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Auran Chronicles #3, interview and new cover

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So, Auran Chronicles #3, “Weave Born”, is in the last 20,000 words of the first draft. The end is in sight, all the characters (those still standing) are in their right places on stage to see this thing out.

And there was much rejoicing…

It’s a strange feeling now. Although it’s taken only (only!) a year to write the three books of the Auran Chronicles, the actual story has been sat in my head for years. So it’s with a mixture of excitement and sadness that I near the end. I’m still planning on sticking to the ending I’ve had in mind all along, but may apply a slight tweak or two after receiving some stern instructions from Mrs D as to who I’m allowed to kill off (and who not, more specifically!)! In the end, though, I’ll stay true to the characters and their journey. Seb has gone from the “every man” to the potential saviour of the whole universe, Sylph has perhaps gone through the most severest tests of all after losing everything she’d ever known, and Cade, well, if you read Consensus Breaking you know Cade isn’t in the best of places right now…

Weave Born contains the same mix of swords, sorcery, mythology and horror you will have come to expect from the Auran Chronicles, all ramped up to the max for this final instalment. Keep an eye out for it November/December time!

In other news, I’ve taken part in an author interview with the delightful folks at Outlet Publishing. You can find the interview here. Thanks Caitlin!

And finally, you will have noticed the new image on this post. I’ve actually gone and changed the cover of Consensus Breaking! I didn’t really like the previous cover. I didn’t like the way Seb was facing away from the viewer, and it didn’t scream “urban fantasy” enough for me, compared to others in my genre. I’ve amended now, courtesy of Novak Illustration. Hope you like it!

Oh, one final thing. A couple of folks have asked what’s next after Auran Chronicles is done. Well, without giving much away, I’m going to have a change from the urban fantasy genre, and have a couple of books lined up in the techno/thriller/horror genre. Thing Michael Crichton meets Stephen King, and you’ll get the picture. I’m going to write a series in the same universe, keeping the same protagonist. The stories will be stand alone, but there will be an underlying mythology underneath that will link them all together. Watch this space!

Not read Message Bearer, the first in the Auran Chronicles? Get it HERE now, only $0.99 (or equivalent) and #free on Kindle Unlimited.

Book 2 now available for pre-order! Here’s Chapter 1.

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Brilliant series, looking forward to book two!

Ian W. Sainsbury

The Unmaking Engine is finished, the final edits are being put in place and it will be published on Amazon 30th September. Warm up your Kindles and your Kindle apps. The print version is next on my list, hopefully for October or November.

Rather than blog about the process, or my plans for book three (yep), I thought I’d just drop Chapter One here for you. The pre-order links are here:

The Unmaking Engine amazon.com   The Unmaking Engine amazon.co.uk

Apologies to readers in other countries, but I’ll run out of space if I include all the links  😉

If you like what you read, but haven’t read The World Walker yet, I’ll put links to that at the end.

THE UNMAKING ENGINE

CHAPTER ONE

Dover, Delaware

There were five of them and only one of him, which was the first problem. One of them—the biggest, ugliest one—had just…

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Message Bearer (The Auran Chronicles Book 1) by M.S. Dobing

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A really positive review of Message Bearer that I just has to share, courtesy of The Bookigloo.

The Book Igloo

Release date: 16th November 2015

Pages: 421

Age Range: 13+

Contains: Some descriptions of violence

Genre(s): Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Thriller & Mystery

About The Book: ‘You were drawn. I can see it. You are Latent.’

For reasons unknown, Seb is constantly drawn to random places without meaning, following an instinct he doesn’t understand.

One night that instinct lands him in trouble when he encounters Sarah, a young woman hunted by a fiend that can only be described as the stuff of nightmares. Against his better judgement Seb attempts to intervene, only to nearly get himself killed in the process. Before she passes, Sarah transfers something to him, an arcane knowledge that gets buried deep into his subconscious.

Rescued by the Brotherhood warrior Cade, Seb’s life takes on an unexpected turn when he is told he is a Latent, able to manipulate the very energies of reality to his own devices…

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Review: Vampire Crusader

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Vampire Crusader
Vampire Crusader by Dan Davis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Vampire Crusader follows the adventures of young knight Sir Richard of Ashbury who battles the terrifying William de Ferrer throughout history.

