Friday, February 24, 2017
SNEAK PEEK: Excerpt of Chapter 2 (Merit) from Soleri by Michael Johnston (Excerpt Intro by Michael Johnston)
Fantasy Book Critic is excited to welcome Michael Johnston
to our blog. Michael Johnston is the author of Soleri, which will be published June 13, 2017 by Tor. Today,
Michael has stopped by to introduce us to Soleri
and provide us with a sneak peek at Chapter 2 of the book.
Before we welcome Michael, let us provide you with a summary
of what Soleri is about!
Summary of Soleri:
Michael Johnston
brings you the first in a new epic fantasy series inspired by ancient Egyptian
history and King Lear.
The ruling family of the Soleri Empire has been in power longer than even the calendars that stretch back 2,826 years. Those records tell a history of conquest and domination by a people descended from gods, older than anything in the known world. No living person has seen them for centuries, yet their grip on their four subjugate kingdoms remains tighter than ever.
On the day of the annual eclipse, the Harkan king, Arko-Hark Wadi, sets off on a hunt and shirks his duty rather than bow to the emperor. Ren, his son and heir, is a prisoner in the capital, while his daughters struggle against their own chains. Merit, the eldest, has found a way to stand against imperial law and marry the man she desires, but needs her sister’s help, and Kepi has her own ideas.
Meanwhile, Sarra Amunet, Mother Priestess of the sun god’s cult, holds the keys to the end of an empire and a past betrayal that could shatter her family.
Detailed and historical, vast in scope and intricate in conception, Soleri bristles with primal magic and unexpected violence. It is a world of ancient and elaborate rites, of unseen power and kingdoms ravaged by war, where victory comes with a price, and every truth conceals a deeper secret.
The ruling family of the Soleri Empire has been in power longer than even the calendars that stretch back 2,826 years. Those records tell a history of conquest and domination by a people descended from gods, older than anything in the known world. No living person has seen them for centuries, yet their grip on their four subjugate kingdoms remains tighter than ever.
On the day of the annual eclipse, the Harkan king, Arko-Hark Wadi, sets off on a hunt and shirks his duty rather than bow to the emperor. Ren, his son and heir, is a prisoner in the capital, while his daughters struggle against their own chains. Merit, the eldest, has found a way to stand against imperial law and marry the man she desires, but needs her sister’s help, and Kepi has her own ideas.
Meanwhile, Sarra Amunet, Mother Priestess of the sun god’s cult, holds the keys to the end of an empire and a past betrayal that could shatter her family.
Detailed and historical, vast in scope and intricate in conception, Soleri bristles with primal magic and unexpected violence. It is a world of ancient and elaborate rites, of unseen power and kingdoms ravaged by war, where victory comes with a price, and every truth conceals a deeper secret.
Now, without further ado.... Please welcome Michael and
enjoy this sneak peek.
***************************************************************************
Introduction to the Merit chapter sample
This is the second chapter of Soleri, but it’s also a great introduction to the book. Soleri is a tapestry piece. It’s a story woven from a wide range of characters, all of them bound together by the blood of a single family. Here we meet two sisters. Both are daughters of the king of Harkana, one of the five lower kingdoms of the Soleri empire. The chapter is set around Merit, the king’s eldest daughter and the older of the two girls. As the chapter unfolds, we witness her ambitions, and how far she’ll go to achieve them. Beneath that, we also get a peek at the greater empire. We meet Merit on a very special day, one the empire calls the Devouring. It’s the highest and most holy of days in the empire of the Soleri and all of the lower kingdoms (Harkana is one of them) are forced to observe it, though each is allowed to do so in their own fashion. The Harkans have found a unique way to celebrate the high holiday. They do it with blood, which tells you most everything you need to know about this family and the kingdom they rule.
*************************************************************************
Chapter 2
Dear friends,” Merit Hark-Wadi said, projecting her voice across the stadium so that each person in the arena could hear her words, “people of Harkana, honored guests from Feren, on this last day of the feast, I wish each of you a good death.” The crowd applauded as she sat back down on her father’s chair. Adjusting her finely pleated dress, it occurred to her that she did not truly wish each of them a good a death. After all, it was the bloody deaths that made the crowds cheer loudest.
