Deborah Jay's Blog, page 66
November 22, 2015
#Sale – Roy Huff’s EVERVILLE BOXSET #99c & #FREE ‘Everville – The Fall of Brackenbone’
A quick heads up – Roy Huff’s hugely successful EVERVILLE series is on promotion for a few days.
FREE
Everville book 4, THE FALL OF BRACKENBONE is free from 22nd – 26th November.
Critically Acclaimed 2015 IAN Book of the Year Fantasy Finalist!
Ancient civilizations, parallel worlds, aliens, time travel, epic fantasy, dragons and college! Books #3 and #4 in the best-selling, award-winning Everville series can be read as stand alone novels and have it all for teens, new adults, and all ages alike.
Two very different worlds, Easton Falls University and the magical realm of Everville are in dire need of a hero. Owen Sage embarks on an epic journey of monumental proportions to save these worlds all while fighting to keep the world within himself intact. This quest is not for the faint of heart nor is it for the weak of mind—only the bravest will succeed. Discovering the well-kept secret of The Fourth Pillar of Truth is only part of the feat. Owen will have to outwit the ever-powerful villain Governor Jahal and overcome countless other challenges along the way. Amongst all of the dragons, giants and grand chaos, will Owen’s acquired skills and wisdom be enough to save both worlds or will peril be the ultimate fate of all?
On sale at 99c
The boxed set of books 1-3 is on sale from 22nd – 28th November – don’t miss this deal!
THIS BOXED SET INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING FULL LENGTH NOVELS:
Everville: The First Pillar.
Owen Sage is the emblematic college freshman at Easton Falls University. With all the worries about his first year in college, he was not prepared for what would happen next. His way of life was flipped upside down when he mysteriously crossed into another dimension, into the beautiful land of Everville. His excitement was abruptly halted when he discovered that there was a darkness forged against both the natural world, which he knew well, and the new land which he discovered, Everville. He must devise a plan to save both worlds while joining forces with the race of Fron and The Keepers, whom both harbor hidden secrets he must learn in order to gain power over the evil that dwells in The Other In Between.
With a race against time to save both worlds, his short time at Easton Falls did not quite prepare him for the evil, dark forces he must fight in order to conquer The Other In Between.
Everville: The City of Worms.
College freshman Owen Sage has just started to understand the darkness trying to overtake Everville and the earthly realm. With the help of The Keeper and the Fron army, Owen has managed to buy some time, but new problems have already emerged, new secrets need to be revealed, and the race against time to stop Them from conquering both dimensions has only just begun. The Keeper, Owen Sage, and his friends at Easton Falls University must now battle threats from within. To do it, they must reunite with familiar creatures and join forces with new ones as they navigate their journey to the truth that awaits them in Everville.
Everville: The Rise of Mallory, 2014 Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal Winner!
As the epic journey continues, a victorious Owen Sage stands undefeated against his enemies. His last battle in Everville gave rise to a new insidious evil, Mallory; whose determination to defeat him opens an unexplored Pandora’s box. Owen’s search for truth will unveil the mystery and surprising insights surrounding himself and his friends at Easton Falls University. New creatures will be uncovered and the true value of friendship will be tested, as Owen embarks on yet another battle in Everville.
“Potentially one of the greatest YA sagas of recent decades.” – Tiffany Sarradet
“Action adventure & characters that refuse to be denied” – Ionia Martin
November 20, 2015
Another small slice of the #ScottishHighlands
My last trip to the Highlands is fading into the past, but I still have lots of photos I haven’t shared, (and plenty I’m not going to, either!), so here is another little slice of heaven…
Driving back from Plodda Falls (see the waterfall post here, if you haven’t already – and if not, why not?), we passed a number of picture-worthy places.
This one is, as far as I can tell, a hunting lodge, part way down the track to the falls. Who wouldn’t love to stay here?
Just look at these perfect reflections…
I couldn’t choose between these, so at the risk of boring you, here’s the last one
Then there is this little gem
SO, onto the nearby village, Tomich, where there are monuments to Lord Tweedmouth, who owned the estate in the 1880s, built the first viewing bridge over the falls, and was also – amazing and unexpected fact – the man who originated the GOLDEN RETRIEVER dog breed!
Now I’ve owned and bred Golden Retrievers, but this was a revelation to me first time we took the even longer path past the falls and came across the sadly burned out and long deserted shell of the family mansion. There are information plaques down there. telling all about how he developed the breed.
