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First Blood
The Adventures Continue! Follow Dev and Tray as they battle for the Heart of Creation against a foe whose plans have taken millennia to come to fruition. Can they find the Key to that will unlock the hidden power before all is lost? Or will their enemy draw First Blood?
284 pages, Paperback
Published November 18, 2019
About the author
Michael Lynes
30 books177 followersMICHAEL LYNES is the Award-Winning Author of The Blood Series. To date, the series has won the New Apply Literary, Indie BRAG Medallion, Readers Favorite for FANTASY and most recently the IAN Book of the Year Selection for Fantasy.
It begins with the novella "It's in the Blood". Continues with Destroyer's Blood and the NEW release Book Two - FIRST BLOOD is due out on November 1st 2019.
Book One - "Destroyer's Blood"
Reviewed By Christian Sia for Readers' Favorite
Destroyer's Blood: The Adventures of Devcalion is the first entry in The Blood Series by Michael Lynes, a gripping fantasy with strong hints of Greek mythology. Meet Devcalion, "Dev," a demigod, son of Prometheus and nephew of Zeus. He has a telepathic sword and a very close friend called Betrayer, "Tray". When we encounter Dev, he and his friend are climbing up Half Dome. An encounter with Hermes changes everything, driving Dev to the last place he wants to be -- Mt. Olympus. Dev and Tray are pulled into a war they never bargained for, a war against the greatest enemy of Zeus. With the darkest power in the universe bent on wreaking havoc, do they have any chance of surviving?
Destroyer's Blood has been awarded the Silver Medal for Fantasy in the Readers Favorite Awards for 2019 and has won an Indie B.R.A.G. Medallion for Fantasy. It also won the Solo Medalist in the New Apple Summer eBook Awards for 2019. Book Two - "First Blood" will be released in November of 2019.
His short story collection, "The Fat Man Gets Out of Bed", was chosen solo Medalist Winner in the 2017 New Apple Summer Indie Book awards.
His memoir, "There Is A Reaper: Losing a Child to Cancer", was an Indie B.R.A.G. Gold Medallion Honoree in January 2017, a silver-medal winner of the 2016 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards for Memoir, a medalist in the 2015 New Apple Book Awards for Memoir, a winner of the 2015 TISBA (The Indie Spiritual Book Awards), and a finalist in both the Independent Author Network 2015 Book of the Year award and the Beverly Hills Book Awards for 2015.
Most recently Mr. Lynes has been a Contributing Author to the 2019 Ghostly Rites Anthology.
Mr. Lynes was awarded a BSEE degree in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and currently works as an embedded software engineer. He has four sons, has been married for over thirty years, and currently lives with his wife and youngest son in the beautiful secluded hills of Sussex County, New Jersey.
It begins with the novella "It's in the Blood". Continues with Destroyer's Blood and the NEW release Book Two - FIRST BLOOD is due out on November 1st 2019.
Book One - "Destroyer's Blood"
Reviewed By Christian Sia for Readers' Favorite
Destroyer's Blood: The Adventures of Devcalion is the first entry in The Blood Series by Michael Lynes, a gripping fantasy with strong hints of Greek mythology. Meet Devcalion, "Dev," a demigod, son of Prometheus and nephew of Zeus. He has a telepathic sword and a very close friend called Betrayer, "Tray". When we encounter Dev, he and his friend are climbing up Half Dome. An encounter with Hermes changes everything, driving Dev to the last place he wants to be -- Mt. Olympus. Dev and Tray are pulled into a war they never bargained for, a war against the greatest enemy of Zeus. With the darkest power in the universe bent on wreaking havoc, do they have any chance of surviving?
Destroyer's Blood has been awarded the Silver Medal for Fantasy in the Readers Favorite Awards for 2019 and has won an Indie B.R.A.G. Medallion for Fantasy. It also won the Solo Medalist in the New Apple Summer eBook Awards for 2019. Book Two - "First Blood" will be released in November of 2019.
His short story collection, "The Fat Man Gets Out of Bed", was chosen solo Medalist Winner in the 2017 New Apple Summer Indie Book awards.
His memoir, "There Is A Reaper: Losing a Child to Cancer", was an Indie B.R.A.G. Gold Medallion Honoree in January 2017, a silver-medal winner of the 2016 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards for Memoir, a medalist in the 2015 New Apple Book Awards for Memoir, a winner of the 2015 TISBA (The Indie Spiritual Book Awards), and a finalist in both the Independent Author Network 2015 Book of the Year award and the Beverly Hills Book Awards for 2015.
Most recently Mr. Lynes has been a Contributing Author to the 2019 Ghostly Rites Anthology.
Mr. Lynes was awarded a BSEE degree in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and currently works as an embedded software engineer. He has four sons, has been married for over thirty years, and currently lives with his wife and youngest son in the beautiful secluded hills of Sussex County, New Jersey.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 1, 2019
“First Blood” is the second book in The Blood Series, and I would recommend going back to read the first book if you haven’t before reading this. The story continues with the eternal fight for power and loyalty. It begins in the underworld with a battle for dominance. Hades and his dead army are being challenged with some surprising and brutal consequences. I was happy to see my favorite characters Dev and Tray. I enjoy how their friendship grew into something stronger. Their devotion to each other and their humor are some of the best parts of this story. I love the use of mythology because it paints a colorful world. There were unexpected twists and plenty of action along the way. Although it took me a few pages to get into the story and remember all the storylines, once I got into the narrative it was a hard book to put down. I’m looking forward to the next book and continuing this journey to see where it goes. If you love mythology and fantasy, you’ll enjoy this series.