“May you honor Sola with your presence, and Harkana with your blood,” she said as she waved to each of the combatants, her eyes lingering on a tall and powerfully built Feren warrior in silver armor. Merit settled back into her chair. The first daughter of Harkana was a woman of regal bearing and a cool, calculating gaze. She was a decade past coming into her womanhood but still a grand beauty at six and twenty, with long black hair that fell in thick ebony waves down her back, bronze skin, and full pink lips. Dressed in a dyed-blue linen so new it sweated color on her elbows and ankles, giving her elegant limbs a shadowy, bruised look, she raised one silver-bangled arm and waited—for the sounds of the crowd to die down, for a silence that she deemed sufficiently respectful of her place and position.
“Take arms and let the contest begin,” Merit said.
The warriors saluted with a dip of their swords, first toward the visitors from the neighboring kingdom of Feren as a measure of respect, then the Harkans. Only a handful of them would survive the ring, and even fewer would be afforded a good death. But it was early in the games’ last day, and the combatants were still fresh, still convinced of their own strength and skill.
The contests were a annual tradition and had been around for years, for centuries as far as Merit knew. The Soleri calendar held three hundred and sixty-five days—twelve months of thirty days each, which left five remaining days unaccounted for. During these five days, the people of the empire observed the high festival, the Devouring of the Sun. These five days existed outside of normal time—no work was done, no animal was slaughtered, no field was plowed. Five days out of time—a period of rest, five days to drink and play as the people of the empire waited for the sun to turn black.
Every year the feasting paused on the fifth day and exactly at noon the moon eclipsed the sun and the sky turned dark. The Devouring. Throughout the kingdoms, the people of the empire gathered together as Mithra-Sol dimmed his light in acknowledgment of the emperor. In the blackthorn forests of Feren they buried torches in the red earth. In the Wyrre, the beggars banged iron pots and smashed clay vessels to ward off the devourer. In Rachis, the mountain lords lit blazing pyres that turned the coal-black sky orange. But in Harkana, where hatred of the empire ran strongest, the people observed the festival in a more personal manner. The Harkans could not work or sow, but they could play and so they played at war. If they must commemorate their own defeat, if they must toast in honor of the emperor, the Harkans would do so with blood.
Merit shaded her changeable blue-green eyes as she surveyed the field. Below her, the sound of iron striking wood shot through the arena. A Feren warrior cried out in pain as he fell to the arena’s dusty floor. Merit looked away with a grimace. Though it was her duty to order men to commit acts of violence, she didn’t much like watching it. She could stomach brutality as long as she didn’t have to look at it.
To Merit’s right, the queen’s seat was empty, as it had been for nearly a decade. Her father, the king, was absent. Her brother, Ren, the heir, was locked in the Priory of Tolemy, so it was left to Merit to represent the royal family and to sit on the king’s chair as the combatants clashed swords, a duty that by rights was her father’s, but Arko Hark-Wadi, king of Harkana, refused to display patronage to the empire. The king was hunting in the north as he did each year during the Devouring.
A thought occurred to Merit. Did the boys in Tolemy’s house observe the festival? Did they stand and watch the sun dim? Did Ren know that his people spent the day battling one another with spears and swords to remind the kingdom of its once-brave history? Her own father, the king, had never served in the Priory. His father had fought a war to keep his son safe at home. She wondered if that was why Arko always left Harwen for the Devouring. Is he too proud to salute the bravery of others?
“The Soleri emissary will take it as a sign of disrespect, Father,” she had told Arko, watching him ride out with his hunters. “Any slight will be noticed.”
But her father had dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “Fear not, Merit, I’ll raise a cup when the sky darkens and I’ll offer the emperor’s spies a drink if any are watching.” Then he had left, not even looking back at the place and the people he was abandoning. He did not even acknowledge the burden he had left her to bear. The queen’s duties came naturally to the king’s first daughter, but the king’s obligations were another matter. As much as she tried to fill his place, she was not his heir, and as much as she cajoled and flattered their allies, it was clear that no man save Arko could command their respect, and the king showed little interest in his duty. She longed for permanence, for recognition, for a power that was hers alone. Since her father would not grant her what she desired, she had decided she would take it for herself. She would find her own path to power and if that meant getting a little dirt on her hands, well, that wouldn’t bother her a bit.
