Of The Divine
by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
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GENRE: FICTION/Fantasy
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BLURB:
Henna is one of the most powerful sorcerers in the Order of Napthol, and her runes ’s runes tell her that the future of Kavet is balanced on the edge of the knife. The treaties between Kavet and the dragon-like race known as the Osei have become intolerable. The time has come for the royal house to magically challenge Osei dominion. Prince Verte, Henna' lover, is to serve as the nexus for the powerful but dangerous spell, with Naples--an untested young sorcerer from the Order of Napthol--a volatile but critical support to its creation.
Amid these plans, Dahlia Indathrone’s arrival in the city shouldn’t matter. She has no magic and no royal lineage, and yet, Henna immediately knows Dahlia is important. She just can’t see why.
As their lives intertwine, the four will learn that they are pawns in a larger game, one played by the forces of the Abyss and of the Numen—the infernal and the divine.
A game no mortal can ever hope to win.
Amid these plans, Dahlia Indathrone’s arrival in the city shouldn’t matter. She has no magic and no royal lineage, and yet, Henna immediately knows Dahlia is important. She just can’t see why.
As their lives intertwine, the four will learn that they are pawns in a larger game, one played by the forces of the Abyss and of the Numen—the infernal and the divine.
A game no mortal can ever hope to win.
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Excerpt Two:
The pride of Osei abruptly turned and dove. Serpentine bodies large enough to lift ships from the sea plummeted. They changed shape so close to the ground that the wind from their wings smacked the plaza like a hand, rattling or knocking over the light carts and tables the early morning merchants set up to display their wares. Henna squinted her eyes against the grit that smacked her face as the Osei landed with enough force to shatter their bodies had they been human.
People in the plaza scattered, scrambling away to hide in the shelter of surrounding buildings, but Henna couldn’t make her muscles move as the Osei queen looked around speculatively.
The creature had skin like liquid silver and eyes like barbed steel. As she crossed the plaza directly toward Henna’s frozen form, Henna recognized her. She was the only Osei queen who ever left her own territory to visit another Osei House.
The Queen of the First House, the Royal House of the Osei, was standing in the Kavet marketplace.
Henna felt all the blood drain from her face. Maybe farther. Was she bleeding onto the cobbles? Into the core of the earth?
“You know us,” the queen said. “That is convenient. You will inform the rulers of this land that we require their immediate presence.”
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes wrote her first novel, In the Forests of the Night, when she was 13 years old. Other books in the Den of Shadows series are Demon in My View, Shattered Mirror, Midnight Predator, all ALA Quick Picks for Young Adults. She has also published the five-volume series The Kiesha’ra: Hawksong, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror List Selection; Snakecharm; Falcondance; Wolfcry; and Wyvernhail.
Buy link:
Interview with Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reins of the story?
I have absolutely no control.
When I started seriously looking at Mancer for publication, and therefore seriously looking into revision, I stumbled across the notes I made before I started writing. Except for a bare handful of names, the notes were almost unrecognizable as compared to the trilogy I ended up writing from them.
What I tend to do is create characters and put them in a situation… and then see what they do. I can affect the world around them, trigger earthquakes or the like, or sometimes nudge someone one way or another, but I fervently believe in letting characters guide the way. Sometimes they look at the problem that I expected to be the entire plot and go, “Nope,” as if Gandalf had told Frodo, “Keep it safe! Keep it secret!” and Frodo had gone, “Wow, this ring is clearly going to be too much trouble, so I think I’ll sell it at the pawn shop.” Then suddenly some poor pawn shop character who was never in my first set of notes is my main character while the one I spent weeks researching and making notes and planning for disappears after the first chapter and is never seen again.
Convince us why you feel your book is a must read.
Of the Divine is the second book in the trilogy, so I’ll start with the first and speak for the entire series: Mancer is a trilogy about magic and romance in an age of politics and gritty reality. It’s fantasy, so it is set in a world unconnected and unrelated to our own, but it is also set in a world that faces (unfortunately) many of the same problems that exist in our reality. It’s an escape from the real world that still allows us to consider the big topics and questions we need to answer.
And, unlike so many other fantasy series, it’s complete. I promise the third book is on its way.
Have you written any other books that are not published?
About a million.
Okay, that’s hyperbole-- it’s closer to a hundred.
I write, often, to decide what I want to write. Some of the books I’ve written explored areas of the world, but in my opinion didn’t have particularly compelling protagonists. Other times, I’ll like a character but run out of story to tell. I spend a lot of time writing and experimenting.
The books I have published (and those I intend to publish-- I do have a couple of those in the wings too) are the ones where the character, plot and setting all survived the experimentation process and came together to tell a story worth sharing.
Pen or type writer or computer?
For drafting and any kind of major writing, I prefer a computer. I like to be able to get my thoughts down quickly, I like access to Google (I look things up constantly while writing), and I absolutely require spell-check.
When I go back to edit, to outline, and to plan however I prefer a mechanical pencil, graph paper, and Post-Its. I can be flexible and brainstorm in pen on blank paper or index cards if necessary, but in a perfect world, if I’m trying to plan I like my pencil, grid, and Stickys.
Anything you would like to say to your readers and fans?
Thank you for reading! I love to write, but it’s you my readers-- especially those of you who keep in touch online through Social Media-- who give me the motivation to keep publishing.
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes will be awarding a limited edition print copy of the book *U.S. only* to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Follow the tour here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2017/09/vbt-of-divine-by-amelia-atwater-rhodes.html
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds interesting, and the cover is beautiful. Thanks for hosting.
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