Back in Tomich, there is also this awesome drinking trough, just beside the road.
Grand, isn’t it?
We drove down one more glen that day, and I’ll post those pics soon.
I thought I’d leave you with another piece of Scottish tradition, taken outside the sumptuous shopping outlet, Brodie Countryfare, where I stopped for a wee bit of Christmas shopping.
Marcia, this one is for you – sorry I couldn’t find a younger model, but you did just say ‘men in kilts’ not specifically ‘hunks in kilts’…
November 16, 2015
BlogTour #Review & #Giveaway – THE SOUL SUMMONER by Elicia Hyder. #ContemporaryFantasy
Welcome to my tour stop for The Soul Summoner by Elicia Hyder. This is an adult contemporary fantasy. The tour runs November 9-20 with reviews, interviews, guest posts and excerpts. Check out the tour page for the full schedule.
Book Title – The Soul Summoner
Series – The Soul Summoner Series Book 1
Publisher – Forge Creek Press
Release Date – November 9th, 2015
Genre – Contemporary Fantasy
Rating – PG13
Length – 290 Pages
About the Book:
Blessed–or cursed–with a connection to the souls of others, Sloan Jordan can see the best in people… and the worst. For twenty-seven years, she’s kept her ability to judge the innocent from the wicked a secret, but eleven young women have been murdered in the mountains of North Carolina, and Sloan may be the only hope of finding their killer.
She has just agreed to help Detective Nathan McNamara with the case, when a stranger–who is as alluring as he is terrifying–shows up at her doorstep with a dark past and another puzzling mystery: she can’t see his soul at all.
Now, Sloan is on the hunt for a deadly psychopath with two irresistible men. One of them would die for her, and the other would kill to keep her safe.
Book Trailer | Amazon
Goodreads
***
My Review
The Soul Summoner by Elicia Hyder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The secret that Sloane Jordan has kept for twenty-seven years is a doozy: if she thinks hard enough about someone and says their name, in no time at all they will turn up in her life (with the exceptions of Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt – what a bummer!) – oh, and she can tell just by looking at a photo if someone is alive or dead.
Her ‘talent’ caused her a few issues while growing up, and she’s wisely kept the knowledge from just about everyone, but she has learned to use her affinity for people to become a very efficient Public Relations officer for her county.
When the extremely hot, but sadly not single, Detective Nathan McNamara stumbles upon her secret and enlists her in the search for a missing child, which in turn leads her to become involved in the case of a potential serial killer, things become very interesting, very fast. Add in a mysterious hunky stranger who is the very first person in Sloane’s life that she cannot ‘read’, and this story becomes so much more than your average paranormal-romance-with-a-love-triangle. (Sex takes place behind closed doors, so a clean read).
The ‘gifts’ portrayed in this book were fresh and unique to me, which made it all the more fun to read. The story does revolve to some extent around the nature of these gifts, but is also firmly rooted in the murder-mystery and police procedural, with great narrative, excellent depth of characterisation, fabulous dialogue and that oft-missing component: a goodly dose of humour.
‘The Soul Summoner’ was a thoroughly absorbing read, although I freely admit that my heart began to drop at about the 85% mark when I began to think there would be a cliff hanger rather than a dénouement. But I was wrong – YAY! The climax takes off so swiftly I didn’t see it coming, and on looking back, the clues were there, but so skilfully hidden I didn’t spot them – kudos to the author.
I have already downloaded the spin off story, and very much look forward to reading more in the series when they appear. Highly recommended.
About the Author:
Elicia Hyder is the author of several contemporary fantasy novels such as The Soul Summoner, The Siren, The Angel of Death, and The Daughter of Zion as well as a few contemporary romances, The Bed She Made and To Be Her first. Elicia studied American Literature and Creative Writing at the American Military University. She lives with her husband and five children in central Florida.
Website:
www.eliciahyder.com
Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram | Pinterest
Sign up for the newsletter and receive a free ebook of The Detective.
GIVEAWAY:
$50 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
Ends November 25th
Prizing provided by the author, hosts are not responsible. Must be 13 or older to enter and have parental permission if under 17. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
//widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.