August 17, 2020
Lots of action, unpredictable, great narration!
First Blood (The Blood Series, Book 2) by Michael Lynes and narrated by David Bosco is a fabulous second book in the series. If mythology and fantasy is your thing, this is absolutely a series you should be listening to. Highly recommend- kept me interested from start to finish.
What’s it about? Devcalion “Dev” and Betrayer “Tray” return as the Gods battle for power. You get twist and turns, fun banter, tons of action, great world building, fast-paced story, and more. This not your typical mythology story, so kick back and enjoy the unpredictable ride. One thing is for certain, it does not disappoint.
The narrator, David Bosco, did a superb job. Characters are distinct, variety of voices, great pace, and overall easy to listen to. There are some added sound effects, such as echos for some characters (fitting for the story line and definitely adds to it).
“Every heartbeat is significant to the one in whose breast it resides; yet all life is void, pointless and empty.”
*I was given a free review copy of the audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you for allowing me to listen and review the book!
First Blood (The Blood Series, Book 2) by Michael Lynes and narrated by David Bosco is a fabulous second book in the series. If mythology and fantasy is your thing, this is absolutely a series you should be listening to. Highly recommend- kept me interested from start to finish.
What’s it about? Devcalion “Dev” and Betrayer “Tray” return as the Gods battle for power. You get twist and turns, fun banter, tons of action, great world building, fast-paced story, and more. This not your typical mythology story, so kick back and enjoy the unpredictable ride. One thing is for certain, it does not disappoint.
The narrator, David Bosco, did a superb job. Characters are distinct, variety of voices, great pace, and overall easy to listen to. There are some added sound effects, such as echos for some characters (fitting for the story line and definitely adds to it).
“Every heartbeat is significant to the one in whose breast it resides; yet all life is void, pointless and empty.”
*I was given a free review copy of the audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you for allowing me to listen and review the book!
June 27, 2020
This is a fast-paced story of war among the gods. The story uses most of the Greek gods and the powers they had in mythology. There is a lot of action and sorcery. I enjoyed the story and think many others will too.
September 26, 2020
The story continues and all your favorite characters are back! It’s all fun and this one has zombies!
David Bosco is an absolutely amazing narrator.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review
David Bosco is an absolutely amazing narrator.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review
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April 1, 2020A good book and a good series. I went right out and bought book 1 and book 3. Fun fantasy about love and war among the gods and demigods.
November 11, 2019
This is the second book (but third story) of Devcalion and Betrayer - two superbly drawn characters who belong in the time of Greek Mythology but whom the author brings to life in a cheeky modern way. As always the story rattles along and even though we have to wait little while for our two protagonists to emerge into the plot the developed story (taking off from the end of the first novel) is terrific. Well paced and written with much humour the juxtaposition of ancient gods and modern times works superbly well. This is something for lovers of fantasy fiction to thoroughly enjoy and to revel in. A great read in front of a roaring fire with a Scotch in hand...or anywhere you enjoy reading a good yarn for that matter.
September 8, 2020
This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: First Blood – Book 2 of The Blood Series
Author: Michael Lynes
Star Rating: 3.5 Stars
Number of Readers: 15
Stats
Editing: 6/10
Writing Style: 6/10
Content: 7/10
Cover: 8/10
Of the 16 readers:
10 would read another book by this author.
14 thought the cover was good or excellent.
8 felt it was easy to follow.
10 would recommend this story to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 11 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
8 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
10 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
‘An exciting fantasy adventure although the pace is killed in parts by an overly descriptive pen. Enjoyed it!’ Male reader, aged 43
‘This is not an easy read; you will need to keep you wits about you to keep up with the plot twists and the mythology. The speech problem by a central character is not well-handled and is amazingly annoying. I don’t think it was the best plan to call if First Blood when it’s the second book of the blood books. Very confusing. The story is excellently plotted and the author knows his characters through and through.’ Male reader, aged 41
‘Interesting, often gripping fantasy/mythology read but in need of tighter editing to sort out the slow pacing and the grating, hard to follow dialogue. Plenty of twists, plenty of sorcery; readers who enjoy this genre will enjoy this.’ Female reader, aged 65
To Sum It Up:
‘A complex mythological adventure with a cleverly structured plot.’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Title: First Blood – Book 2 of The Blood Series
Author: Michael Lynes
Star Rating: 3.5 Stars
Number of Readers: 15
Stats
Editing: 6/10
Writing Style: 6/10
Content: 7/10
Cover: 8/10
Of the 16 readers:
10 would read another book by this author.
14 thought the cover was good or excellent.
8 felt it was easy to follow.
10 would recommend this story to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 11 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
8 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
10 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
‘An exciting fantasy adventure although the pace is killed in parts by an overly descriptive pen. Enjoyed it!’ Male reader, aged 43
‘This is not an easy read; you will need to keep you wits about you to keep up with the plot twists and the mythology. The speech problem by a central character is not well-handled and is amazingly annoying. I don’t think it was the best plan to call if First Blood when it’s the second book of the blood books. Very confusing. The story is excellently plotted and the author knows his characters through and through.’ Male reader, aged 41
‘Interesting, often gripping fantasy/mythology read but in need of tighter editing to sort out the slow pacing and the grating, hard to follow dialogue. Plenty of twists, plenty of sorcery; readers who enjoy this genre will enjoy this.’ Female reader, aged 65
To Sum It Up:
‘A complex mythological adventure with a cleverly structured plot.’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews