S.D. Reeves's Blog, page 3
December 23, 2022
Evercharm Stories: Readings, Reviews, & more!
Happy Holidays folks!
My youtube channel was always an extra thing for the folks of my newsletters. Then it started gaining subscribes and such, and now things are getting rather busy! I’ve posted quite a few updates, most recently the first ten chapters of George MacDonald’s Phantastes. But there are so many more, like in kit readings of 18th/19th century poems and stories.
People often ask why 18th century. The reason, is because it ties well into the time period set for the Evercharm Book Trilogy. That, and well my wife is a historian that focuses on that time period haha.
Check out the entire channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@evercharmsto...
If you subscribe mosy on over by the comments and let me know what type of things you’d really like to see!
The post Evercharm Stories: Readings, Reviews, & more! first appeared on S.D. Reeves Books.
November 15, 2022
Guest Post: Jane Shand, author of A Shimmer of Magic
Today I am proud to welcome author Jane Shand to our little humble corner of the multiverse! Jane just released her YA epic fantasy, A Shimmer of Magic. It’s the first in the trilogy, and she’s dropping by today to share with us a little glimpse behind the scenes. So buckle up, and take a little ride into down ye-olde writer’s lane!
Did I mention there is also a giveaway?!
Writing with children in the house is not easy, though now both mine are at school I get plenty done after they leave and before they come home. But holidays are more difficult. Usually, we do stuff in the morning and then when they slink away to use electronics after lunch, that’s my writing time! It can be hard after the holidays are over to get back into writing morning and afternoon. But I always aim to write at least 1200 new words a day, five days a week. I take weekends off but not really many holiday days. When the kids are at school, I do the writing in the morning then after lunch I will do any admin tasks, or I may have a video or article on writing or publishing to watch or read. Or I might try and write a short story. I have had a few shortlisted and two cosy crime stories published. My novels are YA Fantasy, but that’s the beauty of short stories, you can explore a different genre more easily. I also do research for the next project in the afternoons.
Although my books are set in fantasy, made-up worlds, I still want them to be believable. So I research the climate, the types of plants and animals that might live in that type of landscape. I will also research the culture and it all influences my writing.
My first published novel The Shard took me almost two years to write, edit and publish, but since then I have brought the time down. It takes about 4 to 4.5 months to write, then anything between two weeks and a month for editing (allowing a week for it to sit in a draw while I work on something else) – this time depends on whether the kids are on holiday or not! Then I send it for a professional edit, to ensure I am putting out the best quality I can, and that can take 5 to 6 weeks to come back. Then a week or so on making any changes. During the professional edit I also commission a cover. For A Shimmer of Magic, I chose MiblArt as I had heard of them in a Facebook writing group and seen a cover on a book I really liked. I try to have everything done before I put the book on pre-order, but if I have to, I will use a homemade cover and then upload the new one once it arrives – well before it releases!
A Shimmer of Magic
The Crystal Mages Trilogy Book 1
by Jane Shand
Genre: YA Epic Fantasy
Elin believes she will never belong
Her magic is too dangerous.
This is the first book in The Crystal Mages Trilogy, a young adult coming-of-age epic fantasy series.
Elin is pulled into a dangerous quest and her life is changed forever when she is found by Kamaria, a mage with her own issues, and a group of rangers. Kamaria is desperate to prove herself and Elin could be the key.
Elin struggles with her burgeoning friendships, learning to control her magic, and her feelings for the grey-eyed ranger, Kai. All while contending with renegade mages, assassins, and deadly creatures from legend. She also learns secrets from her past and the reason why her parents abandoned her as a baby.
She discovers that her dead parents have bequeathed her a heavy responsibility, as well as a key. A key that could release a dark mage.
Try this brand-new YA coming-of-age, epic fantasy series today!
Amazon * Apple * B&N * Google * Kobo * Books2Read * Bookbub * Goodreads
Jane Shand has always been an avid reader of fantasy and mystery and is an author of YA Fantasy. She got hooked on fantasy after reading ‘Lord of the Rings’ at a young age and was determined to write books full of magic and adventure.
She lives in Hampshire, England with her family and two cheeky cats who would love to help her write. She has published The Darkling Duology plus a prequel novella, a standalone book, and is now working on The Crystal Mages Trilogy which will be followed by a longer series set on the same continent.
