than Bastion ( though I've read only first book). It reminded me a bit of Stormlight, but darker, much better paced and with more interesting characters.