Merit stood up once more, as her duty required, raising her hand to the crowd. “To arms,” Merit said as the second of the matches, the contest of kings, began. This next bout pitted highborn warriors from competing kingdoms against one another in a melee. In practice, the servants and soldiers of wellborn families often fought in the contest, but the rules of the game did allow for the participation of the highborn and even the king’s family. Such participation was rare but not unheard-of in the contests, and so on a day such as this one, a day when the wellborn citizens of both kingdoms stepped into the ring, the games held an added tension, a thrill that was palpable. Noble blood meant the possibility of noble death.
Finally something worth watching, she thought.
On the field, a fierce battle raged between the Harkans and their Feren adversaries. Her eye tracked the Feren warrior in silver who had caught her attention earlier. The swiftest and most nimble of the Harkan warriors, a slim figure in a royal set of black leathers, with the horns of Harkana emblazoned upon them in silver, one Merit knew well from many previous celebrations, one the crowd knew as well, advanced on the Feren in the silver, but was driven backward by a pack of Ferens. There were five of them against just the one Harkan, and the Ferens were taller and their swords were longer and heavier. The Harkan had every disadvantage, but the warrior in black was undaunted. The Ferens, with their heavy armor and heavy weapons, moved slowly, giving the Harkan time to lift a short sword from the sand, where someone had dropped it. With two blades, the Harkan held back the five Ferens, parrying blows with one arm while attacking with the other.
The crowd roared its approval, and even Merit clapped.
Moving with confidence, the warrior in black executed a deft maneuver, throwing the short sword like a dagger and striking one of the Ferens in the leg, bringing him to the ground while the Harkan slashed at another, knocking the sword from the man’s hand and taking a finger with it.
The remaining Ferens pressed their advantage. Two attacked from the front while the third came at the Harkan from behind, moving with exceptional speed, thrusting his sword at an exposed patch of the Harkan’s armor. The blade drew blood, and the warrior in black retreated to the edge of the field.
Merit edged closer to the lip of the platform. She hated when the fighting dragged on like this. The air smelled like blood and sinew and her stomach churned.
On the field below, the Ferens pressed the lone Harkan. Injured but still defiant, the warrior in black blocked a fierce blow from above while from the side a gauntleted fist pummeled the Harkan’s cheek. A second blow sent the Harkan stumbling. The Ferens pushed in for the kill.
Damn it all, Merit thought, this will ruin the games. Merit wondered if she should call an end to the match. It was within her right to end the contests, to declare a winner without further bloodshed. She raised a finger and the crowd’s gaze swung from the field to the platform where Merit stood. The people waited. A word would end the melee, but no sound issued from her lips—as there was no longer a need for her to act.
What’s he doing?
The highborn Feren in the silver armor had advanced across the ring and was attacking his own countrymen, clobbering one soldier with the pommel of his sword, sending the man crashing to the sand while taking the second man by the collar and tossing him outside the ring, ending his part in the contests. The last of the three Feren warriors, unwilling to raise his blade against the noble warrior in silver, dropped his weapon. The crowed roared as he scurried from the ring.
Clever man, thought Merit. He wants her all to himself.
Two combatants remained, one from each kingdom, the tall and powerful Feren in silver, the small and stealthy Harkan in black. Her head swung from one to the other, watching closely. These next few moments would be the critical ones, the moves that would decide the match.
The Harkan advanced, feet shuffling in the dirt, stirring gray clouds, sword gleaming in the light.
The crowd went silent.
The Harkan lunged with frightful speed, then faltered midstrike.
The crowd gasped.
Merit bit her lip.
Searching for an explanation for the Harkan’s failure, Merit noticed blood seeping from the black armor. Taking advantage of his opponent’s injury, the tall Feren struck at the wounded Harkan, disarming his opponent, putting his blade to the Harkan’s neck, ready for the kill.
