Verity Rose is here to tell us about First Light - Tales of the Vanguard: Rune Saga Book 1, an epic fantasy.
There's also a great giveaway.
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A promise filled with hope in a world not meant for dreamers
First Light
Tales of the Vanguard: Rune Saga Book 1
by Verity Rose
Genre: Epic Fantasy
In a world struggling with political and religious
differences, eighteen-year-old Arkrune—"Rune" to his friends—dreams
of something greater than the quiet life in his small village of Locke. Trained
by his stern but loving father, a renowned blacksmith and former warrior, Rune
sets his sights on joining the famous monster fighting guild known as the
Vanguard.
When Rune embarks on his journey to the city of Hilden to pursue his destiny,
he carries with him more than just a finely crafted sword—but also a mystery
tied to his bloodline and the dormant power within him. Along the way, Rune
forms bonds with battle-hardened warriors, fends off deadly attacks by monsters
and men alike, and begins to uncover the hidden strengths he didn’t know he
possessed.
Verity Rose grew up in a blink and you’ll miss it Indiana
town where the school library doubled as an escape hatch. She wrote her first
fantasy scenes at thirteen, lost the thread for a while, wrestling with
undiagnosed ADHD and mental health potholes. She rediscovered her voice after
becoming a mom and stumbling into a gaggle of online book nerds who egged her
on. Armed with a social work degree from Ball State and a lifelong conviction
that characters are as real as the hands on the keyboard, she now pours that
people first empathy into stories that refuse to stay quiet.
When she isn’t tormenting her characters, Verity is probably
reverse engineering a Korean street food recipe, sourcing single origin coffee
beans from ethical roasters, or hoarding trash in Dragon Age or Skyrim. Her
literary inspiration is equal parts Rick Riordan’s mythic swagger, Suzanne
Collins’ high stakes heart, and John Flanagan’s cozy camaraderie.
Verity was raising her family (and her caffeine tolerance)
amid Indiana cornfields and now adventures in the Pacific Northwest with them.
She’s always down to swap book recs, coffee tips, or preferred RPG builds.
Janet Morris is here to tell us about her epic fantasy adventure Tempus - With His Right Side Companion Niko.
There's also a great giveaway.
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The Sacred Band of Stepsons begins here.
Tempus
with his Right Side
Companion Niko
Sacred Band Series Book 1
by Janet Morris
Genre: Epic Fantasy Adventure
The iconic adventures of Tempus, the Riddler, and his Sacred
Band. Relive the earliest adventures of the Sacred Band through the eyes of
Nikodemos, his right-side companion, as Niko seeks his spirit's balance on
Bandara's misty isles.
Five iconic Sacred Band stories from a world of thieves,
plus tales available nowhere else, make up this volume. Join the Stepsons from
their earliest days.
Publisher's note: Parts of this work have been published in
similar form in several volumes of the million-selling Thieves World® series
and in the Sacred Band novel, Beyond Sanctuary.
Best selling author Janet Morris began writing in 1976 and
published more than 30 novels, many co-authored with her husband Chris Morris
or others. She contributed short fiction to the shared universe fantasy series
Thieves World, in which she created the Sacred Band of Stepsons, a mythical
unit of ancient fighters modeled on the Sacred Band of Thebes. She created,
orchestrated, and edited the Bangsian fantasy series Heroes in Hell, writing
stories for the series as well as co-writing the related novel, The Little
Helliad, with Chris Morris. She wrote the bestselling Silistra Quartet in the
1970s, including High Couch of Silistra, The Golden Sword, Wind from the Abyss,
and The Carnelian Throne. This quartet had more than four million copies in
Bantam print alone, and was translated into German, French, Italian, Russian
and other languages. In the 1980s, Baen Books released a second edition of this
landmark series. The third edition is the Author's Cut edition, newly revised
by the author for Perseid Press. Most of her fiction work has been in the
fantasy and science fiction genres, although she has also written historical
and other novels. Morris has written, contributed to, or edited several
book-length works of non-fiction, as well as papers and articles on nonlethal
weapons, developmental military technology and other defense and national
security topics.