November 10, 2015
How to Find a Wealth of Free Stock Photos
For all you authors and bloggers who, like me, spend way too much time sourcing free images, take a look at the review of this wonderful book…
A review of a guide to free stock photos
Source: How to Find a Wealth of Free Stock Photos
Pre-order promo – DRAGON THIEF by Marc Secchia #fantasy #dragons #ThiefPromo
Most especially, he was not planning for any treasure to steal him.
To Be Published: December 12, 2015
Genre: Fantasy
From Marc Secchia, bestselling author of five rip-roaring dragon fantasy adventures, comes a tale of dragons and treasure, and a pilfering rascal who has his eye set on rewriting history – only, the treasure has other ideas. And fate? That will sweep him away to a destiny far more precious than he ever dreamed.
Kal was not a thief. He certainly did not intend to steal any dragon’s treasure.
He was an adventurer. Avid art collector. Incurable wealth adjuster and risk-taker. Kal had legendary expertise in the security arrangements of palaces and noble houses the world over. He hankered for remote, craggy mountaintops and the dragon hoards he might find hidden beneath them. Besides, what harm was there in looking? Dragon gold was so very … shiny.
Most especially, he was not planning for any treasure to steal him.
That was a little awkward, to say the least.
November 9, 2015
#BlogTour & #Giveaway – PRISONER by Dennis W Green – & #Review of Book 1, TRAVELER #SF #Thriller
Welcome to my tour stop for Prisoner by Dennis W. Green! Prisoner is an adult science fiction and the tour runs with reviews, interviews, guest posts and excerpts.
About Prisoner (Book Two):
Trav Becker is a police detective with multiple lives. Or to be more accurate, he’s a police detective who knows that multiple versions of himself live in countless different streams of existence.
When another Trav Becker appears bleeding and dying at his front door, Trav quickly realizes that something is dreadfully wrong in the multiverse.
Pursued by an FBI profiler who believes (with some justification) that Trav is hiding something, the detective races to save two kidnapped girls while also trying to sort out why he keeps turning up dead.
Desperate to preserve his home timeline, Trav is thrust into a hidden war that threatens to destroy the very fabric of reality itself.
Dennis Green returns to the universe he created in “Traveler” for another mindbending thriller.
Amazon | Goodreads
—————————————————–
About Traveler (Book One):
Blending mystery, police procedural and scifi, Traveler is a thriller in the tradition of Daniel Suarez and Dean Koontz, with just a dash of Jim Butcher.
Police detective Trav Becker can travel between parallel realities. So can other versions of him. And one is systematically killing every Trav he can find. Trav must fight to keep the very fabric of time itself from unwinding as he hunts the most dangerous quarry of all… himself.
My Review of Traveler
Traveler by Dennis W. Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The appropriately named ‘Trav’, is a traveler – that’s a traveler from one stream of reality to another. This isn’t time travel, it’s a book of alternate realities, where a single small decision makes a difference to that person’s reality. And this means we have a lot of Travs, and a lot of Sams, and, in fact, multiple versions of everyone who features in this story.
Confused? Well, try not to be. Green does a good job of keeping a handle on the numerous incarnations of each of his characters, and a book that could have been mightily confusing is no more than a bit perplexing in odd moments, and nothing that upsets the flow and urgency of the tale.
Trav is a cop, and I have to admit, the opening did not grab me; it’s pretty ‘bloke-ish’ in tone, and the opening scene is one I’ve read in many books: character wakes up with an awful hangover to survey the wreckage of his life. There was a small difference, with the addition of a little ‘Russian Roulette’, but it was still too clichéd to draw me in.
Then Trav gets sick, and finds the world around him is not quite how he recalls it (spoiler alert)—his deceased partner is very much alive, amongst other things. I was then somewhat thrown by the way Trav rapidly accepts this miracle and gets on with his daily life without questioning what’s going on. This is explained later, but at the time it bounced me out of the narrative.
Once the plot really kicks off, and a bit of explanation clears up the apparent aberrations, it turns into a great romp. Imagine chasing yourself, after you have apparently murdered yourself? Wacky or what?
Green’s writing creates scenes quickly and effectively, and the dialogue rings true. Between some chapters are little ‘Interludes’ that confuse at first, but then add interest to the concept once we understand what is going on. Overall, once I got past the opening scenes, I really enjoyed this book, and the outcome was more of a surprise than I expected, which was very satisfying.
I received a copy of this book to review for a blog tour; all thoughts are my own
View all my reviews
—————————————-
About the Author:
Dennis Green’s first novel, the scifi detective thriller, Traveler, ranked in the Top Ten in the 2014 Ben Franklin Independent Publishing awards, and has a 4.9 review average on Amazon. The second volume of The Traveler Chronicles, Prisoner, has just been released.