Giveaway
$20 Amazon
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The post Guest Post: Jane Shand, author of A Shimmer of Magic first appeared on S.D. Reeves Books.
October 26, 2022
Book Spotlight: The Bone Master
Hey folks! I am happy to be able to introduce y’all to Debbie Iancu-Haddad’s new fantasy, The Bone Master! It’s the sequel in the Sands of Acthen Tan, and there is a little information about the collection below.
Take a look, this is also your chance take part in a contest courtesy of Maya over at the Silver Daggers!
The Bone Master
Book Two of The Sands of Achten Tan
by Debbie Iancu-Haddad
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Kaii Haku has lived his whole life in the shadowof his cruel father’s magic.
Rebelling against his father- the BoneMaster- by drinking and sleeping around was Kaii’s main occupation for years.
But when one of his best friends iskidnapped by pirates, Kaii embarks on a perilous rescue mission with two retired pleasure house workers,a shy teen bookworm, and a feisty girl from the pirate crew.
Thejourney will take Kaii and his allies far from Achten Tan, to a sea ruled by dangerous conditions and shipsthat travel on the backs of monsters.
For the first time in his life, he has thepower to make a difference, but if he wields his emerging bone magic to save the girl he loves, he riskslosing himself and becoming like his father – a man who tried to kill him.
Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads
Speechless in Achten Tan
Book 1 In The Sands of Achten Tan
Mila hasn’t spoken in the five years since she became an Onra, a first-levelEverfall witch. After failing the test to reclaim her voice and control her magic, her mentor sendseighteen-year-old Mila to Achten Tan–City of Dust–a dangerous desert town, built in the massive ribcageof an extinct leviathan.
To reclaim herpower, Mila must steal a magical staff capable of releasing it, from Bone Master Opu Haku’s sky-highlair.
Her onlyresources are the magical luminous elixirs of the cursed caverns where she grew up, and a band ofunlikely allies; a quirky inventor, a giant-ant rider, a healer, a librarian’s assistant, a Tar-tule rider, and thechief’s playboy son.
But in the City ofBones, enemies & friends are not who they seem, and trusting the wrong person can be deadly.
If Mila fails, shewill never speak again and her bones will be added to the desert.
This book includes a kick-ass tattooed witch who can’t speak, giant ants, first-personpresent-tense narration, magic, banter, lots of innuendoes, and cute boys kissing.
Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads
**Don’t miss the FREEprequels!!**
In the Heart of the Storm
A Prequel to the Bone Master
Get it FREE here!
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/1nq9a7j1gb
Pirate in the Desert
An Achten Tan short story
Get it FREE here!
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/nk6rrwcfo5
Debbie Iancu-Haddad is a Jewish Israeli author living in Meitar in the NegevDesert. Author of Speechless in Achten Tan a YA fantasy novel. And The Bone Master, forthcoming.
She spends her time taking part in Anthologies (seven to date with three more onthe way), writing VSS on Twitter, and buying way too much stuff online. Her goal is to promote bodypositive characters and include characters dealing with physical challenges. #ownvoices
For her day job, she gives lectures on humor, laughter yoga workshops, andchocolate workshops, and sees how often she can make her two teenagers roll their eyes.
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
$10 Amazon
The post Book Spotlight: The Bone Master first appeared on S.D. Reeves Books.
October 21, 2022
Review Request: Waymaker Louis Piechota
Preteen Kateb longs for adventure, or as much of one as a world that is only two-hundred miles across can offer. Luckily for him he runs into a girl named Ryn, and wouldn’t you know it, she is being chased by demons. Now he must either risk everything to aide his new friend or remain in his repressive little world. Choices.
One of the first mistakes many writers of this genre (Young Adult) make is to underestimate their readers. They temper the prose, dumb down the themes, and dial back on characterization to make their novel more accessible. The issue? Many teens have better reading habits than adults.
This may not be the foil for Louise Piechota’s Waymaker, but there are plenty of construction problems that lead me to believe some of it must have been by choice. Despite this, the novel boasts solid worldbuilding and enough of a plot to keep things moving. The characters themselves are interesting enough and might appeal to teens if they were fleshed out better.
Final verdict: A light read that errs on the side of being too light, what may interest younger children, but isn’t enough to keep a teen’s attention.
Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |
October 19, 2022
Short Snippet from A Song in the Dark
The fairy queen shields her face from the wind. Above their ledge is a peak, a marker of both land and memory. In younger days she would visit the tribes of men who wandered down into the pass to graze their livestock. That time has passed like the summer heat at the roof of the world.
