#SPFBO End of Month Update
The second month of the SPFBO has come to an end. As with the first month I chose a further six books at random to check during the course of September with the intention of reading at least 30% of each one. As the month got underway I posted about the books chosen and you can find out more information about them and their authors here and here. The aim of today’s post is to provide an update on my reading progress and also to decide which books have been chosen to stay in the contest after the second month. I can’t deny that this is difficult because I hate having to cut any books but, it’s the nature of the competition after all so my thoughts are below. For this particular batch of books I’m rolling one book forward.
The next five books that I will be cutting are as follows with a short review of my thoughts on each:
Crossfire by Andrea DomanskiI liked the concept of Crossfire and I thought the writing was very easy to get along with. It’s a coming of age tale involving some fascinating areas not least of which is the inclusion of Greek Gods and Amazons. The pace is fast and during the 35% that I read there was plenty going on. I have no doubt that Crossfire will appeal to a younger audience but for my particular reading taste and up to the point at which I stopped reading I think this was a case of ‘it’s me not you’. Crossfire feels YA to me which means I sometimes find myself having niggles and unanswered questions – however, that’s part of the catch 22 of only reading up to a certain point as clearly these things could be answered during the course of the book. However, that being said, this does seem to contain a lot of cliches, not just a coming of age tale but also a ‘chosen one’ storyline, the main character Mirissa is a bit too perfect and things just had a feeling of being too easily achieved which left me feeling a little bit ambivalent towards the characters. I think the characterisation suffered a little bit due to the fast pacing but it’s sometimes a difficult balance to strike and from what I’ve read so far the author was trying to get quite a lot across. I would rate this 3 of 5 stars.
Shadow of a Slave by Saffron Bryant
I have mixed feelings about Shadow of a Slave. It’s a well told story and in fact I enjoyed the writing well enough. The tale revolves around two twins, Ash and Rae. Technically speaking Ash and Rae shouldn’t exist. This is a world in which twins are not allowed to exist, they are destroyed at birth due to their unpredictability around magic and the subsequent threat that they pose to others As the story begins we watch the twins as they evade capture by the faceless monks. At the point I left off reading (34%) Ash and Rae were trying to stay alive after they were left homeless and without a guardian. One of the issues I had with this book was I felt like it was a very familiar premise and that I’d read something similar before – but I guess that happens sometimes when reading fantasy. The other issue is that I didn’t feel like I had enough time to get a feel for the world or become attached to the characters. Again, this could just be the limit to what I’ve read up to. I am curious about what happens next. I’d rate this mid way between 3 and 3.5 stars out of 5.
The Lost Sentinel by Suzanne Rogerson
The Lost Sentinel is set in the world of Kalaya. As the story begins we make the acquaintance of Tei as her world is suddenly turned upside down. Within fairly short succession she finds herself homeless and parentless and on route to a strange land in the mountains where her abilities will be tested by a bunch of elders who will determine her place within society. The world here is split. The people without magic fear those with it and consequently anybody who shows an affinity is exiled. The exiles live a peaceful life, almost idyllic. They are balanced with nature and their lives feel positive. Meanwhile the people without magic have become bitter. They blame all their woes on those with magic and look for other solutions that will rid them of this affliction. I liked this story, I think it has a good premise and is fairly well executed. The pacing is fast and I was intrigued. I read about 34%. I liked what I read of Lost Sentinel. I especially liked that the main character steps outside of the cliche that as a reader you’re expecting. I felt like the story progressed very quickly for the chapters I read but to an extent a little something got lost in the telling. The characterisation was a little thin and the story felt a little rushed due to the quick pace. I think the story might have benefitted from a little more time spent in the opening chapters to help build up more emotion about what was taking place. I would rate this as somewhere in the middle of 3 and 3.5 of 5 stars
Rebel’s Blade starts with an introduction to Sage Blackwell. Sage runs her father’s forge and keeps the business alive once he falls ill. Times in Aermia are changing. The king has been in mourning for a few years. Meanwhile the country is in decline, people are going missing and crime is on the rise. Rebellion is in the air. When Sage is made a strange offer to join the rebels she is more than intrigued. Tehl, heir to the throne, watches as his country spirals into decline. He, his brother and cousin desperately try to get to the heart of the rebellion. Basically Sage and Tehl are in opposite corners but I suspect that their lives are going to become entangled quite dramatically. Rebel’s Blade didn’t quite work out for me although that could simply be because it feels to be heading into the realm of romance which isn’t really my thing. I found it a little hard to picture the world in fact I was conflicted about it and didn’t really understand where the threat was coming from or why. Then again, I’ve only read 30% so you have to bear that in mind. I would rate this a 3 of 5 star read.
