MATT FORSYTH
CONCEPT ARTIST
Sword Master Dwarf is a illustrated fantasy adventure story for ages 8 years and over. It combines the best traditions of heroic fantasy and old kung fu movies, weaving a tale full of action and humour.
Grubble is the mightiest of the dwarves. A minor event sets him off on an epic quest where he meets a dragon and flies to the Wind Kings Castle. Here he faces the fearsome Four Swords Tornado and realises he must become a sword master to defeat him.
The story draws many parallels to the tests a child faces when taking up a new sport or activity and teaches them that you need to be bad at something before you can be good at it and that there are lessons to be learnt in defeat.
Follow the Adventures of Grubble as he battles fearsome foes, deals with dragons and trains at Master Oki's Monastary. The book is illustrated throughout, bringing a world of fantasy to life.
Preview pages of Sword Master Dwarf.
A bit of humour
The dragon sighed “Very well. I will fly you to the Wind King if you can answer a riddle.”
Grubble nodded. Dragons always asked riddles as a way of getting out of something they didn't want to do. Fortunately he had come prepared. He pulled out a large book from his back pack, sat down and turned to the first page.
“Is the answer “aardvark?” he said.
The dragon frowned. “I haven't asked the riddle yet. And no, its not aarvark.”
“How about abacus?”
“No” said the dragon and he peered at the book. “Is that a dictionary?”
“Yes. Is it abandon?”
“No.” said the dragon.”Are you going to ask me every word in there?”
“Only if the answer is...” and Grubble flipped to the last page “...zyzzyva, which is a tropical weevil would you believe.”
The dragon looked at Grubble for a long time. Finally Grubble asked “Is it zyzzyva?”
A bit of philosophy
“That reminds me of something a friend of mine once said. His name is Rhuhan. He is a great archer.”
“I have heard of him.” said Oki as he advanced a pawn. ”They say he can shoot the wings off a fly at 100 paces.”
Grubble smiled at that. “So it is said. Well he told me, every time he does target practice he always aims at the centre of the target. Sometimes he misses. Maybe the breeze is stronger than he thought. Maybe the distance is greater than he thought. Maybe the slope is steeper than he thought. If he does miss and for example, the arrow lands a little bit down and a little bit to the left of the centre then he knows where to aim with his next arrow. He will aim a little higher and a little to the right. He keeps doing this until his misses guide him to the centre.”
“Very good.” said Master Oki. “Learn from your defeats to guide you to victory.”
A bit of action
Suddenly a mighty wind roared across the clouds and gathered, twisting and snarling above the four swords. The swords were lifted, spinning in silver blurs as the wind wrapped around them. The air thickened and darkened becoming a huge whirlwind that loomed over the startled dwarf.
“Who approaches the castle of the Wind King?” boomed a voice that seemed to come from all directions at once.
Grubble shielded his eyes from the dust cloud that swirled about the whirlwind and stepped forward. “I am Grubble.” He said. “And I wish to speak to the Wind King.”
“I am called Four Swords Tornado!” Boomed the whirlwind. “Only if you defeat me in combat may you pass.”
“I only want to ask him about my hat.” said Grubble. “It wont take long.”
Lots of adventure
