Help bring Key to the Past to life.
Your voice matters. I’m building a waitlist to prove to publishers that readers want this story. The more people who sign up, the stronger the case, and if the support is strong enough, I just might publish it directly for all of you.
A Note from the Author
Ever since I was nine years old, when The Lord of the Rings first graced our eyes on the big screen, I knew what I wanted to do. I grew up reading Harry Potter, utterly captured by the idea that whole worlds could be dreamed into being.
I remember asking: Wait… someone made this up? That’s the job I want.
Five years ago, I finally took that stand. As a new dad, working a full-time job, I realized that chasing my dream of storytelling was up to me, no one was going to hand it to me. I wasn’t raising money for an indie movie. I wanted to write an epic, with no boundaries.
So I sat down to write. And I wrote. Every day. 5 AM.
Before the kids wake, before the workday starts, I carve out that time. This story has been written in the quiet hours, out of love for this craft.
I love this. This is my passion. And now, you can help bring it to life.
By signing up, you’re not only helping prove to publishers that Key to the Past deserves to be told, you’re helping a dad, a dreamer, a storyteller who just wants this passion to become his life’s work.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Together, let’s unlock the past.
- J. Drake Rustand
Book Summary
KEY TO THE PAST: THE GATEKEEPER is an adult epic fantasy novel, complete at 197,139 words, and the first in a planned trilogy. It will appeal to readers who love the mythic sweep of The Lord of the Rings, the character-driven depth of A Song of Ice and Fire, and the redemptive heart of The Stormlight Archive.
Eldon has long believed the only way to survive his father’s death, a loss he blames himself for, is to feel nothing at all.
But on the night of the Blackening Moon, a celestial omen that stirs ancient forces, his past catches up to him. Under an eclipsed sky of fire and frost, Eldon discovers a forgotten artifact beneath a frozen sea. The moment he touches it, the world begins to awaken.
Across the land, long-dead empires rise and forgotten powers stir. A fanatical order known as the Aeternum hunts for one they call the Gatekeeper, a figure foretold to lead them to the Tree of Life and the immortality they crave.
They believe Eldon is that Gatekeeper.
Now marked by a ghostly hand and haunted by visions of his father’s death, Eldon is thrust into a battle he never sought. Powers stir within him, dangerous and untamed, bound to a truth he has long denied.
But he is not alone. Across a world unraveling, warriors scarred by the past, a blind child who wields lost magics, and creatures of legend rise to stand against the coming darkness. Together, they must find the Gate before the Aeternum does.
To prevail, Eldon must confront the grief he has buried and become the man he was meant to be. Some doors, once opened, cannot be closed. And the key to the past may be the only hope for the future.