The Malakiad
by Gustavo Bondoni
A hilarious mythological misadventure!
"Humorous fantasy is a rare genre because it's hard to do well.
But Gustavo Bondoni manages to do just that."
~ Elana Gomel, author of "Little Sister"
For paperback, Kindle, and Kindle Unlimited
This book is appropriate for teenagers.
It is time to rejoin our hero.
And even though you don't know this hero (we promise, you don't), so begins the epic story The Malakiad, a tale so grand it takes many years, several continents, detailed mythologies, and a smattering of religions to tell. A tale so outlandish it hasn't been remembered because it wasn't deemed important to do so. And a tale so confusing its chronicler might regret having labored to recount it without find a more, um, prominent publisher to release it.
To wit, the Mykonean ambassador Mansour, fat, stupid, and asleep with his face in a soup bowl, has learned the legendary Golden Malak is real, and he's come to Elenia's palace, not just to sleep in the soup, but to embark on an expedition to find the great golden rod that contains the Elixir of Life. Elenia, a beautiful and powerful warrior princess, and Kopulus, the overwhelmingly great yet underwhelmingly immortalized Grecian hero, are game, and their adventure begins when they set off to Mount Olympus, taking an escaped slave, Leandrus, along with them.
Their journey will not be easy, marred by run-ins with a flying chariot and a confused guard dog, not to mention the pirates, camels, and various angry gods and said gods' worshipers. Even a pink sea serpent finds his way into the story. But how else are they supposed to get to Africa and find the god who stole the Malak from its rightful (and mythical) owner and claim it as their own?
Wait. Don't answer that.
Homer had the Iliad... Virgil had the Aenied... Anna had the Alexiad...
and now Bondoni has...
THE MALAKIAD
About the Author
Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer with over three hundred stories published in fifteen countries, in seven languages. He is a member of Codex and an Active Member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). He was the recipient of third place in the 2021 edition of the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award. In 2019, he was awarded second place in the Jim Baen Memorial Contest, and in 2018 he received a Judges Commendation (and second place) in the James White Award. His website is gustavobondoni.com.
Praise for Gustavo Bondoni's work
The Malakiad
"Do you like humor and fantasy? Of course, you do. But what is better than having the two combined? Humorous fantasy is a rare genre because it is hard to do well. But Gustavo Bondoni manages to do just that in The Malakiad, a fantasy novel that is simultaneously deeply steeped in Greek mythology and in contemporary sensibility; both tongue-in-cheek and absorbing; both adventurous and seriously funny. Bondoni is an amazingly versatile writer of science fiction and fantasy. His books range from space opera to historical fantasy; from creature features to Latin American mythological fables. In every genre, he displays his mastery of the form and ability to engage the reader. The Malakiad is a worthy addition to his growing list of fantastic tales."
~ Elana Gomel, author of "Little Sister" and "Black House"
"If you take a dash of Mark Twain, a large glug of Terry Pratchett, and add them to a base of Homer, then you'd have a rather disgusting and illegal cocktail. What you would get metaphorically is Gustavo Bondoni's The Malakiad. I believe this has the potential to do for the comedic parodical Greek epic what Rick Riordan did for the young adult pantheon novel. The advantage that Bondoni has is authenticity. Reading The Malakiad, one gets the notion that the author has more than a passing acquaintance with the concept of an ancient epic (before that word was abused to the point of needing to call someone in authority.) Parody, and its characters, cannot survive on the surface level - the hero and the fool lines are blurred in the main characters in all the best ways."
~ Carl R. Jennings, author of Just About Anyone and Mister Posted and the Brain Freeze Goddess
"The Malakiad is a clever, engaging, humorous delight. The members of the 'heroic' trio at the center of the tale are perfectly characterized to annoy the living daylights out of one another as they travel through ancient Greece and Africa in search of the fabled Golden Malak. And just when you think they might finally be on a path to success, some combination of their own ignorance, ineptitude, ancient gods, or mythic monsters manage to knock them off the metaphorical green and into a water hazard or sand trap. If you are in the mood for an epic quest with lots of laughs, The Malakiad is for you."
~ A.E. Kincaid, author of The Demon, The Hero, and the City of Seven
Previous work
"All in all, this book gets two thumbs up from me and I look forward to reading more from this author. This is a fast paced, fresh, fantastic work of science fiction."
~ Kathryn Bennett for Readers' Favorite
"This is a first-rate piece of writing. The author, whose first language is not English, does an excellent job with the characters and storytelling. It is very much worth the reader's time."
~ Paul Lappen, Amazon 4-star review