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An interview with Tej Turner about Bloodsworn
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- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
Risingshadow has had an opportunity to interview Tej Turner about his new fantasy book, Bloodsworn.
BIO
Tej Turner is a writer of fantasy and science fiction. His debut novel The Janus Cycle was published by Elsewhen Press in 2015 and its sequel Dinnusos Rises was released in 2017. Both of them were described as ‘gritty and surreal urban fantasy’. He has also had short stories published in various anthologies.
He has since branched off into writing epic fantasy and has had a novel called Bloodsworn released. The first in his ‘Avatars of Ruin’ series.
Tej Turner has spent much of his life on the move and does not have any particular place he calls ‘home’. For a large period of his childhood, he dwelt within the Westcountry of England, and he then moved to rural Wales to study Creative Writing and Film at Trinity College in Carmarthen, followed by a master’s degree at The University of Wales Lampeter.
After completing his studies, he moved to Cardiff, where he works as a chef by day and writes by moonlight. He is also an intermittent traveller who every now and then straps on a backpack and flies off to another part of the world to go on an adventure. So far, he has clocked two years in Asia and a year in South America. He hopes to go on more and has his sights set on Central America next. When he travels, he takes a particular interest in historic sites, jungles, wildlife, native cultures, and mountains. He also spent some time volunteering at the Merazonia Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Ecuador, a place he hopes to return to someday.
BLOODSWORN
Everyone from Jalard knew what a bloodoath was. Legendary characters in the tales people told to their children often made such pacts with the gods. By drawing one’s own blood whilst speaking a vow, people became ‘Bloodsworn’.
And in every tale where the oath was broken, the ending was always the same. The Bloodsworn died.
It has been twelve years since The War of Ashes, but animosity still lingers between the nations of Sharma and Gavendara, and only a few souls have dared to cross the border between them.
The villagers of Jalard live a bucolic existence, nestled within the hills of western Sharma and far away from the boundary which was once a warzone. To them, tales of bloodshed seem no more than distant fables. They have little contact with the outside world, apart from once a year when they are visited by representatives from the Academy who choose two of them to be taken away to their institute in the capital. To be Chosen is considered a great honour… of which most of Jalard’s children dream.
But this year, the Academy representatives make an announcement which is so shocking it causes friction between the villagers, and some of them begin to suspect that all is not what it seems. Just where are they taking the Chosen, and why? Some of them intend to find out, but what they discover will change their lives forever and set them on a long and bloody path to seek vengeance…
“Classic epic fantasy. I enjoyed it enormously” – Anna Smith Park
“a stunning introduction to a few fantasy world” – Christopher G Nuttall
AN INTERVIEW WITH TEJ TURNER ABOUT BLOODSWORN
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Discuss this article in the forums (0 replies).Review: The Book of Yig: Revelations of the Serpent: A Cthulhu Mythos Anthology (edited by David Hambling and Peter Rawlik)
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- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
The Book of Yig: Revelations of the Serpent: A Cthulhu Mythos Anthology (edited by David Hambling and Peter Rawlik) was published by Macabre Ink (an imprint of Crossroad Press) in April 2021.
About The Book of Yig: Revelations of the Serpent: A Cthulhu Mythos Anthology:
Yig, known as the Serpent God, is older than humanity, and Yig’s reptilian Children once ruled the Earth. Now they are stirring in their caves, walking the Earth in forms not quite human, slowly and patiently preparing their plans. Those who stumble on their secrets are in deadly danger... but only they can prevent the return of our darkest fears.
Join us for a collection of novellas from some modern masters of Neo-Lovecraftian fiction: Peter Rawlik (Reanimator, The Weird Company), Matthew Davenport (Andrew Doran, The Trials of Obed Marsh), David Hambling (Harry Stubbs, The Dulwich Horror), and Mark Howard Jones (Cthulhu Cymraeg) telling stories of Yig’s deadly machinations.
Watch the plot unfold, from the 1920s to the present day through four chilling episodes!
REVIEW: THE BOOK OF YIG: REVELATIONS OF THE SERPENT: A CTHULHY MYTHOS ANTHOLOGY (EDITED BY DAVID HAMBLING AND PETER RAWLIK)
Discuss this article in the forums (1 replies).Review: Hideous Progeny by Vaughn Entwistle
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- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
Vaughn Entwistle's Hideous Progeny: Mary Shelley and Her Monster was published in October 2020.
About Vaughn Entwistle:
Vaughn Entwistle is a British novelist based in the Mendip Hills of North Somerset, an area of outstanding natural beauty.
For most of his life he has rattled about between England and the United States. He lived for over ten years in Seattle where, when not pursuing a day job as a writer/editor, ran a successful gargoyle sculpting business (yes, really!).
