New Novel Pits Individuality Against the Rules of Society

The story of a man who grows up as a member of a royal family, and must learn to protect and defend what he and his family have built, is chronicled in Alan R. Hall’s “The Naked Queen: A Tangential Arthurian Legend” (published by Xlibris). The novel is a tale of adventure and a thoroughly modern adaptation of medieval life that centers on the theme of individuality, and how and why the individual might abandon his rights and privileges if he allows society to dictate what is right or wrong or good or bad. To purchase and to know more about the book, interested parties may visit https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001198574.

In the novel, the Scandinavian realm of Tabithia is in turmoil. Since his ascension to the throne, King Ballizar has embarked on a horrid ritual that seems intent on decimating the maiden population. Ballizar conducts a despicable ritual that puts some poor maiden of the realm to a terrible test. It is not until the ritual is interrupted by the arrival of a woman named Syrenya that the ritual is finally broken. Syrenya becomes the King’s consort and queen of Tabithia. But on her wedding night, she learns a terrible secret — one that will take all her cunning and intelligence, and the span of a quarter century, to put right.

As a sub-plot to the theme, the subject of homosexuality is placed front-and-center in the book. An entire chapter is given over to a debate between the high priest and the queen, over whether one’s personal choice as regards a mate is a matter of individual choice, or one in which tradition and the rule of society should hold sway. Syrenya holds a belief that the priest, Benedic, is horrified by: she believes that, not only should an individual be allowed to choose his/her own mate; it should be no one’s business but the individual’s as to which sex that mate might be.

“It is a hard lesson to learn that our rights stop when they violate another’s. We are each of us given responsibilities to go along with our rights, and it is only in being as open to other viewpoints as we can, that we can ever hope to convince another person to be accepting of our viewpoint,” says Hall.

“The Naked Queen: A Tangential Arthurian Legend”
By Alan R. Hall
Hardcover | 6x9 in | 232 pages | ISBN 9781984545503
Softcover | 6x9 in | 232 pages | ISBN 9781984545497
E-Book | 232 pages | ISBN 9781984545480
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author
Alan R. Hall is a North Carolina columnist and theater critic who has plied his trade for over 30 years. He is also a published poet, essayist, and short story author as well as a theater enthusiast. Hall is a graduate of Augusta State University of Georgia, and studied oral interpretation for performance at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. “The Naked Queen” is his first full-length novel. Hall lived and worked in Chapel Hill from 1974 to 2008, where he worked closely with theater groups on campus, as well as traveling the state to see shows performed from the Flat Rock Playhouse near Hendersonville, his boyhood home, to theaters in Manteo and the Outer Banks. He has been married for over 40 years to Mary Patrick. Since semi-retirement, they make their home on a 20-acre animal preserve near Oxford, North Carolina.

Xlibris Publishing, an Author Solutions, LLC imprint, is a self-publishing services provider created in 1997 by authors, for authors. By focusing on the needs of creative writers and artists and adopting the latest print-on-demand publishing technology and strategies, we provide expert publishing services with direct and personal access to quality publication in hardcover, trade paperback, custom leather-bound and full-color formats. To date, Xlibris has helped to publish more than 60,000 titles. For more information, visit xlibris.com or call 1-888-795-4274 to receive a free publishing guide. Follow us @XlibrisPub on Twitter for the latest news.

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