Join me in welcoming Lou Hoffman to my blog with her blog tour stop for Wraith Queen's Veil! Today she gives us an inside look at the Beasts in Lucky's Worlds! And don't forget to enter the giveaway below!
Use coupon code SUNCHILD2 to get this fabulous deal:
35% discount on Key of Behliseth and Wraith Queen’s Veil when you buy only from Harmony Ink Press!
Also available from
Amazon and Barnes & Noble!
The Beasts in Lucky’s Worlds:
A loving look at the horrible, wonderful, treacherous, loyal, extraordinary non-humanoids
in Lou Hoffmann’s The Sun Child Chronicles
Hello Readers! I’m Lou Hoffmann and today is the official release day for book 2 of The Sun Child Chronicles, Wraith Queen’s Veil. I’m grateful to Cody Kennedy to have me here today, and thank you, too, readers, for stopping by. This is a fun post—at least it’s a fun one for me to write, and I think you’ll enjoy reading it as well. Before I begin the bestiary, take a look at the blurb for WQV and the outstanding cover, designed by artist Catt Ford.
About Wraith Queen's Veil
When Lucky arrives in Ethra, the world of his birth and destiny, he expects a joyful reunion, but the first thing he notices when he reaches the Sisterhold—his home—is something false behind his mother’s smile. In a matter of weeks, the Sisterhold becomes agitated with worries and war plans. People he trusts—like the wizard Thurlock—frequently can’t be found. His mother seems angry, especially with Lucky. Even Han Shieth, the warrior uncle he has come to rely on and love above all others, maintains a sullen silence toward him.
When Lucky’s resentment builds to the breaking point, his bad decisions put him and his friends, L’Aria and Zhevi, in unthinkable danger. Han arrives to help, but he can’t claim invulnerability to the hazards and evils that threaten at every turn. Events launch Lucky, alone, on a quest for he knows not what, but every step brings him closer to his identity and full strength. Self-knowledge, trust, and strength lead to smarter choices, but even his best efforts might not render his world truly safe, now or for the future.
Also important, there’s a giveaway—follow the Rafflecopter link in this post and enter for chances to be one of four winners!
Now about the beasts…
(In the arbitrary order of the letters of the alphabet)
AedanhBook: Key of BehlisethThe Stallion ridden by Liliana, Lucky’s mother, in as she leads her elite cavalry, Shanha’s Rangers, into battle. “His gait proud, his hooves fleet. His coat shone like spun gold even in the tower’s foul glow.”
Ahrion
Book: Key of BehlisethThe northern queen Hilgaardre’s legendary “moon-white winged mount,” given in hopeful atonement for a lifetime serving an evil god to her adopted daughter, Isa.
BaneshieldhAn ancient wolf who rules a dark, cursed forest in Ethra. Tall, heavily muscled, paws larger than dinner plates. His “eyes blazed with an eerie, changing light, never settling on any color.”
Black DragonBook: Wraith Queen’s VeilA wingless, dragon, very large in circumference and length, a single central horn located behind it’s skull, and numerous short legs. It breathes neither fire nor ice. Well-armored with “shiny back scales… quite beautiful in the moonlight.”
CaveblightsBook: Wraith Queen’s VeilLarge, smelly, horrific but natural monsters. Nearly blind, sensing sudden changes in heat instead. “Nasty creatures the size of a pony with teeth like a beaver but pointy.”
Dawn CatsBook: Wraith Queen’s VeilPack-hunting carnivores of the Sunlands’ forests, also known as thrall-gazers, death kittens, and venom cats.
DragonlingsBook: Wraith Queen’s VeilSmall flying creatures, venomous. “Dark and winged and sort of like a very small dinosaur.”
Eastern FlickersBook: Wraith Queen’s VeilSmall silver-winged birds that cheer Lucky during dark times while on his travels in Ethra.
Flame EaglesAn Ethran species of intelligent, civilized bird, allies of the Sunlands. “Massive birds plumed in white and crested black, saffron, and red.”
GhriffonBook: Key of BehlisethThe Flame Eagles’ “battle-wise” king.
Glacier WolvesBook: Key of BehlisethEthran wolves with shaggy white hair. curled-up tails, the aerodynamic shape of a greyhound, double rows of teeth in long snouts. “Their eyes pearled ghost white except for the pupils, dart-sharp and burning red.”
KindelredBook: Key of Behliseth and Wraith Queen’s VeilA flame eagle killed in the battle of Black Creek Ravine.