“Halt!” ordered Merit. She swallowed an uneasy breath. “Show yourself!” she ordered the Harkan.
On the field, the Harkan angrily tore off her helm, revealing the face of a girl of ten and six years with close-cropped hair and brown eyes.
Harkana’s last warrior in the field was Kepi Hark-Wadi, second daughter of Arko, king of Harkana. Merit’s younger sister. I told her to stay out of the games. Merit had urged Kepi to sit alongside her on the platform, but her sister had little interest in Merit’s advice—little interest in anyone’s counsel save for her own.
The tall Feren took off his helm. His dark, wet hair was plastered to his head, his strong jaw lined with dark stubble. He was Dagrun Finner, the young king of the Ferens.
Below Merit, the crowd surged with anger at Kepi’s defeat.
Merit held her breath, waiting for Kepi to yield so that the match would be over, but her younger sister gave no sign, no indication that she would relent. Right, thought Merit. She isn’t going to make this easy for me.
The two combatants stood, unmoving, the Feren blade held at her sister’s throat, the crowd whispering, as soldiers from both sides began gathering at the edge of the field, ready for war. All eyes turned to Merit. But she remained impassive, unwilling to release her sister from her fate. Instead she caressed the folds of her blue dress as she watched Kepi shudder beneath the blade, watched her squirm while the crowd held its breath. Let Kepi worry.
When the moment had stretched for a sufficient time, Dagrun, the king of the Ferens, tired of holding his sword, let his blade nip her sister’s throat, drawing a sliver of blood.
Forcing Merit’s hand. Save her sister or send her to her death.
She had little choice.
Merit slashed the air with her hand, surrendering the match to Dagrun.
You won’t taste death today, Kepi.
After all, Merit had plans for her little sister.
3:09 AM | 
Posted by
Cindy |
Official Author Website
Order Harmony Black HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Long Way Down
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The White Gold Score
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Redemption Song
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Living End
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of A Plain-Dealing Villain
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Killing Floor Blues
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Winter's Reach
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Instruments Of Control
Read Fantasy Book Critic's Interview with Craig Schaefer
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Craig Schaefer was born in Chicago and wanted to be a writer since a very young age. His writing was inspired by Elmore Leonard, Richard Stark, Clive Barker & H. P. Lovecraft. After reaching his 40th birthday he decided to give in to his passion and since then has released twelve novels in the last three years. He currently lives in Joliet, Illinois and loves visiting museums and libraries for inspiration.
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: Harmony Black is much more than your average FBI special agent. In addition to being a practicing witch, she’s also an operative for Vigilant Lock, an off-the-books program created to battle occult threats—by any means necessary. Despite her dedication to fighting the monsters threatening society, Harmony has become deeply conflicted about her job. Her last investigation resulted in a pile of dead bodies, and she suspects the wrong people are being punished for it.
While on a much-needed vacation, Harmony gets pulled back into action. This time, though, she’s gone from solo work to being part of a team. Their target: the Bogeyman, a vicious and elusive figure…and the creature that destroyed Harmony’s childhood.
Surrounded by quirky, fascinating characters as dedicated to one another as they are to their new partner, Harmony must learn to trust her team—and a new romantic interest—on a dangerous and deadly mission that conjures up memories she’d much rather forget.
FORMAT/INFO: Harmony Black is 332 pages long divided over forty-five chapters with a chronologically titled prologue, and an afterword. Narration is in the first-person, via Harmony Black solely. This is the first volume of the Harmony Black series and is a spin-off to the Daniel Faust series.
February 1, 2016 marked the North American paperback and e-book publication of Harmony Black and it was published by 47 North (Amazon Publishing). Cover design is by Marc Cohen & David Drummond.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: This book is the first book in the Harmony Black series but not the first book where the character is featured in. Harmony was introduced in Redemption Song, the second volume of the Daniel Faust series and since then she has made her presence felt in all the sequels since then. After the events of book 4 (A Plain Dealing Villain), we learn that Harmony has accomplished what she set out to do and hence returns back to her mother's home on the east coast for a well deserved vacation.