Trav Becker’s saga concludes in the final volume of the trilogy, Hunter, due in 2017. A popular radio personality in his native Iowa, Dennis’s adventures as a DJ were covered by newspapers from Anchorage to Los Angeles. He has also worked on the stage, TV, and independent film.
Dennis’s writing has appeared in the anthology Sadistic Shorts, magazines including Grift, and Romance and Beyond, as well as his own blog at denniswgreen.com. By day, he is the general manager of Iowa’s only jazz radio station, KCCKFM. And if it’s 5:30 am, you can probably find him in the pool, working out with the Milky Way Masters swim club.
Author Web Site: http://denniswgreen.com/
Author Blog | Twitter @dgreencr | Facebook | GoodReads
GIVEAWAY:
$25 Amazon gift card (INT)
Ends November 18th
Prizing is provided by the author, hosts are not responsible. Must be 13 or older and have parental permission if under 17. Void where prohibited by law. No purchased necessary to win.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
//widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.
November 8, 2015
Enjoy a little slice of the glorious #ScottishHighlands: #CaledonianForest & Plodda Falls
The holiday is over, normal service will soon be resumed…
But I still have a few photos and videos to share – yay! :-)
So here goes: prepare for an enticing dip into beautiful and awesome mother nature – and also a little trip into one of the main locations in DESPRITE MEASURES , the tale of a Caledonian Sprite: PLODDA FALLS.
And if anyone thinks I made that name up – here’s the proof.
As you can see, popular with the visitors.
To get here, you have around 2 miles of beautiful forest to drive through:
On this day, we take the longer path, to approach the falls from the bottom.
In DESPRITE MEASURES, Cassie drives down the track to Wynter’s caravan. On this day, Frodo was having a fine time exploring it.
The trees are huge
There is a house (Plodda Lodge) standing just above where I put Wynter’s van in the novel – isn’t it a gorgeous site?
This video is taken from just below the house – you can clearly see the scar left by recent logging operations :-(
Back into the forest on a level path (also detailed in DESPRITE MEASURES) with Frodo still in the lead
As we walk, the sound of rushing water grows, and eventually we reach the river below the falls:
And then it’s up, up, up …
No, wait a minute, that comes from another book, doesn’t it? Although that one also has a Frodo in it… ;-)
And finally, to the magnificence of the falls
This is the beautiful view from half way up
And here is the amazing experience of walking out onto that viewing platform!
Isn’t that quite something?
As we walk away, we are pleased to find this sign:
But we’re not quite finished yet.
As we leave the magnificence of that plunging tumble of 46m (151 feet), we travel just a little further up, to the upper falls: a pretty cascade that, first time we visited, fooled us into thinking we had arrived at the main falls. If you’ve seen a photo first, you won’t make this mistake, but we hadn’t, and nearly missed going on to the main fall (we discovered the uphill approach on our second visit).
And here we found this amazing (and cute) foam doughnut!
I think you can see quite clearly a point I make in DESPRITE MEASURES: how magical it is that Highland water can be both brown with peat, and yet clear at the same time. And foamy.
And for good measure, a final view as we leave the falls behind us.
Almost done now, for this trip, just one more set of pics to share – hope you are enjoying the second-hand trip?
November 7, 2015
#BookBlast – FAITH OF THE NINE by Sachin Dev #IndianMythology #EpicFantasy
About the Book:
The Third Yuga is slowly drawing to a close. Nam – the greatest Empire on Janani – is going to face some fierce winds of change. Seers foresee omens of death and destruction in the return of the Banished One – A God who will claim the ashes of this world as revenge. While out in the streets, rumours abound – of older forgotten powers stirring.
Caught in this maelstrom of a power struggle between Gods are three ordinary lives: General Fateh, the most celebrated soldier in Nam who starts to question his faith, Ishan – a gifted orphan who struggles to comprehend his destiny and Abhaya – a young monk in search of truths about this world. Their choices and actions will shape the destiny of this scarred world that becomes the playground for vindictive Gods.
In a world where Rakshasas arise out of left-over traces of Maaya and twilight forms the portal to countless worlds around us for Daityas and Yakshis to dance through, a God is only as powerful as those who believe.And when Gods rise, faith of men will be tested…And broken.
