New to Ruin Mist? Pick a path and go to join the more than 5 million people worldwide who have discovered Ruin Mist.

Kids and teens start with The Kingdoms & The Elves of the Reaches 1 - 4 and then continue on to In the Service of Dragons 1 - 4. Next, read Breathe of Fire and Living Fire, the prequels.

Adults, read Keeper Martin's Tale, Kingdom Alliance, Fields of Honor and Mark of the Dragon. Next, read Dragons of the Hundred Worlds, the prequel to the Ruin Mist Chronicles.

For kids and teens, the adventures begin anew with The Dragon, The Wizard and The Great Door.

For adults, the adventures begin anew with Guardians of the Dragon Realms.

** For all, don't miss A Daughter of Kings, the Ruin Mist Graphic Novel! **

Meet Robert Stanek

Translated into 57 languages, Robert Stanek’s books have sold nearly 20 million copies worldwide. Though he’s always been a writer at heart, he never set out to be a writer. What he wanted to be, he didn’t know when he said goodbye to high school. What he wanted to do though, he knew that: he wanted to see the world—and so he did while serving his country in distant lands.

Robert Stanek wrote novels for more than ten years before he ever tried to get published. His big break came with a book about publishing—only a different sort of publishing than you may be thinking. The book was about web publishing and so his career in writing began. While he wrote those other books, he wrote many, many stories and books, and he collected them for a long time, until at his children’s urging he set out to get them published for others to enjoy.

Robert Stanek's most popular books are those set in the fantasy world of Ruin Mist. More than 5 million people have read the Ruin Mist books, they include:

Four 'Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches' books
Four 'In the Service of Dragons' books
Two Ruin Mist: Magic Lands novels
Four 'Ruin Mist Chronicles' novels
Two Dragons of the Hundred Worlds novels
Three Guardians of the Dragon Realms novels
Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ruin Mist
Keeper Martin's Guide to the Fantastic
Art of Ruin Mist: Heroes and Villains

When he’s not writing about the world of Ruin Mist or writing technical books, he writes picture books for children. Recently, four new Robert Stanek picture books were published. They include:

+ Pirates Stole My Booty (A Silly Pirates Picture Book)
+ Mamma Sea Turtle Lost Her Babies (A Silly Colors and Shapes Picture Book)
+ Twelve Dresses, One Star (A Silly Picture Book About Being Who You Are)
+ How Many Fish? (A Silly Counting Picture Book) (Silly Picture Books)

Buster, Lass, Cat, Barry, Dag and the other critters have always been his kids’ favorites. His son dressed up as Buster Bee for Halloween many times and would wear the costume to school for character day too. Fun for Robert, as the critters and their stories developed from his experiences with his kids and the world around them as they grew up. Parents and kids seem to really connect with the the stories and their lessons because of the characters too.

Robert developed a love for the classics as a child—classics like Treasure Island, The Swiss Family Robinson, Kidnapped, Robinson Crusoe, and The Three Musketeers. He spent so many hours reading Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, Herman Melville, Jack London, and Charles Dickens. He also loves the works of W. B. Yeats, J. R. R. Tolkien, Anne McCaffrey, Poe, H. G. Wells, L. M. Montgomery, and Frank Herbert.

Robert Stanek's Guide to Publishing & Being an Author:

Traveling the Writer's Road | Taking Your Work From Print to Film

Selling Rights to Your Books | Viewpoints on Rejection Letters

Understanding Bestseller Lists | Finding Success as a Writer

How Far Indies Have Come in so Few Years | Understanding Book Sales Data

Understanding Publishing Today | From 4th Grade Musings to Published Pro

Don't Quit Your Day Job Just Yet | Tours of Duty - Write What You Know

Using Twitter Effectively  | Now Appearing... Places Books Have Been

The Road To Success | Understanding Long-tail Publishing

How I Made This Crazy Thing Called Writing a 20-year Career

$200 Million Man in 2014: What It's Like to be Wildly Successful as an Author

Shopping, Dragons, Independents, Oh My!

My forefathers fought and bled Red, White and Blue in every war the USA has ever faced, from the French & Indian Wars and the Revolutionary War that shaped our nation to WWI and WWII that saved our world from tyrany to the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanastan and beyond. Although many of my ancestors never came home from the battlefield and many others took the battlefield home with them and were never the same again, I'm proud of this heritage of service and sacrifice, and I'm proud to have served my country in dark hours.  My service for our nation taught me a great deal about duty, sacrifice and honor. I gave my youth and my health to these wars and conflicts, my family suffered, and yet I would not trade these experiences, for they forged me into who I am today.  Because of my service, I will always know that when the darkest of hours arrives I will not hesitate. When asked, I answered. When called, I went. When death stared up from the void, I did not fear. I gave because it was my duty and because I felt it was the right thing to do.  My accomplishments during my military service earned me 29 commendations, including the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Humanitarian Service Medal. When I left the military, I was one of the most highly decorated in the command.  The base commander and my supervisors loved it when I put on my dress blues and participated in the various parades and celebrations on base, especially Memorial Day and the 4th of July. I've met royalty. A crowned prince, a princess of a city state, a queen. I've met and dined with presidents, including George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and a few generals, including Colin Powell and H. Norman Schwarzkopf. They've offered their hands to shake, given toasts in my honor for my duty.  Duty, honor and country mean a lot to me, and these themes resonate in my many books.   Another reason I talk openly about my combat service is to help those who, like me, have taken the battlefield home with them, to give them hope, to let them know that they can use their pain to accomplish many things. I survived a crashlanding, being shot, being stabbed and yet here I am. Physical wounds come with consequences, and yet the wounds of war are not always physical, and not all wounds are from combat. As wounded warriors, we suffer, but we need not suffer in silence.