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Brian S. Leon is truly a jack of all trades and a master of none. He writes just to do something with all the useless degrees and skills he’s accumulated over the years. Most of them have no practical application in civilized society, anyway. His interests include mythology and fishing, in pursuit of which he has explored jungles and museums, oceans and seas all over the world.
His credentials include an undergraduate degree from the University of Miami and a master’s degree from San Diego State University, plus extensive postgraduate work in evolutionary biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he studied animals most people aren’t even aware exist and theories no one really cares about anyway.
Over his varied career, Brian’s articles have been published in academic journals and popular magazines that most normal people would never read. They can be found in The American Society of Primatologists, the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Proceedings of the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the like.
His more mainstream work came as an editor for Marlin and FlyFishing in Salt Waters magazines, where he published articles about fishing and fishing techniques around the world. He won a Charlie Award in 2004 from the Florida Magazine Association for Best Editorial, and several of his photographs have appeared on a number of magazine covers—almost an achievement of note, if they weren’t all fishing magazines.
Always a picky reader, Mr. Leon enjoys stories by classical masters like Homer and Jules Verne as well as modern writers like J.R.R. Tolkien, David Morrell and Jim Butcher. These books, in combination with an inordinate amount of free time, inspired him to come up with tales of his own.
Brian currently resides in San Diego, California.
Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite
Havoc Rising is a modern day fantasy novel by author Brian S. Leon. Building on the popular trope of Grecian gods existing in secret in the modern day, our hero of old is Steve, but his true name is Diomedes, famed warrior of the Trojan War and countless other battles. Ancient concepts of witchcraft worshippers and powerful magical items are re-used in the modern day United States, when mad Medea, wife of a certain fabled Argonaut, gets her hands on the Cup of Jamshid, an artifice used to foresee the future. Diomedes is a somewhat jaded warrior in a complex modern world, but he knows that he must retrieve the cup if the mortal race is to go on living peacefully.
San Diego and New York City take on dizzying new perspectives as Brian S. Leon populates them with not only Greek gods, but magical beings from a variety of intriguing and interconnecting myths. It took me a little while to come to terms with Steve as a central hero, who seems so out of place in the modern world, but I found his battle tactics to be pleasingly relevant. The action in general in the book is very well described and will appeal to readers who enjoy a good gritty fight, and the further you read into Diomedes’ story and his ancient past, the more cohesive the book becomes. Overall, I’d say Havoc Rising has a place on the reading list of every action and fantasy fan looking for a new twist on gods and warriors.