Buy Links:
Paperback: Flipkart * LandmarkOntheNet * Infibeam * Pustak Mandi
eBook: Newshunt * Google Play
The Big Idea (Story of the inspiration behind Faith of the Nine)
Visualize a big planet. Like Jupiter. And the rings of Saturn thrown together, revolving slowly. Slow enough for our mind to comprehend that it is actually
revolving. And the voice that booms out in the background claiming, “I AM….TIME!”
That is obviously an anthromorphic personification of time – but that is the scene I had in mind when I thought of the name of my series, Wheels of Janani. A ginormous wheel of time rolling along unstoppably towards the end of a world.
Indian mythology has this concept of the Trimurti – or a triumvirate of power. Focused on Three Gods who are entrusted with the cosmic functions of “creation”, “sustenance” and “destruction”. Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. And Vaishnavism claims that this yuga or epoch known as the Kali Yuga will end with the appearance of Kalki, the tenth avatar of Lord Vishnu – the world ending in an apocalypse leading away to the next yuga.
The world Janani is rolling on towards the end of its third yuga – and the Wheels of Janani or time portends an impending apocalypse that would destroy this world. A child of the Ancient Nine (an avatar – that is the descent of the divine to the material realm) is prophesied to be born into such a world on the brink of its destruction. While the over-arching theme is borrowed from the same concept as the end of Kali Yuga, I put a spin to this situation.
What if the prophecy is unclear? The avatar’s appearance in the world can either plunge the world into ashes and blood and destruction or save the catastrophe. And what is the cost of ‘saving’ the world?
At the heart of the conflict of my series is religion. And digging a bit deeper, it’s emotional failings. Emotions for which we have no control over getting the better of reason and causing irrational behaviour leading to disastrous consequences.
So I set out to write about a thriving flourishing empire set in this world – built on a sequence of lies and deceit ruled by a set of high priests directly in communion with their God. A set of tyrannical paranoid rulers who would exterminate anyone not willing to believe their faith. Or practice Maaya (Magic!) born of the older tenets of faith.
Into this setting I slowly wanted to build the picture of a set of survivors who doggedly stick to older beliefs waiting for the arrival of the “prophesied” child who can save them. And the world. A set of unbelievers who start to question their faith and loyalty – and slowly discover a hidden set of reality.
Cue the bugles of war.
As we hurtle towards the end of this world, will the child of the Nine save Janani or speed up the prophecies of doom?
About the Author:
Sachin discovered Tolkien in his teens, alternative rock as a new adult and digital marketing in pretty much his late twenties. These still form a large wedge in his circle of life. Travel, radio and theatre have also figured in that ever-expanding and diminishing circle.
On perhaps a more prosaic note, he is an engineer from BITS Pilani and holds an MBA from Indian School of Business. Attribute the love for numbers and pie-charts to this. He is currently based in Bangalore and happily married to Harini. He spends an inordinately large amount of time chasing after his two dogs (who love the free life a bit too much) when he is not busy dreaming up fantasy worlds full of monsters. And beautiful Yakshis, of course.
He can usually be found ranting on twitter under the handle @xenosach, devouring books and talking about them on his blog. You can always stalk him online at his official website
November 5, 2015
Release Day blitz & excerpt: SOUL WARRIOR by Falguni Kothari #India #Supernatural
About SOUL WARRIOR
Twisted myths. Discretion advised.
Fight fate, or succumb to destiny?
In the dark Age of Kali, the Soul Warrior alone stands guard over the Human Realm, protecting its denizens from evil-willed asuras or demons. When a trick of fate appoints him guru to a motley crew of godlings, he agrees to train them as demon hunters against his better judgment. Suddenly, Lord Karna is not only battling the usual asuras with sinister agendas, but also rebellious students and a fault-ridden past.
Spanning the cosmic realms of mythic India, here is a tale of a band of supernatural warriors who come together over a singular purpose: the salvation of Karna’s secret child.
Book Links:
Kobo * iBooks * Amazon US * Amazon UK * Amazon Canada
Excerpt
CHAPTER ZERO
DWANDA-YUDDHA: THE DUEL
The Himalayan Mountains.
Five thousand years ago.
Absolute darkness shrouded the Human Realm, and had for three days and three nights. Some believed the occurrence was prophetic, like the prolonged amavasya or new moon night that had heralded the Great Kuru War two thousand years ago. The war had given birth to the dark Age of Kali, the age of asura. In contrast, hope was ripe that this event would trigger the Age of Light. But the Bard wasn’t here to succumb to superstition.
