Saturday, September 19, 2015

Giveaway: TWELVE KINGS IN SHARAKHAI by Bradley P. Beaulieu and Stuck in a Good Book Hop

Twelve Kings in Sharakhai - Bradley P. Beaulieu

We have a giveaway for TWELVE KINGS IN SHARAKHAI by Bradley P. Beaulieu. It’s book one of the Song of Shattered Sands series. There is one copy for a US address. It’s epic fantasy.

This giveaway is attached to the Stuck in a Good Book Giveaway Hop. Please see more about the hop below. And to enter this giveaway please be a follower of Layers of Thought. Ways to follow are listed below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here’s more about TWELVE KINGS IN SHARAKHAI:

Sharakhai, the great city of the desert, center of commerce and culture, has been ruled from time immemorial by twelve kings -- cruel, ruthless, powerful, and immortal. With their army of Silver Spears, their elite company of Blade Maidens and their holy defenders, the terrifying asirim, the Kings uphold their positions as undisputed, invincible lords of the desert. There is no hope of freedom for any under their rule.

Or so it seems, until Çeda, a brave young woman from the west end slums, defies the Kings' laws by going outside on the holy night of Beht Zha'ir. What she learns that night sets her on a path that winds through both the terrible truths of the Kings' mysterious history and the hidden riddles of her own heritage. Together, these secrets could finally break the iron grip of the Kings' power...if the nigh-omnipotent Kings don't find her first.

DAW | Hardcover | 592 pages | September 1, 2015

StuckinaGoodBookHop

This giveaway hop is hosted by Stuck In Books and I Am A Reader which can be accessed by clicking on the above banner.

To enter this giveaway please be a follower. There are a number of ways that you can keep up-to-date with Layers of Thought, including reviews, giveaways, author interviews, guest posts, and more. But the best ways to keep up with all the blog posts are via Facebook or email, so I recommend those.

Ways to “Follow”

  1. Facebook (For blog updates in your feed add me as a friend.)
  2. Your Email Box
  3. Feed Reader
  4. Twitter
  5. Google+
  6. Pinterest
  7. Goodreads (Add me as a friend. However, there are no giveaway updates here only reviews and books received.)

Please fill out the Google form to enter the giveaway:

Monday, September 14, 2015

Excerpt: BOOKBURNERS – Anywhere But Here by Brian Francis Slattery

Bookburners Episode 2 cover

We have an excerpt from BOOKBURNERS – Anywhere But Here. It’s Season 1 Episode 2 of Serial Box’s serialized book that is released in segments. And don’t worry there are no spoilers.

For more information about the series and how to read the entire publication, take a look at the information at the bottom of this post. But for now here is an early released excerpt to entice your interest in the book:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anywhere But Here - Episode 2 by Brian Francis Slattery, Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, and Mur Lafferty

“Where are we going?” Sal said.

“Madrid, it appears,” Asanti said. She was poring over a stack of papers at her desk.

“Though where exactly is unclear,” Liam said.

“We have the coordinates.”

“Yes,” Liam said sarcastically. “We have the coordinates.”

Menchú nodded. “Good.” He turned to Asanti. “Any idea what we might be facing?”

Asanti didn’t look up from her papers. “Madrid has been officially purged of magic for over five hundred years.” She gave a sad chuckle.

“The Inquisition?” Sal asked.

“Oh, no,” Asanti said. “The Inquisition was just a witch hunt, and not of real witches. Nothing to do with magic at all.” She turned a page. “But even so, Madrid seems dry. There was a brief flurry of magical activity during the Spanish Civil War, and the usual spotty records of underground societies during the Franco years and after. But they seem like dabblers. There’s no indication that any of them got hold of anything truly magical. No books or artifacts or anything else that I’m aware of.”

“So whatever we’re dealing with, it’s rogue,” Grace said.

“That’s right. Possibly predating the Inquisition, when they declared the place clean.”

“Arabic?” Liam said.

“Could be,” Asanti said. “But that’s a guess. Not even a hunch.”

“So we don’t know what we’re facing,” Grace said. “At all.”

“Afraid so,” Asanti said.

“This isn’t going to be like Eyjafjallajökull, is it?” Grace said.

Asanti looked up at last, slightly irritated. “No, this is not going to be like Eyjafjallajökull,” she said.

“The volcano in Iceland?” Sal said to Liam.

“Yep,” Liam said. “You know those eruptions in 2010? No one could fly in Europe for days? Apparently not entirely the result of natural forces.”

Grace interrupted. “There was a dragon. Seven stories high. Living under the volcano. Which had been there for over a thousand years, and was the subject of several local legends. But were we told any of this when we got on the plane?”