“At least as Sofie I had attendants,” she says.
Titania’s shift in the fresh snow, left behind by a pre-emptive spurt of Autumn. Snow that smells of lands forgotten by man. Upon it and nestled in a blanket woven with more than just wool, but threads of power, her granddaughter snores.
“Step granddaughter.”
The Evercharm lays nearby, its light dull. Over the last few days the lyre has already become re-accustomed to the girl’s hand. Soon, there will be no disguising it from robber or worse.
Her eyes dart left, and right, then stare at the steam rising from Niena’s breath. The Udur are not close, but something else tugs at the queen’s strings. “Bloody hell. The moment she uses the lyre…”
Between this fear and another, the Teamor reach out to their agent and touch her mind.
You are thinking of the Artisan.
She shivers. The voices of these forsaken men grate like glass crunched by hobnailed boots.
“He’s more dangerous than that,” whispering. “He’s an Inspector of the Princeps Inspectorem, and very clever. Even if he acts the buffoon.”
There is wisdom in fear. For look, the hunters close in!
At once a gust stirs the snow at her feet, and lifts it high, and higher still. And where the flakes fall slowly to the ground once more, an image reveals itself. Three men. Three hunters. Titania recognizes the spot where they rest.
“We were nearly a week ahead of them,” she cries.
No more
The post Short Snippet from A Song in the Dark first appeared on S.D. Reeves Books.September 27, 2022
Readings and Re-Enactments
Back before Covid I used to do readings at local bookstores, and such and…
Actually, let me correct that. I used to think about doing readings. What I have actually done, and still do are readings on my youtube channel.
Most of them are older novels, but ones that tell an important story. Such as the George Macdonald’s Phantastes series, where we explore this and some of the other works that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien.
Some of them are in period kit. Something that you might not be aware of is that The Evercharm Series is set in 1815. It’s kind of a neat way of bringing you into the world that surrounds Christaan De Rein, Higgins, and our other wonderful (and cantankerous) characters.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Subscribe, and check back from time to time for book reviews, author spotlights, interviews, and much more!
The post Readings and Re-Enactments first appeared on S.D. Reeves Books.July 25, 2022
Review Request: Rone Isa by Robin Murarka
In the future the elite live in towering skyscrapers, literal monoliths to the analogy of the gap between the rich and poor of Robin Murarka’s furitistic Rone Isa. Despite this though, the education system is such that engineers can wax poetic with a fervor that gives this old reader hope for our literary future. That is one of the contrasts of Rone Isa, a story that follows the budding new artificial life of Enoya, as she learns about the world of man, guided and as much hindered by Dargaud and his indulgences.
Despite the brevity of my introduction, Robin Murarka’s story is a deep epic – a literary punch and counterpunch that will both challenge your reading comprehension and keep you on the edge of your seat. It is, however, as alluded, an endeavor. Literary Science Fiction doesn’t get as much play as it used to, and I can at times understand why. Rone Isa is no exception, laying out several obstacles to accessibility that would sink a less skilled author. From the intricate (and at times tedious) dialogue-a-vis between creation and creator, to the normal tropes and required background knowledge of the genre, it is not a quick read.
Yet, it is a worthy journey. I found one of the more interesting contrasts to be the obvious erudition of the main protagonists, against his often-crude actions and desires. It is a story that plays out with moving scenes of him reacting to music and his subsequent introspection, to vulgar and (content warning) graphic depictions of sex. This helps set to tone, or perhaps the rhythm of this piece what is somehow both surprising, and in the end predictable.
Rone Isa is an introspective character drama, despite the setting. Robin Murarka weaves complicated sub themes of human nature, against the backdrop of evolution in an imaginary future. In short, this is an excellent book that deserves the time and attention it demands.
Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |
May 18, 2022
Sneak Peek ofA Sagenhort’s tale
The snow fell thick in the dale that night. Covering trees, roofs, and thresholds alike, laying the fields down for winter’s rest. It was a not a night for old men to be traveling.
“Lords preserve me,” Alarik groans.
By Winter all but the lowlands trail had become impassable, and that one was fraught with its own dangers. So, any reasonable man would have stayed away. Not Alarik. Ice, underneath a thin layer of snow threatens the Sagenhort’s every step.
“Come you. Come Mule, quit digging in.”