The first day without the sun’s light had spread confusion and chaos across the realm. The second day had brought desperation in the breasts of humans and fear in the belly of Celestials. The third day—today—was a feast for the asuras. Death lay everywhere.
The human world burned without its sun. How soon before the Heavens went up in flames?
The Bard’s troubled eyes reread the last line. Then he deliberately scratched it off, lifting his long, pointed talon from the parchment made of dry palm leaf. With a sigh, he rested his aching hand on his trembling thigh. He would spare a moment to ease his body, and his mind from the strain of observation and due recordkeeping. If he didn’t, he’d forget his duty as Witness of the Cosmos, and begin to question fate.
Despite the fire that crackled close to his right knee, and the feathered form of his upper body, he was cold. An icy wind had settled around the Pinnacle of Pinnacles, where he sat cross-legged on a seat made of rock and snow. He’d chosen this perch because it gave him an impartial view of the events happening in the world. He was the Bard, entrusted with keeping the Canons of the Age of Kali, just as the Soul Warrior was entrusted with keeping the Human Realm safe from asuras. Would they both fail in their duty today?
The Bard shook off the heavy despair the darkness had brought into the world. He mustn’t judge. He shouldn’t question. He would sharpen the talon on his forefinger, dip it into the vessel of ink kept warm by the fire, and write this tale. That was all he could do. Be the witness to history.
So he raised his feathered hand and began to write again while his eyes, sparked with power, knowledge and magic, saw clearly events unfolding from great distances. A thousand kilometers to his right, Indra, the God of War and Thunder, fought the Dragon. Indra did not fare well. But that didn’t concern the Bard as much as the clash between the Soul Warrior and the Stone Demon. Over and over, his eagle eyes were drawn to the duel taking place in the heart of the world, not only because it was a magnificent battle to behold, for it was, but because its outcome would decide mankind’s destiny.
The Soul Warrior was more than a great warrior. Karna was a great soul. Fair, honorable, brave and resilient, he was the perfect protector of the Human Realm. Of course, there were other reasons he’d been chosen to fill the office of Soul Warrior—there always were when Gods and demons were involved. But Karna’s existence was a testament to righteous action and if anyone could bring back the day, it would be him.
But how did one vanquish stone, the Bard wondered?
Avarice and cruelty, two nefarious desires, had made Vrtra and Vala attack the Human Realm. Three days ago the Dragon had swallowed the Seven Rivers in the north, and the Stone Demon had imprisoned the Sun God, his daughter, and all the cattle of the region in his cave.
The Bard paused his writing as a thin vein of lightning winked across the skies, but without the accompanying roar. Indra’s strength waned. His thunderbolt hadn’t left Vrtra screaming in pain this time. The Bard spared a moment’s attention on the duel, just enough to note that the Maruts, the Celestial Storm-gods, waited in the clouds to rescue their god-king in case of a calamity. Indra would survive even in defeat. Of that, the Bard was sure.
But Karna had no one at his back. His might and god-powers had depleted without the sun’s healing warmth and light. His divine astras, weapons, had not slowed the Stone Demon down, at all. Only the conviction that he could not fail his godsire, his sister, and the innocents under his protection drove him now. His birth family had once abandoned him to his fate, but he would not abandon them to theirs—such was the greatness of Karna.
The Bard crossed out the last observation. No questions. No judgment. No praise, either. The canons would be free of all emotion. He wasn’t here to embellish history or glorify the history-makers, as some bards were wont to do.
It wasn’t embellishment to write that the foothills of Cedi were drenched in the Soul Warrior’s blood. Or observe the gushing wounds on his body, despite his armor, that would make the hardiest of warriors bellow in agony, but not him. It wasn’t embellishment to write that the Heavens were empty for the Celestials had come to Earth to watch the battle, firelight cupped in their palms to light the warrior’s way.
The Naga, the Serpent People, also looked on, hissing from the mouth of the portal that led to their underground realm beneath the hills. The Serpent King will not choose a side. Vrtra and Vala were half Naga, after all. All across the Human Realm, demons roamed free, taking advantage of the darkness and preying on human flesh and human souls. It was a terrible moment in history. The asuras had the upper hand in the eponymous age of Demon Kali.