Savage Swords is a short story that draws inspiration from the Conan tales. To be honest I haven’t read the Conan stories and so I have no idea how this compares. This is only a fairly short story which I read completely to give it a fair shot. To be fair, short stories don’t usually work for me as I like something a bit more substantial. I was puzzled by this one, I can’t say it really worked for me. The story seems to begin in the middle of some form of exploration by a collection of warriors travelling through the forests. Gonan is a mighty warrior who scouts out the way forward. The group are continually attacked as they drive forward, in search of something that I’m not quite sure about and the story is one of trying to survive. For me, as a retelling, this felt like it lost an opportunity somehow to maybe bring a more uptodate version to play, particularly in terms of the dialogue and feel. This might work for others as a play on the original. I would rate this 2.5 stars out of 5
The book I will be rolling forward is:
- Dark Oak by Jacob Sannox. At the moment I’ve read around 42% of Dark Oak and I am interested in continuing the story further.
#SPFBO Guest Post: Finding Fairy Tales by A M Justice
22 September 2018
Filed under #SPFBO, Book Reviews
Tags: #SPFBO 2018, A Wizard's Forge, AM Justice, Rapunzel
Today, I’m really pleased to welcome to my blog the author of A Wizard’s Forge: Amanda Justice. Amanda has written a post about the inspiration for her book A Wizard’s Forge which will be one of my upcoming reads for the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off. A Wizard’s Forge is a deconstructed version of Rapunzel. If you know anything about my blog you’ll know I love fairytale retellings so excitement am I to read this post:
‘Sometimes inspiration is like a beacon, drawing the author toward her goal. Other times, the influence is a sleeper agent that infiltrates the subconscious and adds unexpected layers to the narrative. My SPFBO 2018 entry, A Wizard’s Forge, is a retelling of “Rapunzel,” but not necessarily one I set out to write.
Because we’re usually introduced to fairy tales as children, and we hear or read them over and over, they tend to embed themselves in our consciousness. They also frequently portray universal themes—fairy tales from different cultures all over the world often carry similar messages about compassion or justice. I think the universal nature of these stories is why bookstore shelves are loaded with fairy tale retellings. Western folk tale–inspired stories tend to dominate English-language fantasies, including modern-day classics such as Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted (“Cinderella”) and Fairest (“Snow White”) and Shannon Hale’s Books of Bayern (starting with Goose Girl) as well as the recent novels A Dance of Silver and Shadow (“The Twelve Dancing Princesses”; an SPFBO 2018 entry) by Melanie Cellier and Spinning Silver (“Rumpelstiltskin”) by Naomi Novik. But fairy tales turn up in other genres too. Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles (Cinder [“Cinderella”], Scarlett [“Little Red Riding Hood”], etc) are set in a high-tech, dystopian future and feature cyborgs as the protagonists. Jane Rosenberg Laforge’s Hawkman (“The Bearskin”) takes place in post-WWI England and is more magic realism than fantasy. Roxane Gay’s An Untamed State (“Rumpelstiltskin”), set in modern day Haiti, is straight contemporary fiction and doesn’t contain any magic at all.
“Rapunzel” nestled down in the bedrock of my psyche and from there bubbled up into the making of A Wizard’s Forge. The inspiring elements were melted and remixed in the idea cauldron, so the source material may not be as obvious as it is in other retellings. On the surface, A Wizard’s Forge is a science fantasy about a young woman’s quest for vengeance. The setting on a lost space colony is inspired by Anne McCaffrey’s Pern, and the fantasy creatures (i.e., aliens) are directly descended from 1950s sci fi films featuring giant insects (e.g., THEM!). The story deliberately subverts a lot of fantasy tropes, starting with a damsel in distress who saves herself, then tries to save a prince. In addition, Victoria, the heroine, might be a chosen one, and she’s given a special talisman before departing on a quest to defeat an evil high lord. Where the book departs from high fantasy is that the lord’s power is psychological, not magical. He holds Vic captive at the beginning of the story, and her desire to avenge herself is complicated by a case of Stockholm Syndrome. There’s also a long war, a clash between religion and atheism, those giant intelligent insects mentioned above, and a taste of wizardry, which in Vic’s world is a mysterious power that is usually lethal to those who try to wield it.