The story then gives a look into her past from five years ago wherein she was recruited into an organization called Vigilant Lock. Now after the events of A Plain Dealing Villain, she gets pulled onto a special team designated with the call sign "Circus". The team consists of Jessie Temple, Dr. April Cassidy, & Kevin Finn. Harmony makes up the fourth wheel of the team and even though she's the newbie, she manages to fit in properly without upsetting the team dynamics. They are sent to a small town in Michigan called Talbot Cove wherein a few infants/toddlers have been kidnapped and the biggest quandary is that it seems to be the parents who are the culprits. The team however believes that a supernatural entity titled "the bogeyman" is the main cause behind the abductions.
The team will also discover that things are not as straight as they appear and while the bogeyman might be their ultimate target. The pathway to their target is laden with many complications and the author conveniently inserts a lot of plot twists that keep this story very, very intriguing. The best part about this book is how the author took a wider perspective of the world than what has been described in the Daniel Faust books. I also loved how the author has inserted several clever and crucial nods to its predecessor series. The author had previously spoken about this while he mentioned why he decided to write more about Harmony. I believe it was to provide a wider window to the world and show all that is encompassed within it.
This is very conveniently done via certain names being dropped and characters/situations being mentioned which tie into the Daniel Faust series but for those who haven't read the Daniel Faust series, it will not cause a disconnect with the story. The connections are there but are placed so smoothly that only ardent fans will catch them. Another aspect of this book which was very well done is the horror aspect of the main plotline. So far in the previous books, the author has shown glimpses of it via various scenes or plot twists. But in this book, the author truly outdoes himself by going a route that's rarely taken in urban fantasies. I loved how the author ended the story on a solid but somber note.
I also want to stress how much I enjoyed this horror aspect of the plot, even while it rankled me psychologically (being a new father & all). The climax is really something straight out of a Stephen King book and while reading it makes for a thrill ride but if you think about it deeply, you have to admire the author for thinking up such a deeply twisted villain and the location wherein the action occurs. I liked the psychological aspect that the author preys upon and the final twist is really a horrific one but I believe it points to a crucial aspect of the main mythology that the author is hinting at in the Daniel Faust series. This might not be pertinent to many readers but fans of the Daniel Faust series might pick up a thing or two especially after the revelations about the nature of the Paladin in The Castle Doctrine (book 6).
The action in this book isn't outrightly present but there are some good sequences here and there and the author does his best to make sure that the readers are lulled into a false calm but then pulls the rug out smoothly. There are some minor characters introduced that were only peripherally mentioned or hinted at previously in the Faust series, who get a solid role in this book. I certainly enjoyed finding out the connections that the author had inserted.
Lastly the only thing I would say which could considered a drawback for this book is the fact that the author introduces some intriguing characters however we truly don't get to know much about them. Harmony is in the central focus of the story as is her wont and we also get to learn a few minor but crucial details about Jessie Temple. I was expecting a little more details about the crew but the other two characters April and Kevin aren't really given that much focus and that felt odd. Given that this is the first book in the series, it is something I can overlook but it is a point worth mentioning as the story felt a tad incomplete.
CONCLUSION: The self-titled first volume of this series is a dark story that introduces us to a murky world wherein no one knows what is truly right but we have these characters striving to do what's right for the folks who can't fight back. I very much like Harmony's character when it was introduced and after reading this opening salvo, I'm glad that Craig Schaefer decided to write this spinoff series and we get to know more about this fascinating world and mythology that is showcased within from Harmony's perspective.
Order Harmony Black HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Long Way Down
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The White Gold Score
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Redemption Song
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Living End
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of A Plain-Dealing Villain
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Killing Floor Blues
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Winter's Reach
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Instruments Of Control
Read Fantasy Book Critic's Interview with Craig Schaefer
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Craig Schaefer was born in Chicago and wanted to be a writer since a very young age. His writing was inspired by Elmore Leonard, Richard Stark, Clive Barker & H. P. Lovecraft. After reaching his 40th birthday he decided to give in to his passion and since then has released twelve novels in the last three years. He currently lives in Joliet, Illinois and loves visiting museums and libraries for inspiration.