Vala did not have arms and half a leg, but still he came at Karna. He had an ace up his sleeve. There were plenty of creatures about, an entire mountain close at hand. He began to chant the spell of soul transference. It was the darkest of all magic, the possession of another’s soul. Soon, he would be whole again and stronger than before.
Battered and bleeding, the Soul Warrior veered away from the Stone Demon. He leapt over boulders and charred vegetation. The onlookers called him a coward. Had he forfeit the duel? Has he forsaken mankind?
Karna dove for Manav-astra, the spear of mankind, he’d thrown aside yesterday after his bow, Vijaya, had shattered under repeated use. In one smooth motion, he rolled, picked up the astra, coming up in the spear-thrower’s stretch. His tattered lower garment billowed about him as a gust of wind shot through the air. His muscled torso glistened with blood and sweat, tightened as he pulled the arm holding the spear back.
He meant to throw Manav-astra at Vala. A futile attempt, to be sure? As long as Vala was made of stone, broken or not, his body was impregnable. Karna should have waited for Vala to transfer his soul to an onlooker. Then Karna should have vanquished the possessed creature.
Taunting laughter reverberated through the foothills of Cedi. Vala had reached the same conclusion. The Celestials looked at each other in angry silence, unable to interfere. A dwanda-yuddha duel was fought between two opponents of equal size and strength alone. The humans hadn’t stopped screaming in three days, the din simply background noise now.
The Bard scribbled the observations onto the parchment in no particular order. He wished he was a painter, for surely this was a picture worth a thousand words.
The demon hobbled toward the warrior, who stood still as stone with his arm drawn taught behind him. Then finally, with a roaring chant the Soul Warrior shifted his weight from his back leg to his front and let fly Manav-astra at the Stone Demon with all his remaining might.
Karna didn’t wait to see the ramifications of his action. And there were plenty to come. He ran into the mountain cave to free Vala’s hostages. Within moments the rock face rent in half, and bright streams of light speared through the terrible darkness. A new day had dawned on the Human Realm after three days of perpetual night.
The sun’s power was too bright, too full of hope. Yet, the Bard looked on pensively, wondering if the Soul Warrior knew this wasn’t a victory. It was merely a reprieve.
About the Author
Falguni Kothari is a New York-based South Asian author and an amateur Latin and Ballroom dance silver medalist with a semi-professional background in Indian Classical dance. She’s published in India in contemporary romance with global e-book availability; Bootie and the Beast (Harlequin Mills and Boon) and It’s Your Move, Wordfreak! (Rupa & Co.), and launches a mythic fantasy series with Soul Warrior (The Age of Kali, #1)
I’m embarrassed to admit how many social media accounts I own :
Website * Blog * Twitter * Facebook * Goodreads * Pinterest
October 29, 2015
#BookReview – WRITING DEEP POINT OF VIEW by Rayne Hall #writing
For those writers of you out there, today I’m sharing my review of a book in the WRITER’S CRAFT series by Rayne Hall.
If you haven’t yet discovered them, you may want to go take a look. These are not designed for beginners, but for writers wanting to improve and extend their skill set, and I find something useful in each one.
Writing Deep Point Of View: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors by Rayne Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the thirteenth book in Rayne Hall’s Writer’s Craft Book Series, and like the others, it does what it says on the tin.
As an author, writing in deep point of view is a skill you will probably want to master, as it gives readers the most intense experience, allowing them not just to read about characters, but to inhabit their thoughts and emotions; to ‘become’ the character. This depth of identity with a fictional character is what makes the book live in a reader’s mind long after they’ve finished it, and drives them back for more as soon as they can get their hands on your next novel.
Using examples and exercises split into simple-to-follow categories, Hall makes the whole process simple to understand and execute. It isn’t a book for total beginners, rather for those ready to improve and expand their writing skills, so if that’s you, I’d advise you to grab a copy now.
On a personal level as a writer of fantasy novels, I found the chapters on character, sensory and gender filters (chapters 4 – 6) of particular interest, plus those on character thoughts and emotions (chapters 9 and 11), and I know I will be returning often to chapter 17, and its handy list of word choices.
Amongst other titles in the series are:
Writing Vivid Settings
Why does my book not sell?
Writing Fight Scenes
Twitter for Writers
Writing about Villains
The Word Loss Diet
Go take a look at the whole range – something in there for every author: viewAuthor.at/RayneHall
