Read a good book or series lately? Got a new author on your radar? One author that you should add to your reading list and keep eye on for future works is Joab Stieglitz.
Stieglitz is an application consultant for a software company and he has worked as a software trainer, network engineer, project manager, and technical writer. He plays RPGs (role-playing games) and is a game master of horror, espionage, fantasy, and science fiction genres. His skills and interests translate to publishing. He has published a number of books, including the Utgarda Series of books (The Old Man’s Request, The Missing Medium, and The Other Realm), the ongoing Thule Trilogy (The Hunter in the Shadows and The Worlds I Know), and How to Be An Awesome Game Master.
The supernatural thriller Utgarda Series deserves attention for its compelling storytelling and plot, engaging dialogue, and fascinating characters, chief of this is the Russian anthropologist Anna Rykov, who is aided by Doctor Harry Lamb and Father Sean O’Malley. In The Old Man’s Request, the trio comes together to fulfill the last favor their dying friend asked of them before his death: to perform a strange ritual to destroy an evil entity or send it back to where it came from. In The Missing Medium, the trio had to deal with a missing medium, demons, cultists, and gangsters. Their adventure continues in The Other Realm, where Anna must travel to a different realm to save someone with a connection to the alternate world.
Joab Stieglitz continues Anna’s adventure into the supernatural with the ongoing Thule Trilogy. The Russian anthropologist contends with a shape-shifting alien to save her alter-dimensional sister in The Hunter in the Shadows,while in The Worlds I Know, Anna battles a German secret society to prevent a union of two worlds, Earth and Siashutara, but unfortunately, she becomes a prisoner of an evil theocracy.
Both the Utgarda Series and the Thule Trilogy deserve either a movie or a Netflix adaptation as both series prove to be a highly entertaining and engrossing read, truly satisfying one’s appetite for the otherworldly and supernatural. The novels channel Lovecraftian narrative with X-Files undertones, offers a great mix of character, suspense, excitement, and anticipation, and dazzles with wholesome characters.
What makes Joab Stieglitz’s Utgarda Series and Thule Trilogy tick? Let us consider the following:
Passion
It is clear that the author’s passion lies in playing RPGs, with focus on horror, espionage, fantasy, and science fiction – elements that the author has incorporated in his novels. It is obvious that Stieglitz did not shy away from investing time, money, and effort in his writing, which has become both his investment and passion-driven pursuit. The investment paid off in the form of published works.
The author’s passion for playing RPGs also manifests in the guidebook How to Be An Awesome Game Master. From entertaining, Stieglitz has proceeded to help others enjoy playing RPGs.
Creativity
Not every author thinks up stories surrounding the supernatural or paranormal, the multiverse, demons and monsters, magic, the occult, etc. It entails skills to find, develop and write stories pertaining to such elements. Stieglitz needs not look far and wonder; he just combines what comes to him naturally through his RPGs.
Obsession
With six books to date, it seems that Stieglitz has spent an extraordinary amount of time and effort to get things right. Right he did as both the Utgarda Series and the Thule Trilogy have proven to be fun and exhilarating at the turn of every page. It is a good thing for authors to get obsessive at every stage of their story writing and book writing processes. Every part of the story or stage of a book’s life deserves the utmost care if the narrative is to serve its purpose.
Perseverance
It is no mean feat to write two-book series. It is no mean feat to keep the readers entertained and anticipating more. It should be no secret that Stieglitz has plans to expand the Utgarda Series and the Thule Trilogy, and to keep these plans going, he has to maintain a routine, one that will help him church out a great story.
Alex Writes 