I know what you’re thinking: that doesn’t sound anything like Rapunzel!
But it is. Rapunzel involves a girl with very long hair who is held in isolation in a tower by a powerful, jealous person. A prince finds the tower, sneaks in, and he and the girl fall in love. Discovering them together, the enraged captor throws the prince out a window into a patch of nettles. Blinded, he wanders off into the wilderness. After shearing off the girl’s hair, the captor magically banishes her to another land. Eventually, the prince and girl find each other, and her joyful tears wash the nettles from his eyes, restoring his sight.
All of that is in A Wizard’s Forge:
- A powerful person is obsessed with Vic and keeps her locked up by herself in a tower.
- Vic has long hair that is central to her identity; her captor cuts it off.
- A harrowing event centers around the tower window.
- Vic’s sexual awakening has dire consequences for herself and others.
- A jealous rage provides an opportunity for escape.
- There’s a prince.
- Someone goes blind.
- There’s a separation and a reunion.
As Jo Niederhoff recently discussed on Fantasy Faction, fantasy and fairy tales share many common tropes and themes, such as the hero’s journey, hidden royalty, and magic, all of which turn up in A Wizard’s Forge as well. But some important differences between fairy tales and fantasy are worth noting. In his essay “Tree and Leaf,” J.R.R. Tolkien explained the idea of “secondary belief,” in which fantasy authors must construct their worlds in such a way that readers believe the story while they’re immersed in it, whereas fairy tale tellers don’t need to explain anything. Donald Haase, editor of the Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales, echoed this idea by saying belief is the main difference between fantasy and fairy tales. Fairy tales aren’t necessarily made to be believable, because the goal isn’t immersion but instruction. The fairy tale is like a didactic lecture or sermon, meant to impart wisdom or knowledge. A fantasy, however, is a philosophical discussion between author and reader in which the reader must accept the author’s premise to understand the author’s observations and message. Fairy tales teach; fantasies enlighten.
Whoa! Enlighten—that’s a rather highfalutin notion, isn’t it? I’d argue that the fantasy genre encompasses a wide range of fiction, from purely escapist, easy reading pulp to literary masterworks. Regardless of where a book falls on that spectrum, by simply positing societies and individuals that are different from us or approach problems differently, fantasies force readers to think about the world in new ways, opening the door to epiphanies about how our world works. That was certainly my goal when I wrote A Wizard’s Forge, and I think the elements from “Rapunzel” that infiltrated the story helped me achieve it.
For more information about Amanda and her book:
Website: www.amjusticeauthor.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AMJusticeWrites
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AMJusticeauthor/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6903962.A_M_Justice
Thank you Amanda for providing me with this great guest post. I’m really looking forward to picking your book up and wish you all the best with the SPFBO.
#SPFBO4 Interview with Andrew Lynch, author of Sanctuary’s Fiend
15 September 2018
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #SPFBO 2018, Andrew Lynch, Author Interview, Sanctuary's Fiend
Today I’m pleased to welcome to my blog author of Sanctuary’s Fiend, Andrew Lynch.
As you may be aware if you’re following the SPFBO competition or my updates I’ve recently cut my first three books (oh, how I hate to cut any books) and unfortunately Sanctuary’s Fiend was part of that first batch. But, I would like to stress that Sanctuary’s Fiend was an easy and entertaining read, I own that I’m not the target audience and, more than that, I don’t just see the SPFBO as a competition with one winner. I like to think that all the authors who enter the competition are winners, maybe not for the elusive No.1 spot, but in bringing awareness not only to their own books but to the huge self published market that’s out there. I’ve taken part in this competition since it began and my perception of self published books has definitely changed as a result. Hopefully that will be the same for other readers. So, all that aside please check out my interview with the lovely Mr Lynch:
Heya Lynn, thanks for being crazy enough to read 30 books! I know I couldn’t do it. Me? Well, I work for the government in one of those “kill you if I told you” kind of places, and I love easy to read, funny fantasy. I value a book that makes me laugh over a book that makes me cry any day of the week, and I think that’s really the best way to go into any of my books, and especially Sanctuary’s Fiend. I didn’t set out to change anyone’s view on life, I just wanted to make people laugh and enjoy being in the head of a teenage vampire for a while. It’s popcorn fiction!
What was the inspiration for Sanctuary’s Fiend, was it a lightbulb moment of clarity or more a small kernel of an idea that grew.