At last Alarik seemed to be nearing the end of his journey. Fifty years of running and seeking – running from those who desire what he carries. Seeking, the next unlucky sod whose job would be to keep it from them. Luck at least was with him tonight. It had been peaceful and uneventful. Everywhere the old man looked blue smoke rose lazily from chimneys.
“I hope it is the end,” he said, shaking snow from his woolly cap. “Yes.” His voice perked. “I can feel it in my bones, this town will be the one.” Alarik replaced the hat and moved on.
It was the second hamlet in two weeks and the last such place that any sane man might call home. The old man, the Sagenhort stopped, his eyes briefly tracing the outline of a mountain that loomed above this town. He pursed his lips in thought. At least this side of the Greyfall mountains.
In a neighboring alley two cats fought. The old man turned his shoulder to this. Somewhere else nearby sheep moved around anxiously, their bells betraying them. Alarik can’t fight back the frown that wants to surface. The last time he was here he mistook those for the morning call to Temple.
“What was this place called?” Names, while important, always seemed to clutter together in his mind as of late.
“Grey blotches of buildings,” he mutters. “They all look the same. So, this must be…”
Gebeorg. An unimaginative town’s name, for a dreary existence below the Skaduhorn – below the greatest mountain in the known world.
And the pass that all men feared to cross.
The post Sneak Peek ofA Sagenhort’s tale first appeared on S.D. Reeves Books.April 14, 2022
Review Request: The Wayfarer by Zachary Kekac
Aeros is the Wayfarer, of that much he is certain. The rest of his life? Well, that is slipping away. He doesn’t know when the forgetting began, but the Shadow – a doppelganger only he can see – does. Only by following its nebulous compulsion to move on, can his memory supposedly be restored. What follows is an immersive literary fantasy that will eat all your time. So, send all complaints from your boss to author Zachary Kekac.
It is rare to come across a writer who understands the importance of wonder. And Kekac is instinctively able to balance the reach of a strong character against the crush of myth and legend, and in doing has created a world that is weighty, endearing. Real, and visceral. Indeed, strong (and at times moving) dialogue, exquisite prose, a riveting plotline, and characters whose presence and believability will follow you out of the book and into your imaginations and dreaming, further cement my opinion here.
There is one caveat: this was not a light read. For starters the writing style is wonderfully archaic and descriptive (though I believe, never to a fault). This is a treat if you love authors such as Tolkien or Martin. Readers who want a simpler affair may find it a slog. And since the characters are complex, and plotline information is rationed out at time subtly, you most definitely cannot skim. Perhaps somewhere in there lays this book’s one fault; maybe too many characters wax wise.
That is still a weak knock though, and indeed this sort of atmospheric novel is a difficult one for a reviewer like me to balance. The Wayfarer is complex, deep and subtle. And though it’s main protagonist won’t recall their time with you, dear reader, I am sure this gem of a book will leave you with fond memories.
Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK | Amazon US |
March 16, 2022
Excerpt from the upcoming sequel “A Song in the Dark.”
It is still night. Sethlan’s eyelids flicker open, and starlight reaches him in the canopy of the tree he hides within. The elf twists his shoulder, careful of the many small wounds that mark him everywhere. Below, the ground is covered in mist – but it is not empty. The Udur are again looking for him. Hunting. He strayed too far, into where they were prowling, and they will not give up so easily. Neither would he. Sethlan suppresses the desire to focus in on every crunch, every rustle of leaf. To look over one’s shoulder and espy the threat. The predators are nearby, but they have not found him. Yet.
His head swivels left, and he peers through the tangle of leaves and vines like an owl looking for prey. He waits, feeling the dread the Udur push ebb and flow. They must be passing beneath him. He does not move. His breathing is slight. Patience is something that comes naturally to a ten-thousand-year-old elf.
One. He slides along branch he’d been resting on, letting his arms support all his weight. Two. He sucks in his breath, lowering himself along the slick bark. Then stops. A long three follows, as the spindly demons move soundlessly below. Four.
Wind rattles the branches at the same time Sethlan’s feet hit the undergrowth with an impact lost in the gust. He whips his hair back and quickly scans left and right after seeing thorns barring his way forward. Five.
A high wail from behind makes him wince, but nothing more. The bey is soon joined by others, farther away. Six. Seven. His throat tightens, and there is a sudden chill upon the elf’s back. He again holds his breath, letting the wave of fear pass over. Nine.
