Hey everyone! Daughter of Light, the first novel in my Follower of the Word series, is on sale for $0.99 now until Monday. So if you are looking for a new series to read, check this one out 🙂 Click on the preferred ebook link below:
Tag Archives: Fantasy
Son of Truth is Now Available
The sequel to Daughter of Light is now available!
I am cold. Ruthless. I always get the job done.
I am the left hand of the Lord of Temanin. I have murdered countless, doing away with those who would obstruct the Empire. I live in the shadows, and I am never found.
Until now.
I heard of the Eldarans, words spoken on my mother’s deathbed. A race of beings left in the Lands to protect mankind. Her words I dismissed as the ramblings of a dying woman. There were no such beings. Only myth, or distant legend.
Yet now I stand before one.
The woman’s hand glows as if she were holding a sliver of sunlight. I see the light, and I fear it. My mother’s words haunt me. I know the moment the woman touches me, I will be undone.
I cannot run, I cannot move. Her hand touches my cheek and fire sears my soul.
Everything I have done plays before my eyes: the women I have used, the lies I have spoken, the way I abused others, my disdain and arrogance.
And the deaths. All those deaths.
I feel her horror as she watches every act of murder. I try to hide what I have done, pull my past back into the shadows. But I cannot. It is now laid bare in the light.
The woman disappears. All is silent. I look at my hands. They are covered in blood. I try to wipe away the evidence of my darkness, but the blood remains.
A shadow appears before me and I look up.
A deformed and scarred man stands there. He looks upon me with dark, fathomless eyes. This is no ordinary man. He is more. And he is here to deal with the blood on my hands.
He is my judge.
I bow, my heart full of fear. The time of my reckoning has come.
And I know it will cost me my life.
***
The war in the north is over, but the war for all the Lands has just begun. As the Shadonae solidify their hold on the city of Thyra, Rowen Mar, the last Eldaran and savior of the White City, awakens to find herself hunted by those she has saved.
Meanwhile, the assassin Caleb Tala finds himself in the presence of the Word. The time of reckoning has come, and he must pay the price for all the lives he has taken. But in his moment of judgment, Caleb is given a second chance to change his life.
These two hold the power to save the Lands from the Shadonae. One must escape slavery, and one must choose to forsake everything before the world is consumed in darkness.
Book Review: The Ryn (Eyes of E’veria, Book 1)
The Ryn is a cross between a fantasy and a fairytale retelling. It centers on a young woman who grows up not knowing who her real family is, only to discover she is the Ryn, the long thought dead daughter of the king.
As Rose discovers who she is, she also learns she possesses telepathic-like powers, the power to hear the thoughts of others. But there are those who do not want the Ryn (Rose) to live, who tried to kill her as a baby and are now hunting her down. For she is the one from the prophecy who will finally defeat them and bring peace to the lands.
I enjoyed The Ryn. I love fantasy and especially anything like a fairytale retelling. The story and writing style reminded me of Jill Williamson‘s Blood of King Trilogy and Melanie Dickerson’s fairytale novels. You have the usual young person learning she is more than she thought, that she is the only one who can stop the encroaching evil, and possesses an amazing power. But what makes The Ryn unique is the world and the magic system.
There are storytellers who don’t just tell stories, but have a magical ability to bring the stories alive (imagine smoke and white sand forming characters in the story, coming forth from the storyteller’s hands). Great forests, a magical island, books that when you read them, you are drawn into the words and actually meet the writer (this is one of Rose’s unique abilities). Chivalrous knights, pirates, and a group of people with telepathic abilities.
The one thing I did notice is there are not a lot of battles or fight scenes. This first book seems to center more around Rose discovering who she is and growing in her power. But I suspect there will be more action in the following books.
Overall, if you enjoy fantasy, then I recommend this book 🙂
To find out more, check out these links:
AMAZON the ryn (purchase)Â http://www.amazon.com/The-Ryn-Eyes-Everia-ebook/dp/B00BZF1S28/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1364237341&sr=8-4&keywords=Serena+Chase
GOODREADS the ryn (listing) Â http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17669229-the-ryn
FACEBOOK official author page  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Serena-Chase/484250238321951
TWITTER @Serena_Chase
*I was given a free ARC for an honest review of this book.