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: Harmony Black is much more than your average FBI special agent. In addition to being a practicing witch, she’s also an operative for Vigilant Lock, an off-the-books program created to battle occult threats—by any means necessary. Despite her dedication to fighting the monsters threatening society, Harmony has become deeply conflicted about her job. Her last investigation resulted in a pile of dead bodies, and she suspects the wrong people are being punished for it.
While on a much-needed vacation, Harmony gets pulled back into action. This time, though, she’s gone from solo work to being part of a team. Their target: the Bogeyman, a vicious and elusive figure…and the creature that destroyed Harmony’s childhood.
Surrounded by quirky, fascinating characters as dedicated to one another as they are to their new partner, Harmony must learn to trust her team—and a new romantic interest—on a dangerous and deadly mission that conjures up memories she’d much rather forget.
FORMAT/INFO: Harmony Black is 332 pages long divided over forty-five chapters with a chronologically titled prologue, and an afterword. Narration is in the first-person, via Harmony Black solely. This is the first volume of the Harmony Black series and is a spin-off to the Daniel Faust series.
February 1, 2016 marked the North American paperback and e-book publication of Harmony Black and it was published by 47 North (Amazon Publishing). Cover design is by Marc Cohen & David Drummond.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: This book is the first book in the Harmony Black series but not the first book where the character is featured in. Harmony was introduced in Redemption Song, the second volume of the Daniel Faust series and since then she has made her presence felt in all the sequels since then. After the events of book 4 (A Plain Dealing Villain), we learn that Harmony has accomplished what she set out to do and hence returns back to her mother's home on the east coast for a well deserved vacation.
The story then gives a look into her past from five years ago wherein she was recruited into an organization called Vigilant Lock. Now after the events of A Plain Dealing Villain, she gets pulled onto a special team designated with the call sign "Circus". The team consists of Jessie Temple, Dr. April Cassidy, & Kevin Finn. Harmony makes up the fourth wheel of the team and even though she's the newbie, she manages to fit in properly without upsetting the team dynamics. They are sent to a small town in Michigan called Talbot Cove wherein a few infants/toddlers have been kidnapped and the biggest quandary is that it seems to be the parents who are the culprits. The team however believes that a supernatural entity titled "the bogeyman" is the main cause behind the abductions.
The team will also discover that things are not as straight as they appear and while the bogeyman might be their ultimate target. The pathway to their target is laden with many complications and the author conveniently inserts a lot of plot twists that keep this story very, very intriguing. The best part about this book is how the author took a wider perspective of the world than what has been described in the Daniel Faust books. I also loved how the author has inserted several clever and crucial nods to its predecessor series. The author had previously spoken about this while he mentioned why he decided to write more about Harmony. I believe it was to provide a wider window to the world and show all that is encompassed within it.
This is very conveniently done via certain names being dropped and characters/situations being mentioned which tie into the Daniel Faust series but for those who haven't read the Daniel Faust series, it will not cause a disconnect with the story. The connections are there but are placed so smoothly that only ardent fans will catch them. Another aspect of this book which was very well done is the horror aspect of the main plotline. So far in the previous books, the author has shown glimpses of it via various scenes or plot twists. But in this book, the author truly outdoes himself by going a route that's rarely taken in urban fantasies. I loved how the author ended the story on a solid but somber note.
I also want to stress how much I enjoyed this horror aspect of the plot, even while it rankled me psychologically (being a new father & all). The climax is really something straight out of a Stephen King book and while reading it makes for a thrill ride but if you think about it deeply, you have to admire the author for thinking up such a deeply twisted villain and the location wherein the action occurs. I liked the psychological aspect that the author preys upon and the final twist is really a horrific one but I believe it points to a crucial aspect of the main mythology that the author is hinting at in the Daniel Faust series. This might not be pertinent to many readers but fans of the Daniel Faust series might pick up a thing or two especially after the revelations about the nature of the Paladin in The Castle Doctrine (book 6).
The action in this book isn't outrightly present but there are some good sequences here and there and the author does his best to make sure that the readers are lulled into a false calm but then pulls the rug out smoothly. There are some minor characters introduced that were only peripherally mentioned or hinted at previously in the Faust series, who get a solid role in this book. I certainly enjoyed finding out the connections that the author had inserted.