It was definitely a kernel that grew. I had just finished writing my sword and sorcery fantasy, Demi Heroes, and I wanted something lighter and easier, and when I was deciding what exactly that should be, I went back to my roots. I grew up on videogame fantasy and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Writing Sanctuary’s Fiend was just me exploring “what if buffy was a vampire and her best friend was a mute kid that lured sailors to their deaths?”.
Do you have an overall plan for the series? do you have an ending in mind and a set number of books or is this going to be more of an organic process that will grow?
Keeping with the Buffy vibe, I wanted to create a “monster of the week” feeling. Each book would be its own self contained novel, but there would also be an overarching plot pulling the faithful readers through. Again, I was aiming for popcorn reading. “Missed a few books in the series? No biggie, you’ll figure it out!”. That said, I did have the overarching plot roughly squared away in my head, and I personally have no interest in a permanently running series. Also, the finale of popcorn reading is the best part to write, and getting to write an entire book as a finale? Don’t want to miss out on that!
Would you say that your characters take over and run around in your head when you’re writing about them? I read a couple of authors recently who wrote small part characters only then to have those characters demand more time. How do you and your characters get along and are any of them proving to be more pushy than you expected?
Such a romantic notion! My characters tend to stay in line in the broad strokes of things. If they need to be dead, or grow a third arm in the final act of the book, they’ll make it happen. HOW they make it happen? Well, I love finding that part out along with the reader!
(What can I say – I have romantic notions :D)
Sanctuary’s Fiend is UF with a bunch of fantasy creatures living amongst regular human beings. You mention in the blurb that your young protagonist is starting to develop her own appetites – how easy do you think it will be as the story progresses to keep these two worlds separate.
Oh it won’t be possible at all! What fun would that be? No, no, no, we’re going to smash those two worlds together and the fallout will fundamentally change the landscape of Sanctuary. Of course, there are the supernatural secret police that have worked for centuries to stop exactly that from happening, so they may have a few things to say about my plans.
Why did you decide to go down the route of self publishing and is there any particular advice that you’d like to share with others?
I enjoy the freedom and the sense of accomplishment that comes with doing everything entirely by yourself. And, in all honesty, I needed to write a bad book (The one BEFORE Sanctuary’s Fiend!), make all the mistakes, and learn from them. Self publishing let me do that and still feel accomplished. With traditional publishing, I would have spent a year on a book, hit a stone wall, and given up. This way, I have a finished book that people can buy, and that in itself gave me what I needed to go back to the drawing board and write a GOOD book. Sanctuary’s Fiend is exactly that!
Advice for others: you have to be bad to be good.
Is there any particular aspect that you found difficult about writing a character of the opposite sex.
I actually find writing a female character much easier than writing a male one. When I’m writing a male, inevitably they are me. They will have my sense of humour, my taste in clothes etc. I struggle to deviate too far from that when writing a POV character. But when I’m writing a female POV? I can completely divorce what I’m writing from myself, and let the character truly be whoever that character is supposed to be. (What an interesting answer – I never really thought of it like that before :D)
Finally, on a lighter note:
If you could go back in time would you give yourself any particular advice?
Easy one! START NOW! I waited till I was 27 to start writing. I’m pretty sure If I’d started when I was 18, I’d be ruling the world right now. Instead I lost over a decade!
What happy memory would you use when casting a patronus charm and what would your patronus animal be?
Umm, are you implying that I’m not supposed to be walking through life in a miasma of apathy?
And I’d be a Puma, obviously!
Can you tell me your earliest childhood read that had an impact on you
This is actually a really easy question. It would have to be the series of books that I remember reading in middle school called Spooksville. It was like an off-brand Goosebumps by an author called Christopher Pike. I even graduated to his adult novels (they’d by YA these days, but YA didn’t exist then as a category). Without those, I doubt I’d be a reader at all!
Andrew – thanks so much for taking part in the interview and the competition and all the best for Sanctuary’s Fiend. I look forward to seeing what adventures Rel will be involved in next.
More information about Andrew’s book is below.
Rel is your average 16 year old high school student. She just wants to hang out with her friends, scrape by in class, and avoid the mean girls.
Her best friend is a siren, the girl who just joined the class is a ghost, and her adoptive parents are succubi that simply don’t understand her – the rest of Sanctuary doesn’t get any less weird!
As she tries to be normal and tell the boy she likes how she feels about him, she experiences a case of sudden onset vampirism.
Let’s see how that works out for Rel, shall we?
