The Pagalan Chronicles Book 1 Search for Morganuke’s Roots by Andrew Houlston

In this edition of Newsgram, Sam Youmans explores The Pagalan Chronicles: Book 1 – Search for Morganuke’s Roots with author Andrew Houlston. The conversation traces the journey of Morganuke—a young man driven by an inner sense that he comes from somewhere else—set against a vast, layered world shaped by hidden histories, fragile peace, and deep personal bonds. Blending epic fantasy with emotional insight, this episode looks at identity, destiny, and the quiet inner pull that guides us toward meaning, even in times of uncertainty.

Welcome to this edition of Newsgram:

Some people believe there are forces that seem to guide us toward our purpose here on earth. Call them spirit guides. Call them angels. Others believe we’re guided by pure instinct and shaped by our past experiences. Either way, it’s a feeling that exists just beneath conscious thought. It’s an instinct or a pull. A quiet sense that there’s something more we’re meant to do…or something more we’re meant to understand about why we’re here.

Now imagine growing up knowing deep down that you don’t belong where you are. Not because anyone treated you badly or because you were unloved but because something inside you keeps whispering: This isn’t where your story begins. Well, this is where our story begins. Because that feeling belongs to a young man named Morganuke; a man drawn into a dangerous quest with his friends to stop his world from crumbling into chaos while searching for the truth about where he came from.

Houlston: And that’s really where the main character, Morgan of Baldia, came from. So he’s a lost individual from Pagan, that lost ancient civilization. It started with the idea of having an individual such as Morgan Hook, who looked very different from those around him. He was adopted by a kindly couple on an island, found as a baby from his mentor, but he knew, he always knew that he was different and he had come from somewhere else. And that’s really the whole quest of the first book, is for Morgan Hook to find out where he came from.

Sam: That is Andrew Houlston—a former member of the Royal Air Force in England and author of The Pagalan Chronicles: Book 1 – Search for Morganuke’s Roots, the tale of a world built on hidden truths, ancient memory, and the quiet pull of destiny and when I tell you this story will tug at your emotions I may be understating it.

Houlston (Emotional pt.1) I’ve cried over scenes in my book whilst I was writing them. So it’s a mixture of sadness, tension, but there are some funny bits in it as well. 

Sam: At its heart, this is a story about discovery. The Pagalan Chronicles is a journey across memory, across generations and across truths that were never meant to surface. As Morganuke searches for answers about himself, the world around him begins to reveal just how fragile it really is. Old alliances strain. Long-standing peace begins to erode. And what once seemed like a familiar, medieval world slowly reveals something far more complex beneath the surface. Because Pagalan isn’t just one world, it’s many worlds.

Houlston (Layered World) it’s a layered world, so there are lots, it’s like an onion really, there are lots of sort of hidden layers that as you go through the story, oh really, as I was writing the first book, you know, these layers sort of form themselves.

Sam:  Pagalan is a place shaped by history, by conflict, and by choices made long before Morganuke was born. And along the way, he’s joined by characters who give this world its heart.

Houlston (Emotional pt.2) And there’s one character that I really love. My favorite character is a young woman called Calarel, but she’s a very complex character in that she’s awkward amongst others. She’s a fiery character. She’s got a heart of gold, but she does tend to fly off the handle on occasion. 

Sam:  One of Morganuke’s most important guides is his mentor, Freytar.

Houlston (Freytar) So he’s a sailor and he’s the chap that found Morgan as a baby. And he actually takes him off in his ship called the Aurora, sailing around this beautiful world of Pagalan, to find his roots. He has other friends as well, very close friends. So there is Calarel, as I mentioned, there’s Chantilly, Lady Chantilly. So she’s a very interesting character as well. Middle aged, but she’s a very, you know, sort of authoritarian, a leader. She’s a very good leader. 

Sam: Pagalan is a diverse world filled with movement, danger, and discovery. A place where every step forward uncovers not just new territory, but deeper mysteries waiting to be understood. There’s also romance…

Houlton (Melinor) So he’s got a love interest called Melinor. And there’s a bit of a love triangle, actually, in there. So it gets a bit tricky at times.

Sam:  And if you find yourself wanting more, that curiosity is already taken care of.

Houlston (Other Books) There are already two other books, so the first series consists of three books, all of which are complete and available on Amazon. And in fact, I’ve also written three other books, which is a prequel series to the first series, and that goes back 3,000 years. And it concentrates, focuses on this ancient civilisation that Morgan Hook is part of. So it’s covering his ancestors, covering a hundred generations before Morgan Hook. Yes, that’s right.

Sam:  We may not like uncertainty or upheaval, but we do like the feeling that there’s meaning beneath it all—and that’s the quiet promise at the heart of Morganuke’s journey.

Because beneath the battles and the hidden histories, this is really a story about listening to that inner nudge—the one that tells us there’s more to understand about who we are and how we fit into the world around us.

Morganuke doesn’t set out looking to change everything. He sets out looking for answers. And along the way, those answers begin to matter not just to him, but to everyone connected to his world.

That’s pretty much who life works in our world too. We don’t usually go searching for destiny, we go searching for clarity. And sometimes, that clarity has a way of changing things.

The Pagalan Chronicles: Book 1 – Search for Morganuke’s Roots is a story that reminds us that even when the path feels uncertain, it may still be leading us exactly where we need to go. It’s available now along with all the other books in the series online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or you can read the first ten pages and decide if it’s for you on Andrew’s website, ThePagalanChronicles.com . 

That will do it for this edition of news gram from webtalkradio.com. I’m Sam Youmans. Thanks for Listening.