The first book by
synopsis of reytan
The kingdom of Woros is ruled by the heartless, selfish, and ineffective King Sass. His closest advisor and confidante is The Knight, who is pompous, conceited, and even more ineffective than his blissfully ignorant master. Together, they run the already impoverished realm into the ground through their pointless and witless actions. In sharp contrast, Reytan, the king's court jester is astute, wise and perceptive, with a disturbingly dark and self-destructive personality. He knows that with the help of Aurelia, the much-feared sorceress, he can save the people of Woros by gaining enough influence over the king, but will he succeed before his own noxious demons destroy him from within? Who is his greatest enemy?
The kingdom of Woros is ruled by the heartless, selfish, and ineffective King Sass. His closest advisor and confidante is The Knight, who is pompous, conceited, and even more ineffective than his blissfully ignorant master. Together, they run the already impoverished realm into the ground through their pointless and witless actions. In sharp contrast, Reytan, the king's court jester is astute, wise and perceptive, with a disturbingly dark and self-destructive personality. He knows that with the help of Aurelia, the much-feared sorceress, he can save the people of Woros by gaining enough influence over the king, but will he succeed before his own noxious demons destroy him from within? Who is his greatest enemy?
EXTRACTS
Extract No 1:
Of ignoble birth he was conceived
Destined to serve the higher echelons,
Reytan they called him, and he agreed,
‘Twas a name he would depend on.
Many a year he spent at the court,
Watching the wheels fall off the king’s cart,
The Knight was his enemy, the man who could thwart
Every desire he had at his heart.
Extract No 3:
"Noblemen move the quill
That writes the history of life’s woes,
Then knock the ink well so it spills
Onto the pages in mid flow.
And I am nothing but soiled vermin
Gnawing on their wooden door,
While inside the screw is turning
To keep it locked forever more."
Extract No 2:
Reytan looked down at the floor
Where a single cockroach roamed,
It must have travelled from the store
When the wood got mixed with corn.
He watched it move out of the shadows
Right into the light of fires
Then crawl across the leather bellows,
Moving like a haunted friar.
Extract No 4:
Blithely drunken in its verdant haze,
A flurry of soft golden leaves drifts out from summer air
Through each autumn’s brand-new poignant phase
To then expose the spirit of the winter’s fair.
And every morning’s daybreak song
Breaks the silence of its grim and ancient night,
To wake the hyacinths that ere had been withdrawn
So they can seek the midday of Sun’s light.
About the author
Rob Bartlitz is a guitarist, pianist, singer, composer, lyricist, painter, cartoonist, amateur cosmologist and quantum physicist, unashamed grecophile, life-long foodie, unfit kung-fu enthusiast, reluctant thanatophile, self-proclaimed poet, and occasional writer, with an unnatural penchant for blueberries and pretzels, and an unhealthy dose of OCD too.
He was born in communist Poland, and after a brief yet life-changing stay in Nigeria, he eventually moved with his parents to England’s green and pleasant county of Kent, right on the edge of dirty, noisy, and cosmopolitan London, acclimatising as a young, angry, and clueless teenager. He considers himself an unsocial workaholic and insufferable perfectionist, unable to relax unless sitting on his favourite white piano or when in his beloved Greece. Ever since his visit to Africa, he detests the cold and instead adores the warmth of the Sun on his face, particularly when he can be near or in the sea. His passion for science and history ensures he often bores his friends and family with facts and stories no one wants to hear.
Reytan is his first book of poetic fiction, heavily based on his fascination with medieval life, beliefs, and customs, especially those that deal with the medieval obsession with mortality and the meaning of life’s purpose, a subject that’s always been close to Rob’s heart. Considering the most common piece of advice given to him by strangers and friends alike is to “keep it light”, Rob believes he is actually a highly optimistic and encouraging person and hopes that the dark and bleak story you’re about to read makes you re-evaluate your own attitude to life in a most positive and forward-thinking way. Our greatest battles are always fought within, but the rewards can be truly global.