“My Icelandic was rusty,” Asanti said. “It won’t happen again. It’s certainly not going to happen in Madrid.” She said it with a sudden authority that made Sal believe her. Grace did, too. She backed down.

“Well, whatever is happening in Madrid,” Liam said, “I haven’t heard anyone call the police about it yet.”

“Thank God,” Menchú said.

“What happens if the police get involved?” Sal said.

“You’re a cop,” Liam said. “You should know. Things get a little messy. Let’s just say the sooner we get there, the better.” He sighed. “Why can’t they just take the books out to a barn up the back ass of nowhere and open them up there? Everything would be so much easier.”

“How’s your Spanish?” Grace said.

“I can order at a Mexican restaurant,” Sal said. “That’s about it.”

Grace shook her head. “Americans,” she said, under her breath.

They headed out to the airport.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here’s a blurb about this serialized urban fantasy: 

Magic is real, and hungry—trapped in ancient texts and artifacts, only a few who discover it survive to fight back. Detective Sal Brooks is a survivor. Abruptly thrust into the battle between nefarious forces trying to unleash this power onto the world and those trying to stop them, she joins a Vatican-backed black-ops anti-magic squad: Team Three of the Societas Librorum Occultorum. Together they stand between humanity and magical apocalypse. Some call them Bookburners. They don’t like the label.

Here’s a bit more about the series:  

This September, new publisher Serial Box is bursting onto the scene and bringing the TV model of media production and delivery to the book world with BOOKBURNERS, an urban fantasy adventure following a black-ops anti-magic squad backed by the Vatican. Wandering from police procedural to New Weird and dabbling in most genres in between, BOOKBURNERS will keep you hungry for more, week after week.

Written by a team of authors including Margaret Dunlap (Eureka), Mur Lafferty (The Shambling Guide to New York City) and Brian Francis Slattery (Lost Everything), the group is led by rising genre star Max Gladstone (Three Parts Dead).

While the series officially launches on September 16th with the release of Episode 2, there is the first episode up for all to enjoy on SerialBox.com.

They aim to bring book lovers everything they like about television:

  • New episodes each week
  • Series are produced by a team of writers collaborating to create the most exciting, dynamic stories
  • Episodes are easily ingestible with a 40-minute average read-time
  • Each episode is an exciting adventure but together they build into a complete narrative—just like your favorite shows

Each episode will be available via SerialBox.com and their iOS app (via Apple), as well as iTunes, Amazon, Kobo, Google Play, and B&N.

Bookburners Episode 2 cover

And here’s the blurb about the first episode:

Chapter 1: Badge, Book, and Candle

NYPD Detective Sal Brooks is no rookie—but even the most hardened cop would think twice when they see their brother open a book and become…well…something entirely not their brother.

When her attempts to solve the case cross paths with a mysterious team led by a priest, she starts to realize that the world is far more than what is seems, and, just maybe, magic is real—and hungry.

Follow along as Sal learns the life changing lesson: some books have teeth.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Press Release: THE STREETS by Robert Dunbar

The Streets - Robert Dunbar

THE STREETS has just been released. It’s the third novel in Robert Dunbar’s The Pines Trilogy.

It can be read independently of the other two novels THE PINES and THE SHORES. However, for an optimal reading experience you might want to start with the first two in the series. You can pick up all three books at Amazon in various formats.

If you enjoy dark and tasteful fiction then these are a must read. And even better they’re perfect for that obligatory feeling that we all desire in the Fall, since who doesn’t enjoy a thrilling read as the weather starts to cool?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here’s what the author says about his latest book:

THE STREETS is the final part of Robert Dunbar's THE PINES TRILOGY:

In a desolate city, as ravaged and dangerous as a post-Apocalyptic wasteland, horrors prowl the back alleys. Struggling to survive, a group of young people find themselves trapped in a decaying asylum ... where unspeakable evil lurks.

Do the streets offer escape? Or death?

And the prologue:        

Just as there are broken people, there are broken places on this earth.

Some have always been broken. 

All cities have such neighborhoods at their edges, and this city is all edges... block after block of bleakly hopeless outskirts.

People don't bury dead cities. They abandon them. They abandon them to the poorest of the poor, to the lost and the doomed.

A few streetlights may still glimmer, but the life of this city ebbed long ago.

It might resemble the site of some cataclysm or as though chains of time had tightened, crushing it. Yet it is not truly old, not as such things are measured. No true cataclysm occurred, and the extinct civilization that built it staggers on, even now unaware of its own demise.

Rot phosphoresces where wounds are deepest, and here decay is well advanced, but some form of life festers still. Things scurry. They twitch in shadows. They splash through flooded alleys and lurk along the docks.

And they travel in packs.

334 pages | Uninvited Books | September 1, 2015

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...