Navigational links to other pages in the Fool's Gold section:

Background

Buy It

Characters

Overview

Taste It

Fool’s Gold by Hank Quense is the retelling of the ancient myth of the Rhinegold with a unique twist. Quense’s version takes place in a dark future after society as we know it has been destroyed by hostilities, pestilence and contamination. This novella is filled with aliens, primeval supernatural beings, beautiful Norse goddess, out-of-date conquerors, scheming aristocracy, treachery, insatiability, incest, a mysterious gold hoard.

I found this story unique. Quense is a master at satire. However, the story does not always flow smoothly. I felt it lost focus in a few places. The descriptions are fantastic. The characters are forceful. Fans of Sci-Fi will love Fool’s Gold.

5 stars (out of 5)

Readers Favorite

I really enjoyed reading this story. It is one of those books, that has multiple characters who are all living their own lives that eventually they all intertwine together... It really has something for everyone, and makes for a quick little short story read. Well written, very enjoyable!

Christine from Good Reads

Hank Quense has a love of humour, tyrannical aliens and Wagnerian hoards. He has married the whole lot into his new novella, Fool's Gold.

Peadar O Guillin: Author of The Inferior

From The Fix: By Z. S. Adani

Fool’s Gold by Hank Quense is a novella that blends space opera, Cthulhu mythos, and Norse mythology with a satiric flavor.
I found Brunhilde, with her mortal desires, easy to identify with. Fool’s Gold is essentially Brunhilde’s story, although this only becomes evident at the end.
The themes of mortality and love explored here are not new, but there’s enough deviation from the tropes on which the novella is founded upon, along with the satiric elements, to make this piece fresh. I found Fool’s Gold to be an entertaining adventure.

Read the entire review here

Would Wagner have died laughing? Who but that master of satire, Hank Quense, would even think of turning Wagner's Ring opera into a comical space opera? Well, actually it all takes place on our planet, but some of the main characters are aliens. It's a continuous comedy of errors as each faction seeks power and all are working at cross-purposes. Through it all, Brunnhilde keeps up her personal quest for true love.What delicious fun!

Jan Clark: author of The Hall of Door series of YA novels

There are so many of the characters you can fall in love with and enjoy. Not to only mention the characters such as Fafner who has “criminal talents,” but also the flowing of the backgrounds the characters live in. I was thrilled when I could imagine all these characters in one of my favorite settings, Science Fiction. The pages will leave you wanting more. And reading this is what I suggest you do. You will fall madly in love with these characters, jump into their world, understand it and not want to put this book down; forgetting you have a book in your hand and imagining you are part of Quense’s world.

Reviewed by: Shells Walter, Sonar4 Publications