The story is vivid and gripping, and you find yourself enthralled in the world the author has created. It is obvious a great deal of research has gone into the historical elements of the book and this only adds to its authenticity. Such characters as King Richard the Lionheart (who until know only existed as Sean Connery in my head!) are brought to life as living, breathing characters rather than names from history. This particular entry in the series follows the Crusades where Richard, through his pursuit for vengeance, finds himself following King Richard to battle in the Holy Land against Saladin and his armies. Whilst the focus is on Richard and his personal story, this is subtly blended in with the wider events as a whole which gives a wider context to the story and its events.

Whilst the novel is about vampires, it is done in a subtle way rather than having any kind of stereotypes (both modern and old) that scream “vampire story”. These creatures are strong, fast and savage, but from the perspective of our hero and those around them they are obviously different, but treated with an air of mystery that I look forward to exploring in future books in the series.

I should also draw attention to the depictions of combat within the novel. It is gritty, brutal but feels so authentic. Rarely have I read battle scenes where I could practically feel the cut of the blade through muscle or the breaking of bone and cartilage. It’s grim, but necessarily so and really adds to the realistic feel of the book.

Richard himself is an interesting character. You feel through his narration the years of hell he’s been through (over 800 years of them!) without him having to explicitly describe them. This is a hero who’s been through hell many times over, and there’s almost a world-weariness about him that layers his perspective. When some of the bad things happen to him (and I mean, bad!) you genuinely feel the rage he feels and I was racing through the pages purely to see if the wrong-doers would get their comeuppance.

As the story progresses more layers are peeled back in both on the vampire mythology itself and Richard’s history. There’s an excellent balance of both that promises good things for book 2.

Really enjoyed Vampire Crusader. Once I’d picked it up I raced through it. Recommend.

View all my reviews

It lives! The Auran Chronicles: Message Bearer is out now

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At last, Auran Chronicles: Message Bearer is alive and well on Amazon after 18 months of hard slog.

For those who may be interested, the Auran Chronicles is a series of Urban Fantasy novels that can be best be described as a mix of a gritty, older Harry Potter-type story mixed with the Matrix and some quantum physics thrown in.

Book 2 is well underway, and will be out 1st half of 2016.

Blurb…

‘You were drawn. I can see it. You are Latent.’

For reasons unknown, Seb is constantly drawn to random places without meaning, following an instinct he doesn’t understand.

One night that instinct lands him in trouble when he encounters Sarah, a young woman hunted by a fiend that can only be described as the stuff of nightmares. Against his better judgement Seb attempts to intervene, only to nearly get himself killed in the process. Before she passes, Sarah transfers something to him, an arcane knowledge that gets buried deep into his subconscious.

Rescued by the Brotherhood warrior Cade, Seb’s life takes on an unexpected turn when he is told he is a Latent, able to manipulate the very energies of reality to his own devices. He is brought into a world within our own where the Magistry and its allies engage with the demonic Sheol in a timeless conflict that has traversed entire universes.

A world where he, and he alone, carries the message that could change the course of the conflict forever.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0184PNP22?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Cover done!

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AuranChronicles_CVR_SML

Well, the cover’s finally done, courtesy of Steve at Novak Illustration. Great work by a really talented guy!

Next week looks to see the release of my first novel, Message Bearer (part of the Auran Chronicles universe). Very scared, but just thankful to see this one finally getting to see the light of day!

Amazon vs. Hachette – Indie authors and lovers of Indie Lit. – take a stand against big publishing, sign the petition.

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Indie Hero

Some have called for a boycott of Amazon. Read the article excerpt below.

“Self-published authors responded to Preston’s open letter on Thursday with their own petition, which now boasts over 3,000 signatures.

Launched by Howey – author of the hit dystopian novel Wool – and others including the bestselling thriller writers JA Konrath and Barry Eisler – the letter urges readers not to boycott Amazon, arguing that the online giant has liberated authors and readers alike from the clutches of “New York Publishing”.

“Major publishers like Hachette have a long history of treating authors and readers poorly,” the petition states. “Amazon, on the other hand, has built its reputation on valuing authors and readers dearly. The two companies didn’t simultaneously change directions overnight.”

“Amazon has done more to liberate readers and writers than any other entity since Johannes Gutenberg refined the movable type printing press”, the petition continues, adding that “Amazon…

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