Goodread’s author page
Website: http://www.lynchwriting.com
#SPFBO 2018 Book Teaser: The Purple Haze by Andrew Einspruch
9 September 2018
Filed under #SPFBO, Book Reviews
Tags: #SPFBO 2018, Andrew Einspruch, Teaster, The Purple Haze
As part of the SPFBO (details here) I’ve invited all the authors from my batch to visit my blog. The Purple Haze by Andrew Einspruch is one of the books from my first batch of books and at the moment is still in the running. Below is an excerpt from the book (reproduced here with the author’s permission of course). Check out Chapter 1 and see if it whets your appetite. I think this has a wonderful cheeky sense of humour that I’m really enjoying so far:
***
Chapter One – THE PROPOSAL
“Please, please, marry my son,” implored the chipmunk.
Princess Eloise Hydra Gumball III, Future Ruler and Heir to the Western Lands and All That Really Matters, sat on the Listening Throne in the ornate Receiving Room of Castle de Brague and took two precise sips of her haggleberry tea, trying not to let her surprise show. She straightened, still holding the cup and saucer. “I… I… Truly, Seer Maybelle? Jerome?”
Seer Maybelle de Chipmunk’s delicate whiskers drooped, and Eloise worried she’d been too harsh. “Yes, Princess,” she said. “Jerome,”
“Goodness.” Eloise sipped again, buying a moment. “I haven’t really thought about marriage much, but if I may so, I rather thought I’d end up with a prince of some description. You know, someone more in the direction of a human, perhaps? But, please. I’m happy to hear you out.”
The chipmunk clasped her dainty paws in front of her and began an obviously well-rehearsed plea. “My son, Jerome Abernatheen de Chipmunk, is a good boy, as you well know. And believe me, I am aware of his flaws as only a mother can be.” She extended her claws to enumerate. “He’s forgetful. He’s awkward in small groups. He’s awkward in large groups. He’s prone to wafting off into the La La Realms. His dress sense veers unpredictably and inexplicably from one garish colour to another. He knows far, far too much about the musical plays of Lyndia Thrind. He has a penchant for babbling about nothing when stressed. Then there’s the whole unfortunate thing with jesters.”
Eloise nodded. Twice. “One cannot characterize that description as unfair, Seer Maybelle.”
“But Princess Eloise, I’ve searched the future with every tool I have, methods common and obscure, profound and profane, some passed down from my grandmothers a hundred generations removed. I have stared into the flame of the Burning Fungus, scanned dregs of haggleberry tea, and listened to the sounds of the Oracle Bellbirds. I’ve drawn the Twigs of Fate from the Bag of Kismet and sought wisdom in the gurgling mud of the Elder’s Swamp. It embarrasses me to tell you, because it took a week to get the stench out of my fur, but I’ve taken counsel with Gordon the Noisome, whose twitching earlobes have a strangely accurate predictive quality.”
Gordon the Noisome? Wow. Seer Maybelle was serious about this. Standing close enough to Gordon to see his earlobes twitch was a sacrifice no one should have to make.
“Everywhere I look Princess, I see that my son’s destiny is to be by your side. I’m, I’m…” Seer Maybelle’s voice slid down to a whisper. “I’m sorry, but I believe you must wed.”
Eloise took another sip of her tea, then set down the cup. The saucer clinked on the marble side table, which matched the marble walls of the Receiving Room. Eloise carefully moved the cup and saucer so they were in the exact middle of the table on a serviette whose edges were equidistant from the table’s. She placed the spoon on the saucer so it lined up with the serviette and the table. She would rather have put it across the top of the cup, but that would be taking it too far, given that Seer Maybelle was with her.
Until three years before, when Court began demanding so much of her time, Jerome had been her best friend. For a decade, they’d been inseparable, whether exploding whifflenut pies in Cookery and Cuisine class (which she enjoyed despite the mess), plotting paint dart campaigns in Weapons and Stratagems (also fun despite potential mess), ridiculing each other’s poetry in Arts and Elocution, or creating the most elaborate contraptions in Engineering and Constructions. Inseparable, until court life had done the inevitable – separated them.
Eloise understood Jerome like few did. He was a klutz. A clever klutz. A verbose klutz. A well-read, musically literate, historically curious klutz. But definitely a klutz. She loved him, klutziness and all, but like a brother and nothing else. Even ignoring matters of species, marrying him was out of the question. That’s just not what she felt for him.
The problem was Seer Maybelle de Chipmunk.