Janet said: 'People often ask what book to read first. I
recommend "I, the Sun" if you like ancient history; "The Sacred
Band," a novel, if you like heroic fantasy; "Lawyers in Hell" if
you like historical fantasy set in hell; "Outpassage" if you like
hard science fiction; "High Couch of Silistra" if you like far-future
dystopian or philosophical novels. I am most enthusiastic about the definitive
Perseid Press Author's Cut editions, which I revised and expanded.'
Christopher Kaufman is here to tell us about his epic fantasy Tales of the Ocean City.
There's also a great giveaway.
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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Christopher Kaufman will be awarding $45 worth of digital products from his website to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
A young civilization is turning the corner into the future, but first they must face a terrible enemy from their deepest past - The Vorm..
The main characters are a young man named Harl’ut and his lifelong companion Vispushin - who is a perIanth, a kind of telepathic pegasus. Join them on this epic adventure as they lead a group of young warriors into the heart of the Vorm Hive.
Book One: Battle In The Sky is the first of five books which comprise the opening series of this epic tale. Here, Harl’ut and Vispushin and The Princess Bryn’lynn, engage in desperate battle over the southern plain with savage Vorm warriors. You will be uplifted by the passionate and thrilling conclusion of the first installment of this fantasy adventure.
Book Two: Descent Into The Abyss, Harl’ut recovers from his harrowing adventure from Book One: Battle In The Sky. He walks through the streets of The Ocean City, visits the Sculpture Garden and his friend, Elá, the bard, and engages in exciting training games with warrior/mentor, Calanctus. Then the story takes you down the throat of the vast volcano, Pla’than’taa, once worshipped as a god, where Harl’ut enacts a deadly initiation ritual, confronts the barbaric past of his people and battles a terrifying monster.
Read an Excerpt
Next to the eerie bulk of the WarChief alit the most impressive of all Perianths, the silver-maned stallion, Zhi’ga’fra. On his back was a man, lean and tall, his skin a deep burnt-orange color. Light green armor adorned his body. Whitish hair sprouted from under a simple gold helm. A mystical spray of light refracted from a bright green diamond prism in place of his left eye.
Verden, the ancient warrior who served as war-leader of Pla’than’taa, should such be needed, dismounted Zhi’ga’fra and pulled from the hideous bulk his green lance. He cleaned it on the tall grass next to the lake and looked about him. The WarChief’s remains were now collapsed in a heap, but Verdin noticed movement.
He went to it, kicked around, he saw the bulbous antennae on the WarChief’s head pulsing like a beacon. He drew a green coral blade from his sash, cut out the grotesque tentacle and tossed it, now lifeless, beside the wrack.
He felt a crushing weight of sadness fall upon him. He looked over to see Zhi’ga’fra, standing over the body of Zhii’gla, his son.
Verdin sighed, “I am so sorry dear friend... he was a great being... and died a tremendous warrior...” in response he felt from Zhi’ga’fra only a complex wave of grief, almost beyond even his ability to translate in his mind...“There will be more strife Zhi'ga'fra... I see war ahead.“
“Yes...as do I,” echoed the great creature, “These... things...Perianth’s have fought them before...long ago... an age past...I believe your race has encountered them as well...” Imagery now streamed in Verdin’s inner eye as he glimpsed the scenes flowing in Zhi’ga’fra’s mind.
“We thought they were all destroyed...we call them... the VORM...they are hideous and evil...and incredibly dangerous if their hive is reformed.”
About the Author:
Christopher Kaufman is an author, composer, presenter, illustrative artist and performer. He started imaginative fantasy books with illustrative art at the age of nine. During high school years he found music and attended The New Orleans Center for The Creative Arts and went on to major in music composition in college. He finished his schooling - earning his DMA in music composition at Cornell University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize Winning composers who prize his abilities as a composer.
Christopher is the type of person who needs imaginative fantasy scenarios to get to sleep. Therefore, he emerged from Cornell, not only with his degrees in music, but with the full event structure for his classic epic fantasy series Tales Of The Ocean City in his mind.
He began writing the story down in the early 2000’s, but it did not really come to life until he developed his home music ‘laboratory’ and started creating the music and text at the same time. Thus books one and two of TOC came about simultaneously as both graphically illustrated pages and effulgent audio albums filled with cinematic epic symphonic music.
They exist now as physical books and audio albums (that go together) and the new Video Book version. He performs live tours with the music pouring through speakers, live narration and the colorful pages streaming on screen -a true immersive multi-media experience.
