* Book Review: MICRO by Michael Crichton
* Enter to win a MIDDLE GRADE BOOK BUNDLE! Ends 4/10.
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I'm thrilled to announce that my book series, THE CRYSTAL KEEPER, is one of 45 books included in this month's BOOKSWEEPS GIVEAWAY!!!
If you love Sci-fi & Fantasy, enter HERE for a chance to win all 45 titles!!!
Giveaway runs from April 3rd - 10th.
ABOUT THE CRYSTAL KEEPER (Books I-3)
If you've read The Rock of Ivanore & The Last Enchanter, then you'll recognize the names Jayson and Ivanore. This is their story. Set fourteen years before The Celestine Chronicles series, The Crystal Keeper series chronicles the tragic separation of Jayson and Ivanore, and their undying love for each other.
This is the perfect time to read all these books, because The Celestine Chronicles, Book III: The Seer of the Guilde comes out this summer, and The Crystal Keeper, Books IV-VI are set to come out in 2018.
Jayson
lives among the shadows of Hestoria, his sole purpose for staying alive
– to protect his half of the Seer’s crystal. Exiled from his homeland
for loving the king’s daughter, Ivanore, Jayson is now pursued by two
opposing factions: the Vatéz (League of Magicians) who intend to use the
crystal for their own selfish gain, and the Guilde, the ancient
guardians of the crystal. Meanwhile,
Ivanore flees from her father to Hestoria in search of Jayson. As the
Seer, she is plagued with visions of him being tortured and is
determined to rescue him. When the Vatéz capture her, however, she
unwittingly jeopardizes everything Jayson has vowed to protect. He must
now make a terrible choice: Should he save Ivanore or save the crystal?
With the help of Teak, a local farm hand, Ivanore flees from the Vatéz into the forest. While recuperating from her injuries, she becomes an apprentice to an elderly enchantress who teaches her how to control her abilities. Unaware that Ivanore is in Hestoria, Jayson commits to working off the cost of Brommel’s passage to Dokur, where he hopes he and his young son will be safe. Though Jayson vows to avenge the death of Brommel’s wife and daughter, despair and guilt threaten to extinguish what little hope he has left of begin reunited with Ivanore.
With the help of Teak, a local farm hand, Ivanore flees from the Vatéz into the forest. While recuperating from her injuries, she becomes an apprentice to an elderly enchantress who teaches her how to control her abilities. Unaware that Ivanore is in Hestoria, Jayson commits to working off the cost of Brommel’s passage to Dokur, where he hopes he and his young son will be safe. Though Jayson vows to avenge the death of Brommel’s wife and daughter, despair and guilt threaten to extinguish what little hope he has left of begin reunited with Ivanore.
The Crystal Keeper Omnibus - Read all three for just $3.99!
Link to BOOKSWEEEPS GIVEAWAY: https://booksweeps.com/enter-win-45-young-adult-science-fiction-fantasy-books-apr-17/
EXCERPT - CHAPTER ONE (Exile):
Ivanore
hunched over the parchment, the tip of her quill flicking above her
hand like a trapped bird desperate to escape. The tallow candle cast a
cramped circle of light across the table, hardly enough to see by. If
only the night would last a little longer. Perhaps then she would have
enough time to write everything she needed to. But alas, time was one
thing she had too little of—that and light.
An
older man with long, gray-streaked hair and piercing gray eyes waited
beside her. The stone bungalow, their most recent of many hiding places,
boasted the barest of furnishings: the table, stool, cot—and a plain
wooden chest, its key held tightly in his fist.
A
sudden thump sounded at the door, startling them both. A strand of
Ivanore’s hair, gold as the candlelight, fell across the page. She
quickly tucked it back into place and wrote faster.
Zyll laid a hand on Ivanore’s shoulder. “They are here,” he whispered.
Ivanore finished the document and handed it to Zyll unbound. Turning to the chest, he carefully laid the pages inside.
“Wait,” said Ivanore. “Will you keep this as well?” A flat circle of pale green crystal lay in her open palm.
“But you will need it. I mustn’t—”
“Please,” she insisted, pressing it into his hand. “I can’t risk losing this one.”
Zyll
reluctantly folded his fingers around the cool stone. “Of course,
milady,” he said. Then, adding the crystal to the parchment, he laid a
plate of thin wood atop them both, sealing the chest’s false bottom. He
closed the lid and locked it.
The
pounding at the door grew more insistent. Whoever stood outside was
using their full weight against it in an effort to break through.
“We must hurry,” said Zyll.
Ivanore
allowed herself a quick glance at the chest, offering the briefest of
prayers that the gods would keep it safe until her return. Then, taking
her by the arm, Zyll led her through the low archway dividing the
bungalow’s front room from the back.
A loud crash of splintering wood resounded through the bungalow. Their visitors had finally broken in.
“Find her now!” a deep voice bellowed.
Grateful
for the trousers she now wore instead of her usual cumbersome skirts,
Ivanore clambered onto a stool and through a narrow window, lowering
herself as quietly as possible to the ground outside. Once Zyll had done
the same, they stole away across the rocky field. Though the sky was
black as ink, their path was illuminated by the amber glow of volcanic
fissures scoring the area for miles around.
“There
she is!” a man’s voice shouted behind them. The words sent spasms of
fear through Ivanore. She glanced behind her and saw three soldiers
emerge from the bungalow, wearing the gold and red cross of her father’s
crest. They had tracked her even here, to the remotest corner of
Imaness. Would Fredric ever let her be?
Ivanore
stopped running. She looked at Zyll, her trusted guardian and ally
these past months since she had fled Dokur, and knew her time with him
had come to an end.
“You’ll watch over them until I return?” she asked, out of breath. “Keep them safe. Don’t let my father find them.”
“You have my vow,” Zyll whispered, his voice tight with emotion.
Ivanore’s eyes welled with tears as she pressed her lips against the calloused skin of Zyll’s hand.
“Go,” said Zyll. “Go now before it’s too late.”
Ivanore
released Zyll’s hand and sprinted forward alone. As she ran, she cupped
her hands around her mouth and let out a loud, sharp call, much like
that of a hawk or an eagle. She risked another glance over her shoulder
and watched as Zyll turned to face their pursuers. As the soldiers
neared, their swords glinting in the fire glow, Zyll held up his hands. A
horizontal bolt of cerulean lightning shot out from his palms, striking
the oncoming soldiers. The men recoiled, their bodies instantly singed
and bloody.
Ivanore
ran on. In desperation, she repeated her call, and this time another
voice called back. A dark form appeared on the horizon, silhouetted
against the light of the volcanic fractures and growing larger as it
approached with tremendous speed. As it neared, the creature’s massive
feathered wings moved the air around Ivanore in warm, powerful gusts.
Ivanore saw clearly its eagle’s head with a beak large enough to break a
man in two, paired with the muscular, furred body of a lion. As she ran
toward it, the gryphon lowered its head, waiting.
Behind
her, the soldiers reeled in pain, but they did not forget their duty.
One man struggled to his knees, grunting from the effort. Reaching over
his shoulder, he slid a short bow and arrow from his pack and swiftly
took aim.
Ivanore
reached the gryphon and in one smooth motion hoisted herself onto its
back, twisting her arms deep into the feathers on the creature’s neck.
In that same moment, a single arrow found its mark in Ivanore’s
shoulder. She cried out before her body slumped forward and her mind
went dark. The gryphon took flight then, and in less time than it took
to draw another arrow—or a breath—they had vanished into the night.
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