Seer de Chipmunk was the Western Lands’ visionary. There was never, ever any escaping what the matronly chipmunk foretold. But if Eloise had learned anything in Oracles and Insights (other than that Jerome showed not the slightest hint of divinatory talent, despite his family line), it was that there was always another interpretation, another angle.
Seer Maybelle shifted from foot to foot. It was difficult for her to stand like this for so long, but pride and Protocol demanded it. With a quiet rasp, she cleared her throat, preparing to sell, somehow, what was ridiculously unsellable. Her son, short, nervous, and – there was no escaping it – a chipmunk, was completely unsuited to the willowy, athletic, 16-year-old, dark-haired and darker-eyed human. Seer Maybelle opened her mouth, but Eloise held up a finger and stopped her.
“I have an idea.”
“Yes, Princess Eloise?”
“I shall name Jerome Abernatheen de Chipmunk my champion.”
Seer Maybelle stood gape-mouthed, then closed her eyes and scanned the Unseen. When she opened them again, she graced Princess Eloise with a radiant chipmunk smile. She nodded, amazed that such insight could come, once again, from someone so young.
Mrs de Chipmunk left the Receiving Room lighter of heart than she’d felt in weeks.
Eloise draped the Attention Cape over the back of the Listening Throne and wondered how in the name of Calaht she would ever convince her parents to allow her decision.
***
That was the first chapter of The Purple Haze. What do you make of the style?
#SPFBO 2018 : Batch 2, Books 1-3
As mentioned in my post here, I’ll be randomly choosing six books per month for the next five months, which I will then aim to check out at least the first 30% of each book during that month. I’ll post information about the first three at the start of the month and then about the remaining three during the mid way point with a conclusion around the end of the month about which books will be going forward or eliminated. The conclusion for my first month’s reading can be found here. Ultimately, the aim is to choose one book from the thirty I’ve been assigned – that chosen one will be my finalist.
The first three books in my second batch are:
1. Crossfire by Andrea Domanski
Birthdays suck!
For her eighteenth, Mirissa Colson receives a package from the mother who abandoned her over a decade ago. The family secret it reveals transforms her life from trying on prom dresses to battling an ancient race of demons. Thanks, Mom.
Her nineteenth brings forth an even more treacherous foe—one maniacal demi-god bent on ruling the world. So much for dating. Thankfully, the years of martial arts and sharpshooter training her ex-Navy SEAL dad put her through gives her the perfect skill-set to build upon.
When she’s called on to save the world—literally—Mirissa finds she has a lot more in her arsenal than just a mean roundhouse kick. Burgeoning powers she previously thought impossible, like controlling the elements and sensory expansion, give her some confidence. But when she is propelled into a world teeming with preternatural beings—all with powers of their own—she finds herself outmatched and outgunned.
CROSSFIRE is a coming of age tale that bridges the gap between the world we think we know, and the one that lies just beneath the surface
- Goodread’s author page
- Website: http://www.andreadomanski.com
- Twitter: @andrea_domanski
Humanity has finally defeated the Dark Lord, but Morrick fought on the wrong side. Though he was a slave, he is branded a traitor and must earn the trust of new lords in order to return to his family – if they are still alive…
Now that their common enemy is dead, the nobles begin to forget old loyalties, and Queen Cathryn’s realm looks set to plunge into war once more. But there are older and more terrible powers dwelling within the forest, and when they are awakened, Morrick will decide who lives or dies.
- Goodread’s author page
- Website: https://www.jacobsannox.com
- Twitter: @JacobSannox
3. Shadow of a Slave by Saffron Bryant
In the Known Kingdoms, Twins are killed at birth.
Twins harness energy in an unpredictable and dangerous way.
Twins almost destroyed the world.
Ash and Rae have always claimed that he is a year older to hide themselves from the ruthless Faceless Monks.
An order who’s apparent benevolent mission to keep the world safe, is a mask for nefarious intentions.
Energy can’t be created or destroyed… but it can be harnessed…
When Ash and Rae’s secret is discovered, Rae is taken by the monks. Ash must learn to harness his natural ability to manipulate the energy of his world to save her.
Two rules must always be observed. Two rules everyone knows.
Do not use energy from the living.
Do not reanimate the dead.
Ash will do anything to get Rae back…even breaking their sacred laws.
- Goodread’s author page
- Website: http://saffronbryant.com
- Twitter: @SaffronBryant
Books and travelling with Lynn 