Son of Truth Cover Reveal
Here it is, the cover for Son of Truth, which releases next week (April 1st, 2013).
The war in the north is over, but the war for all the Lands has just begun. As the Shadonae solidify their hold on the city of Thyra, Rowen Mar, the last Eldaran and savior of the White City, awakens to find herself hunted by those she has saved.
Meanwhile, the assassin Caleb Tala finds himself in the presence of the Word. The time of reckoning has come and he must pay the price for all the lives he has taken. But in his moment of judgment, Caleb is given a second chance to change his life.
These two hold the power to save the Lands from the Shadonae. One must escape slavery, and one must choose to forsake everything before the world is consumed in darkness.
Speculative Interview
Today I am featured over at Jen Eifrig‘s blog about my new upcoming book Son of Truth, what it’s like to be a writer, and what is my next big idea.
Next Big Thing
Welcome to the NEXT BIG THING Blog Hop.
What is a blog hop? Basically, it’s a way for readers to discover authors new to them.  I hope you’ll find new-to-you authors whose works you enjoy.  On this stop on the blog hop, you’ll find a bit of information on me and one of my books!
My gratitude to fellow author and friend, J. L. Mbewe, for inviting me to participate in this event. Â You can click the link to learn more about Jennette and her books.
In this blog hop, my fellow authors and I, in our respective blogs, have answered ten questions about our current book or work-in-progress (giving you a sneak peek). Â We’ve also included some behind-the-scenes information about how and why we write what we write–the characters, inspirations, plotting and other choices we make. I hope you enjoy it!
Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts and questions. Here is my Next Big Thing!
1: What is the working title of your book? Son of Truth
2: Where did the idea come from for the book? Whew, that’s a long story. Originally Daughter of Light was a standalone. But when I created the assassin Caleb Tala, I realized his story wasn’t done. There was more to him than I knew. So one book turned into three.
3: What genre does your book come under? This particular series (Follower of the Word) is a Christian fantasy written for the adult market. In other words, it is not YA. However, I have had teens (and their moms) write to me and tell me how much they enjoyed my book. It does have some dark themes in it, but compared to what is out there for YA, it is a great read for teens who are looking for fantasy.
4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? I haven’t really seen anyone I think look like my characters.
5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? An assassin is given a second chance at life, but it will cost him everything.
6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency? My work is published through Marcher Lord Press , an award winning independent publisher that specializes in speculative fiction. If you are looking for some great science fiction or fantasy, then check out Marcher Lord Press.
7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? It took me a year to write Son of Truth. I wrote it while I shopped around Daughter of Light. I am also a mother of four kids, so it takes me a while to complete a draft.
8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? I have been compared to Tolkien (who hasn’t?), but I would say my work is more along the lines of Terry Brooks‘ Shannara series or Terry Goodkind‘s Sword of Truth series. There are no dragons, no elves, no fairies, none of the usual fantasy races. Rather, my book focuses on humans and a special race of people with inborn abilities.
9: Who or what inspired you to write this book? I never set out to be a writer. I was a reader. I devoured books. I would read almost anything, but my favorite genre was sci-fi/fantasy. I was disappointed one day when I stopped into a Christian bookstore and discovered there were no Christian fantasies or science fiction. Why not? My husband said I should write one. No way! I hated English. I was a science kind of girl. But then I had this idea while on a trip to Seattle about a young woman with a mark on her hand who could see inside people’s souls when she touched them. I couldn’t get her out of my mind. What would it really be like to have that ability? Would she be loved or feared? And so the Follower of the Word series was born.
10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? It is always interesting to hear what character readers like the most. To my surprise, I had many people write to me and tell me they loved the assassin Caleb Tala. He is one of those dark, complicated characters. Those of you who want to find out more about Caleb will enjoy Son of Truth. His past, present, and future will be revealed.
Son of Truth releases April 1st, 2013.
Marcher Lord Press Collaborative Story
I’m the guest blogger again for the Collaborative Story over at Marcher Lord Press. All of us authors have been contributing a chapter a week and this week it’s my turn. The story is starting to wrap, so head on over, you don’t want to miss out!