When not attempting to write with one cat on his lap, a Brittany lying across his feet, and one or more cats sauntering across the keyboard. When not writing he can be found walking the dog in the English countryside exploring the many gothic manors, ancient stone circles and remains of Roman towns and forts.
Click here to visit his official website.
About Hideous Progeny:
It never had life... but now it must die...
As a girl of 18, Mary Shelley’s imagination birthed the nameless monster that would make her name famous. But since that night of apocalyptic storms at the Villa Diodati and the dark nativity of her hideous progeny, Mary’s life has been a tedious narrative of grief and loss: a dead husband, a dead sister and three dead children. Now in middle age, Mary suffers headaches from the brain tumour that will soon end her life. Seeking relief from her monster’s malign curse, Mary travels from London to the Somerset estate of Andrew Crosse, the gentleman scientist who inspired her Dr. Frankenstein. Mary has come in search of an electrical cure, hoping that the same dread engine that raised her monster can now lay that ghost to rest.
REVIEW: HIDEOUS PROGENY: MARY SHELLEY AND HER MONSTER BY VAUGHN ENTWISTLE
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Discuss this article in the forums (0 replies).Review: American Blood by Bruce Woods
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- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
Bruce Woods' American Blood was published by Penmore Press in October 2020.
About Bruce Woods:
History with a Bite - Bruce Woods is a professional writer/editor with more than 30 years in magazine publishing, having worked as editor of Mother Earth News and Alaska Magazine, among others, and has published both nonfiction and poetry books. Prairie Schooner magazine featured his work in its “Writing from Alaska” issue. His Birdhouse Book, brought out by Sterling/Lark, is still in print and has sold more than 100,000 copies.
After leaving the editor’s position at Alaska Magazine in late 1998, Woods began a second career in External Affairs for the Alaska Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Eventually serving as the de facto writer/editor for the agency’s largest region, as well as providing information and an initial contact point for state, national, and international media on topics affecting Alaska’s often controversial wildlife and land management issues, Woods retired in the spring of 2013 in order to focus on fiction writing.
In addition to the Birdhouse Book referenced above, Woods has published three nonfiction volumes and several books of poetry with small presses. During his magazine editing career he also served as editor/contributor to numerous nonfiction volumes. Several of his essays have been anthologized, as well.
Woods currently lives in Anchorage, Alaska with his wife Mary and his two cats, Lucy Fur and Boswell. Gardening and bicycling (the latter usually upon a single-speed road bike named “Yellow Snow” that he built from an old track frame bought online) are chief among his many interests outside of reading and writing. He has two children, Ethan, who studied music composition at Bennington College and now resides in Asheville, N.C., and his daughter Alice, who recently graduated from Minneapolis College of Art and Design and currently lives in Minneapolis.
Click here to visit the author's Facebook page.
About American Blood:
Paulette Monot, vampire-adventuress, having survived the Matabele War in Africa, leaves England to travel in the opposite direction: to America, there to recuperate, make her fortune, and keep a low profile. So much for good intentions. When she finds herself strongly attracted to Lucy Burns, a young leader in the American movement for Women's Suffrage and the right to vote, the best Paulette can hope for is one out of three. The women who dare to peaceably demand be treated as human beings under the law are being treated worse than the most violent offenders. And it isn't just human anger and prejudice they must contend with. By the time Paulette figures out why disembodied, malevolent spirits are plaguing the suffragettes, it may be too late to save Lucy.
On the other hand, Paulette, whose thirst for vengeance is at least as strong as her taste for alluring redheads, finally has a chance to hunt down her accidental maker - with or without the permission of the American vampire kin.
American Blood, a stand-alone sequel to Royal Blood, is historical urban fantasy in which the actual events depicted are more horrific than the imagined supernatural elements.
REVIEW: AMERICAN BLOOD BY BRUCE WOODS
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Discuss this article in the forums (0 replies).Guest post: The Alchemy of Imagination by Robin Bennett
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- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
Risingshadow has an opportunity to feature a guest post by Robin Bennett, who is the author of Buk.
About Buk:
A modern re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland on its 150th Anniversary, Buk is a celebration of enchanting magical realism children’s books.
Nancy’s mother is having a baby and it is making her ill; Nancy’s father is angry with her mother because they can’t afford the baby; Nancy is angry with everyone.
Then she starts to see things... things that should only happen in fairytales. Is Buk a sign she is going mad or is he there to save her?
This book explores the alchemy of imagination and the blending of fantasy and reality – themes from the genre of magic realism, aimed specifically at young adults.
‘Alice in Wonderland meets Oscar Wilde – a modern day fable.’
“A truly delightful book that will enthrall listeners. Is Buk Nancy’s way of escaping the problems in her family, or is she really, like Alice, discovering a Wonderland? Imogen Stubbs is pitch perfect as narrator. Thoroughly recommended”
Links:
GUEST POST: The Alchemy of Imagination by Robin Bennett
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