Like a loosed arrow Sethlan cuts through the forest, with the silent presence of the Udur in pursuit. No vision tells him this. He does not risk a look back or stops. Fear rides his heels. His head swivels ever so slightly as he bounds over rocks, saplings, and into the thick of the forest. Only the goosebumps down his arms tell him they continue to dog him.
At an overgrown path he hesitates, sliding over a patch of wet leaves, and filling his nose with the scent of their crushing. Sethlan pivots his hips, and sinks to the ground, realizing now that his mad dash has taken him back. Further from the river. Deeper into the forest. And deeper into the lion’s den.
He slashes wild at the air between his left hip and the darkness with his obsidian knife. Striking nothing. They are – a tendril of mist solidifies around a sapling, just to his right. At once thick. Then in an instant, gone. Immaterial. He steps forward, teeth barred. Above the crescent moon smiles back at him through a thin patch of trees. Each inch is bought in painful, slow breaths, as Sethlan finds his way. The dread of the Udur is almost palatable and hits him from every side.
In a patch of darkness to his left he again catches the quick change from mist. Beaks, this time, erupt from an undulating mass, then disappear in a cloud. Setlhan resists shaking his head. They are pulling the trap closed.
The knife mirrors the inky blackness of the dark around. Still, he careful hides the blade in his hand. Deep. Blankets of moss hang from a nearby tree, and the sweet smell ruins his sense of direction. To deep. But the sounds of the now more distant river tickle his ears, and he tilts his head this way and that, as quick as a deer, and as slight as the breeze.
Something else. He stands up from his crouch. Voices? He cups his ear and listens. Outside of the night fowl. Away from the crickets, the song of frogs. And close. Awfully close. Are the lilting tongue of the manneleigs. They sing a low, melancholy dirge that walks along the roots and ruts of the old forest. Sethlan’s heart lurches when he realizes the noises are coming closer.
He scans the forest left, right. Then remembers the old path just behind. The elf spins that way, and in doing so sees several shapes writhe in the periphery. Trapped. The old path is there though, only a few feet away. But if the E’tah even come, it will be too late.
Sethlan swallows. A ripple flows along the nameless dark before him, and the obsidian blade is cool in his hand. Reassuring. While the handle of his sword, too hot. Sweaty. The wheels of a cart squawk in the foreground. He draws both weapons and bares his teeth.
At once the night explodes in the Udur’s terrible cries. All other sounds, bird calls, the trespass of the men in the forest, quail before it. But Sethlan does not. Without a word, without a challenging shout, he launches himself at the formless mass.
The sword slides out and into his lunge, dipping low at the last point as Sethlan evades the beaks of an Udur suddenly bearing down. Yet, pain flares from seemingly every side, as old wounds mix with new, and tentacles –emerging out of the once empty air – hit, pierce, and slash into the elf. Sethlan’s lunge flows into a roll, which in turn sees the elf popping up and over another attack, and the thorny brush between them, where he hits the ground on his hands and knees. Clumsily.
Sweaty hands slap the ground in successive heart beats, and the elf wobbles in that split-second to his feet, then staggering once more into a run. The Udur, unaffected by sword or thorn, have no such issue. They swarm, flow, and shift through the bracken.
New pains mark the elf’s body. New wounds provide the Udur with a fresh trail. Grass, weeds, and growth softened by the mist – not all of it born from horrors – crush in sighs underneath his soft shoes. All around him the hounds of the Teamor pursue. I must keep to the path, which means-
A gust of wind forces his eyes briefly closed, letting the smell of livestock, the decay of the forest, and his own blood win over his senses. But the tendrils of the void spawn close in. Mist bleeds into the overgrown road. Sethlan lurches over obstacles seen and unseen, while the monsters in the periphery roar silently. He forces in breath. Then another. The elf must keep to the path, but they had already laid parallel as they encircled him.
A hidden root causes him to stumble. Sethlan throws his hands forward, as fatigue and injury bring him to the ground. The racket of the human’s passing is near, perhaps just on the other side of this thicket. He crawls, forcing himself to stare forward. The Udur’s presence laps at the corners of his perception like an ill tide. Why have they not struck?
…
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this little look into the Evercharm’s sequel, A Song in the Dark!
The post Excerpt from the upcoming sequel “A Song in the Dark.” first appeared on S.D. Reeves Books.
