John Hood’s “Mountain Folk” Brings Fantasy and American History Together
Podcast: Download (Duration: 43:37 — 40.0MB)
In this episode 294, we visit with John Hood, author of “Mountain Folk,” the first book in a series of novels that combines elements of history, folklore, and epic fantasy to tell the story of America by bringing fantasy and history together.
In Mountain Folk, a rare fairy being named Goran ventures into the human world where he encounters George Washington, Daniel Boone, an improbably tall dwarf named Har, a beautiful water maiden named Dela, and a series of terrifying monsters from European, African, and Native American folklore. But when Goran receives orders to help crush the American Revolution, he must choose between duty to guild and family and a fierce loyalty to his human friends and the principles they hold dear.
The Winston-Salem Journal says “Mountain Folk combines frontier history with fantasy creatures in a fun and unexpected manner.”
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About the Author:
John Hood is a syndicated columnist, teacher, and foundation executive with a deep passion for both American history and speculative fiction.
The author of several critically acclaimed books of economic and political history, Hood has reported on governments from town councils to Congress and written for the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Military History, and dozens of other publications. A frequent television and radio commentator and winner of the 2016 book award from the North Carolina Society of Historians, he teaches public policy to Duke University graduate students and tap dancing to tweens and teens.
Hood received his BA in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his MA in liberal studies from UNC-Greensboro. He chairs the board of the NC Institute of Political Leadership, co-chairs the steering committee of the NC Leadership Forum, and serves on the boards of State Policy Network, North Carolina Public Radio (WUNC), the John Locke Foundation, the Student Free Press Association, the Martin Center for Academic Renewal, and the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media Foundation.
Additional Praise for the book:
“Fairies, elves, dwarves, water maidens, monsters, and more. Soldiers and heroes of the American Revolution. Founding Fathers of our country like Washington and Jefferson. Cherokee and Shawnee women and warriors. A minister turned soldier and politician who is unembarrassed to quote Scripture. Throw all these ingredients into a stew pot of fiction, turn up the burner, and you soon have bubbling on the stove John Hood’s Mountain Folk . . . I found it both entertaining and educational.”
— Jeff Minick, Smoky Mountain Living
“Beyond the epic fantasy itself, the best magic in Mountain Folk is the sorcery that will make early American history accessible to a wide swath of ages, tween to adult, who would otherwise eschew the subject. Not since John Jakes’ The American Bicentennial Series has the story of our nation’s founding been so engaging and approachable.”
—Tom Mayer, The Mountain Times
“A classic.”
— The Epoch Times
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