Lastly the only thing I would say which could considered a drawback for this book is the fact that the author introduces some intriguing characters however we truly don't get to know much about them. Harmony is in the central focus of the story as is her wont and we also get to learn a few minor but crucial details about Jessie Temple. I was expecting a little more details about the crew but the other two characters April and Kevin aren't really given that much focus and that felt odd. Given that this is the first book in the series, it is something I can overlook but it is a point worth mentioning as the story felt a tad incomplete.
CONCLUSION: The self-titled first volume of this series is a dark story that introduces us to a murky world wherein no one knows what is truly right but we have these characters striving to do what's right for the folks who can't fight back. I very much like Harmony's character when it was introduced and after reading this opening salvo, I'm glad that Craig Schaefer decided to write this spinoff series and we get to know more about this fascinating world and mythology that is showcased within from Harmony's perspective.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
GUEST BLOG: When Fantasy Meets Reality: Looking at the World Through 4 Dimensional Glasses by Erika Lewis (Game of Shadows)
Have you ever wanted to see the world differently? We all
would love to do that at some point. That is exactly what our guest blogger for
today explores – seeing the world through 4D glasses when fantasy meets
reality.
Fantasy Book Critic is excited to welcome Erika Lewis to
guest blog. Erika is celebrating the release of her debut novel, Game of
Shadows. Game of Shadows comes out February 28, 2017 and is published by Tor
Books.
Summary of Game of Shadows
Ethan Makkai thought
that seeing ghosts was the worst of his problems. Between his ethereal gift and
life with a single mother hell-bent on watching his every move, he feels
imprisoned. When Ethan sees a chance to escape, to leave the house by himself
for the first time in his life, he seizes it, unaware that this first taste of
freedom will cost him everything.
Ethan is thrown into a strange and eerie world, like nothing he's ever seen. He's assaulted by dive-bombing birds and rescued by a stranger who claims to be his bodyguard. His apartment is trashed, and his mother is kidnapped to a place Ethan never knew existed—a hidden continent called Tara.
Travelling to Tara in search of his mother, Ethan discovers that everything he knows about his life is a lie. His mother is royalty. His father is not dead. His destiny is likely to get him killed.
Confronted by a vicious sorcerer determined to destroy the Makkai family, Ethan must garner strength from his gift and embrace his destiny if he’s going to save his mother and all the people of Tara, including the beautiful girl he’s fallen for.
Ethan is thrown into a strange and eerie world, like nothing he's ever seen. He's assaulted by dive-bombing birds and rescued by a stranger who claims to be his bodyguard. His apartment is trashed, and his mother is kidnapped to a place Ethan never knew existed—a hidden continent called Tara.
Travelling to Tara in search of his mother, Ethan discovers that everything he knows about his life is a lie. His mother is royalty. His father is not dead. His destiny is likely to get him killed.
Confronted by a vicious sorcerer determined to destroy the Makkai family, Ethan must garner strength from his gift and embrace his destiny if he’s going to save his mother and all the people of Tara, including the beautiful girl he’s fallen for.
Please welcome Erika Lewis to our blog! A huge thank you to
Erika and Tor for arranging this blog stop!
******************************************************************
When Fantasy meets Reality: Looking at the World
through 4 Dimensional Glasses by Erika Lewis
Have you ever strolled
through a zoo, wondering how many of the sleeping animals were really
shape-shifting aliens just trying to get a little shuteye? Or leaped over a
gutter not wanting to fall into the drainage system underneath the city, but
you know the truth. It leads to an underground world where you’ll be dragged
into the service of a militant gremlin for his personal pleasure.
That’s what I like to call
looking at the world through 4-D glasses. My favorite stories bend the real
world into something different, magical and exciting, and dark and twisted.