K’ormahkBook: Wraith Queen’s VeilA black winged stallion. “The last of the great winged beasts of the far north—born long after the world believed the strain had died.”
Lemon MartinezBook: Key of Behliseth and Wraith Queen’s VeilA grumpy gray cat Thurlock and Han found under the Martinez Bridge in Valley city. “Lemon Martinez loathed magic in general, but he loved the wizard’s things—slept on his pajamas, for instance.”
MaizieBook: Key of Behliseth and Wraith Queen’s VeilA yellow mongrel dog Lucky raised during his time as a homeless teen. Sloppy tongue, thick fur. “Like a big ball of animated sunshine.”
MishkaBook: Wraith Queen’s VeilLucky’s aunt Rosishan’s orange tomcat.
Naht’kahBook: Wraith Queen’s VeilAn ancient shape- and color-changing dragon, sometimes called the Giver. She dwells “in iridescent pools… in the deepest, most hidden cavern in the heart of Behlis Ethra.”
Nahk’teshBook: Wraith Queen’s VeilA singular, water-dwelling being who lives in underground pools with Naht’kah, called the Taker, “A furry beast with duck feet, human-like hands, and a long, floppy proboscis.”
SahlamahnBook: Key of Behliseth and Wraith Queen’s VeilA blue, ice-breathing dragon. Eerily beautiful, large for her species, clawed, armored. “The first ice-drake ever transformed, and the only one ever to rise flawless.”
SimarrohnBook: Wraith Queen’s VeilLucky’s uncle Han Shieth’s exceptional, fleet, stouthearted sorrel mare.
Sherah
Book: Key of BehlisethThurlock’s famous silver-gray mare. “Even at night, the mare’s silver coat flashed as they passed through shadows. Her hooves, shod with sun-metal, sparked with every stride.”
WindyBook: Wraith Queen’s Veil“A plodding old-man-horse…who had three speeds: slow, slower, and backward.”
That’s it for the beasts! I hope you enjoyed peeking into the crazy worlds wandered by Lucky (also known as Luccan Elieth Perdhro, Mannatha, Suth Chiell, the Sun Child of the Ethran Sunlands).
Wraith Queen’s Veil is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and all around the web, but here are the buy publisher’s buy links, where you can use coupon code SUNCHILD2 to get this fabulous deal: 35% discount on Key of Behliseth and Wraith Queen’s Veil when you buy only from Harmony Ink or Dreamspinner Press!
That’s it for the beasts!
The Giveaway:
When Lucky arrives in Ethra, the world of his birth and destiny, he expects a joyful reunion, but the first thing he notices when he reaches the Sisterhold—his home—is something false behind his mother’s smile. In a matter of weeks, the Sisterhold becomes agitated with worries and war plans. People he trusts—like the wizard Thurlock—frequently can’t be found. His mother seems angry, especially with Lucky. Even Han Shieth, the warrior uncle he has come to rely on and love above all others, maintains a sullen silence toward him.
When Lucky’s resentment builds to the breaking point, his bad decisions put him and his friends, L’Aria and Zhevi, in unthinkable danger. Han arrives to help, but he can’t claim invulnerability to the hazards and evils that threaten at every turn. Events launch Lucky, alone, on a quest for he knows not what, but every step brings him closer to his identity and full strength. Self-knowledge, trust, and strength lead to smarter choices, but even his best efforts might not render his world truly safe, now or for the future.
About Lou Hoffmann
Lou Hoffmann has carried on her love affair with books for decades, yet she hasn’t even made a dent in the list of books she’d love to read—at least partly because the list keeps growing. She reads factual things—books about physics and history and fractal chaos, but when she wants truth, she looks for it in quality fiction. She loves all sorts of wonderful things: music and silence, laughter and tears, youth and age, sunshine and storms, forests and fields, flora and fauna, rivers and seas. Even good movies and popcorn! Those things help her breathe, and everyone she knows helps her write. (Special mention goes to (1) George the Lady Cat and (2) readers.) She writes for readers who find themselves anywhere on the spectrums of age and gender, aiming to create characters that live not only in their stories, but always in your imagination and your heart.
She blogs at Queerly YA, is on facebook, is @Lou_Hoffmann on Twitter, and loves to hear from readers at louhoffmannbooks (at)gmail(dot)com. She believes in love, believes in you, and believes in the magic of a good book.
Thank you, Cody!
ReplyDelete