Gary Dollinger has spent much of his life fascinated by worlds that don't actually exist. And, if we're being completely honest, he'd probably prefer to spend a little more time in some of them.
A lifelong fan of epic fantasy, Gary has read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings multiple times, watched the films more times than he can count, and suffers from a peculiar condition that makes it physically impossible to change the channel whenever one of them happens to be on television. He's also spent more hours than he'd care to admit wandering the virtual landscapes of Middle-earth as Jobesus, his longtime character in The Lord of the Rings Online.
But for Gary, the greatest appeal of fantasy has never been just the battles, the magic, or the occasional wizard with questionable time-management skills.
It's the worlds themselves.
Ancient kingdoms whose greatest days are long behind them. Ruined cities with histories nobody remembers. Forgotten civilizations, mysterious lands, and the feeling that every road leads somewhere with a story worth telling. He's always loved the idea that the adventure you're reading is just one small piece of a world that existed thousands of years before the first page.
When he's not mentally wandering through imaginary kingdoms, Gary works as an Executive CTO Advisor at West Monroe, focusing on technology leadership, private equity, and mergers and acquisitions. His days are spent helping businesses navigate complex technology challenges, which, depending on the day, can involve almost as many competing factions, unexpected plot twists, and seemingly impossible quests as a fantasy novel.
Fortunately, the dragons are mostly metaphorical.
The Chronicles of Eldaryth grew out of his desire to create a world with the depth, history, and sense of discovery that first drew him to epic fantasy. Not simply a story with a beginning and an end, but a living world where kingdoms rise and fall, characters make choices with lasting consequences, and history continues to unfold.
A world where the next chapter might answer a question, introduce three more, or reveal that something everyone believed for centuries was completely wrong.
His hope is that readers will come to see Eldaryth as more than a collection of stories. That they'll become invested in its people, curious about its mysteries, and occasionally find themselves wondering what might be happening in a distant kingdom they haven't visited in a while.
Because the best fantasy worlds aren't just places you read about.
They're places you wish you could visit.
And if Gary ever figures out how to make that possible, there's a good chance he'll be the first one through the door.