C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with a doorway that
leads to a strange and wondrous land called Narnia. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter
universe where wizards and witches’ magic life intersects with the muggle
world on a daily basis. Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter novels where a battle
between pantheons, and their unique offspring, rages throughout history,
and into present day New Orleans (at least in the first book.) All brilliant
authors who imagined the streets outside their doorsteps with the same quirky
houses, and nosey neighbors, in the same towns with the traditional markets and
clothing stores, but they saw something else. They saw soul-sucking vampires
who roamed the streets at night, witches and warlocks living and working side
by side with humans who had no idea magic even exists, or a door inside a
wardrobe that would take you to an entirely different land.
I loved these books. Books
that force me to examine my own world in a new way, to wonder if the impossible
was possible in my own backyard. It all began with Roald Dahl’s Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory. My love for sugar led to a fixation on finding a way
to get to the chocolate factory through my own house. Let me preface this by
saying that I was seven. I told my friends who were sleeping over that the
downstairs bathroom’s shower was a secret elevator into the factory. Yeah. I
had a very active imagination. But, here’s the catch, it only worked at the
stroke of midnight. Months of trying, we could never manage to keep our eyes
open after eleven. I never got to bathe in the chocolate river, or drink soda
that let me float to the ceiling.
During my college years, I
spent a semester living in London, but traveled to Ireland almost every
weekend. With little money for flights, a group of friends and I would hop on a
train for Liverpool as soon as classes let out. We’d stop there for an hour
because they had COLD beer on tap! Don’t laugh. It was hard to come by in England
at that time. Then, we’d get the ferry from Liverpool to Dublin. I don’t
recommend this as a travel plan unless you have a very strong stomach. Rough
seas lead to intense seasickness, especially post beer. Flying is much easier.
Renting the cheapest car we
could find, we’d pile in, with my friend Faith and I usually in the backseat,
the peanut gallery they called us, and we’d give directions. But we never had a
map. When we came to a roundabout or a fork in the road, we’d just pick a
direction. Usually not the same one… thus the nickname.
One day, as fate took a
hand, we ended up in County Meath, at the Hill of Tara, the Celtic seat of
power. An hour following a loquacious guide with tales of high kings, magical
Druids, and a mother goddess, and I was hooked. I knew I wanted to bring them
in to the real world, into my world and yours, but how?
Game of Shadows. When Ethan Makkai, a kid
from Venice, California, whispered in my ear, I knew I had a sarcastically
funny, relentlessly tormented, reluctant hero. And who better to push Ethan
every step of the way than a strong-willed, kickass young woman from Tara with
magical powers she never knew she had until he comes into her life. Sounds like
a match made in the Otherworld, right? Ethan couldn’t agree less the first time
he meets her, since she’s gleefully attempting to remove his head.
But, this 4-D world starts
off in Los Angeles where Ethan lives with his mother. Not sure about where you
live, but L.A. is filled with loudly screeching, hungry crows. They straddle
the wires that run through the alleys behind houses, prepared to dive-bomb for
their lunch. But you see, in Ethan’s neighborhood, those crows are actually
spies waiting to dive-bomb him, once they find him alone. And they’re not alone
in spying on Ethan either.
Not unlike the elevator I
wanted to take to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, Ethan travels to Tara
through a portal that reminds me of my time on that rocking ferry to Ireland,
only much, much worse. And on the other side of that gateway, he finds a world
that both excites and terrifies him…
So, the next time you’re
walking down the same old boring street, bring a notebook. Take out your phone
and take some pictures. Is there something you never noticed before? Are you
afraid to touch it? Go on. Do it. Push the tiny grate open. I double-dog-dare
you…
ERIKA
LEWIS graduated from Vanderbilt University, and went on to
earn an Advanced Certificate in Creative Writing from Stony Brook University.
She has had a successful career in television production for the past fifteen
years, working with Sony (V.I.P, Strong Medicine), with
Fireworks Television (La Femme Nikita, Andromeda, Mutant
X, Strange Days at Blake Holsey High), with Fox (On Air with
Ryan Seacrest, Ambush Makeover) and with G4 (Attack of the
Show, X-Play). Erika is the author of The 49th Key,
currently running in Heavy Metal Magazine, with the trade out soon,
and the recently released Firebrand with Legendary
Comics. Game of Shadows is Erika’s debut novel. Find out more
at: http://www.erikalewis.com/
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