But Who Would Be Dumb Enough To Even Try It?
Book Review: A Greater Strength
A Greater Strength by Rebecca P. Minor is the second installment in the Windrider Saga, following the first book, Divine Summons (click to read my review).
In this second book, Vinyanel, the lead male elf character, is put in charge of finding five missing talismans. These talismans are important because one cannot enter the elf city of Delsinon without one. And if a talisman were to fall into the hands of an enemy, it could be disastrous.
Vinyanel is joined on this mission by the half elf/half human prophetess Veranna, his dragon Majestrin, two other elves and a captured assassin. The rest of the windrider group is made up of a winged lion, griffon, and a pegasus. I liked how the windriders are not all dragons.
I felt the characters were deepened in this second book. Yes, there is still a lot of action and fighting, but if given the choice, I’m more into characters, and this time there is more cha
racter development. That brought me further into the story.
A Greater Strength is written along the lines of traditional fantasy filled with elves, dragons, gnomes, and unique places. If that is the type of stories you enjoy, then I definitely recommend this book.
*The first cover shown is actually for the entire Windrider series in hardcopy form. I read the series in ebook form, cover to the right.
The Story Behind Daughter of Light
Come April 1st I will have been working on Daughter of Light a little shy of eight years. As I draw near to my release date, I thought I would share with you how I came up with this story…
Rowen (my main character) did not start out with the ability to see inside the soul. I actually created her to be a healer. I was annoyed by the “healing” I saw constantly in fantasy: just place your hands on someone and heal them. Tada!
I asked myself what would it be like if healing cost you something? What if, instead of healing someone, you absorbed the person’s pain, sickness, or wound? Would you do it? Really?
I wanted to explore the psychology behind this answer: What would it feel like? Who would you choose to heal? How much fear would you feel? Would you ever do it again? I wanted real answers, not “this is what the hero would do” answers.
But as I began to write Rowen’s story, I realized she needed something more than this. But what? Then I read a story about a woman who microwaved her baby. I read the headline, horrified. Why would anyone do that? What this woman thinking? What inside of her made her do this?
That made me think. We never see most of the evil in this world. Why? Because most of it is never acted out. But it’s still there, inside of us. What would it be like to see inside of people? What if you were burdened with that ability…and never knew it. Until the moment you touched someone?
What would you see inside the human heart?
This is Rowen’s gift and burden. To see what only God sees, and to reflect it back. To reveal the truth.
Her story begins April 1st.
Christian Speculative Sites
Back in 2004 I began my search for Christian speculative fiction. There wasn’t a lot, at least that I could find. Since then, over the course of almost eight years I have found books, publishers, and websites all dedicated to this genre. I know some of you are lovers of the weird and the strange like me, but have no idea where to look to find your fill of fantasy and science fiction. Let me share with you my discoveries:
Where the Map Ends. This is the first site I discovered years ago for Christian Speculative lovers. It has everything from interviews with Christian authors of this genre to book lists to forums where Christians talk about science fiction and fantasy. A bonus to this site is a section where you can learn great writing tips from Jeff Gerke.
Speculative Faith. I found this site about 2 years ago. Monday through Friday you can find articles written by people knowledgeable and passionate about the speculative genre in general and how it relates to the Christian faith in particular. Excellent site for discussion. Bonus: Speculative Faith has a current book list of pretty much all the Christian fantasy and science fiction out there. So if you’re looking for something to read along those lines, check out their list.
Speaking of books, the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy blog tour (also known as the CSFF) consists of 30-50 bloggers who each month review a Christian speculative book or site. The goal of this blog tour is to let people know good Christian fantasy and science fiction exists. I will be participating in the tour at the end of this month. If you want to read about my thoughts on past books, click on CSFF Blog Tour.
And lastly, publishers. Since I first began writing, there are at least 4 publishers that I know of now dedicated to Christian speculative fiction. I have not been able to read everything produced, but what I have read I have enjoyed and written up reviews on. Here they are:
And of course, Marcher Lord Press.
I hope this helps many of you on your search for Christian speculative fiction. Enjoy!
Morgan L. Busse 