Welcome to the world of Saranthium, a place of flying serpents, forgotten gods, myth and magic.
The Publisher - Escape Publishing
Published: 1 August 2014
Format: eBook
ISBN: 9780857991720
From fantasy writer Lara Morgan comes the second in her engrossing, enchanting, exciting Twins of Saranthium trilogy, perfect for curbing Game of Thrones withdrawals.
Shaan and Tallis have escaped from the fallen god, Azoth, but his dark shadow stretches over the enslaved the people of the Wild Lands and the terrifying army of human‐serpent warriors. War is coming, but the Council of Nine turn from the twins and their tales of Azoth's menace, focusing instead on a war on the Free Lands.
Meanwhile, the Four Lost Gods have awoken, ready to reclaim the Birthstone currently in Azoth's possession. But rather than the saviors Shaan and Tallis needed, the Four begin to exert terrible control over the people of Saranthium. With Tallis struggling to control the might power within, and Shaan attempting to resist the pull of Azoth, the twins are under assault from all sides. Victory may still be possible, but only through a devastating act of betrayal.
My Review
I have to admit didn't read the 1st book in the series, but I was tempt by all those next element - flying dragons (serpents), a city by the sea, a god returned to his world after thousands of years to seduce those serpents into fighting against the people who rely on them, in order to bring the populace under the god's dominion, Twins separated at birth a heroine whose troubled dreams are just the start of things to come...How you can resist this kind of stuff?
The story had been told from alternate perspectives, Shaan’s and her twin - Tallis’, as they fighting to understand who they really are and struggled with the powers within them. We find that the Birthstone ( The one that she forced to give to Azoth) has left Shaan with very special healing skills.
They also keep trying to save their world from Azoth a god gone mad with his terrifying army of human‐serpent warriors.
To this Boiling cauldron the author add ,four Lost Gods.They have just awoken, ready to reclaim the Birthstone currently in Azoth's possession. But rather than the saviors Shaan and Tallis needed, they begin to exert terrible control of their own, over the people of Saranthium. It seems that on this world, the gods are totally insane.
To defeat Azoth, Shaan must take a devious route, one that appears to set her against the very people she is trying to help. Meantime,Tallis,, grows in strength as a warrior and a leader, and by the end of this book we see him as a potential savior. His growth into power contrasts cleverly with Shaan's apparent descent into confusion
I loved the feeling that projected from the lines of the story. You actually. can feel the heat and the humid of this world, the colors are strong and bright and the thoughts and feelings... it so rich with them like a good gravy.
Here a sample from the 1st book-
The sky was washed pink with the dawn. Beyond the flat topped roofs of the city, the warehouses and jetties of the Great Port jutted out into the dark water of the bay. The massive main pier was like a stone arm pointing to the rim of the world and the sea a sheet of dark silk. The ships at anchor barely moved in the low swell
Here's another samples from the 2nd book -
Night as Fallen over the ancient city and with it came the rain, drifting like a mist over the walls. The moon was hidden behind the cloud and street lamps guttered and flared in the wet, casting a dim, orange-hued light.
Or
It been raining all day and the scant of wet sand and decaying leaves filled the air, the palm fronds dripping water onto her head as she passed beneath them. Beyond the trees she could hear the sea pouring relentlessly against the shore...
On either side, where homes must have stood, were churned and smashed areas of stone and wood, some marked by charred circles of ash, some of the trees that still stood had their brunches slashed one one side as if something flying past had swiped at them;others simply been uprooted...
Anyway, let go back to the book... I don't know if if it the 2nd sequel, but I had the feeling that Lara still building things for the pick that will come at her 3rd book... so many things felt like explanations and introductions. Beside discoveries about their growing powers the twins get to know about their family and the whys - who is their mother? father? clan? gods? and their world in general.Thier love live dimensions expanded and got deeper .... and in this the reader can mature alongside with them.
Maybe the pace seem to slow because of it but, the if i can predict correctly all will be answered at the end of the day and all this pieces will fall into their places.
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Music Playlist for Betrayal
I don’t listen to music that much when I write as I can find it distracting, but for some scenes it can help to set the mood, such as battle or love scenes, and it’s usually classical music when I’m writing fantasy.
When I was working on Betrayal it was the soundtracks for the movie Gladiator and for The Lord of the Rings; Return of the King I had on the most.
Both contain some very beautiful and moving work.
There are two especially haunting songs on The Return of the King:
One called Aragorn’s Coronation in which the actor Viggo Mortensen who played Aragorn sings in Elvish
Billie Boyd, who played Pippin , singing The Steward of Gondor.
Sometimes it was also a mix CD of Adagios just to quiet my mind.
Tales of the resurrection…. The Propet’s Scrolls.
Book 1: Awakening
For two thousand years the serpents of Salmut and their riders have kept the lands of Saranthium safe, but the pact between human and serpent is failing.
An orphan, thief and survivor, Shaan works in the serpents yards and her dreams are filled with visions of blood and death. The discovery that she can speak with Nuathin, the oldest serpent of the yards, brings her to the attention of sept leader, Balkis. Handsome, arrogant and seductive, Balkis is a man with powerful and dangerous alliances and Shaan becomes the target of the city’s most feared arms men: The Faithful.
Meanwhile, in the deserts, a young man named Tallis defends his clan against rogue serpents, driving them off with supernatural force. When he faces becoming an outcast because of his power, the truth of his birth is revealed and he embarks on a journey to understand the strength locked within his mind.
Drawn together, Shaan and Tallis become ensnared in the resurrection of an ancient conflict, but on whose side that of the serpents or the people?
Amazon Barnes & Noble Booktopia Kobo Escap
Book 2: Betrayal
Azoth – the fallen god – has enslaved the people and amassed an army of human-serpent warriors. The Four Lost Gods have awoken and begin to exert their terrible control over the people of Saranthium . As Tallis struggles to control the mighty power within him and Shaan tries to resist the pull of Azoth they are challenged on every side. Victory may be possible but only through a devastating act of betrayal.Book 3: Redemption
Saranthium is enslaved by the power of The Four and the people’s only hope lies with the twins, but Shaan is trapped in the Void, and Tallis can no longer find the serpents. To save his sister, Tallis must capture the Prophet’s Ring from the stronghold of the gods, but to do that he may have to lay his life at their feet. While Shaan embarks on an odyssey through the Void with only a bitter and defeated Azoth at her side. Tasked by the Guides with discovering Ogia’s Shore, Shaan must fight to find her way for if she fails she will be trapped and all hope will be lost.
Saranthium Maps
The land of Saranthium took many years and countless hours of fun and frustration to unearth.
I say unearth because it has often seemed to me that it is as real a place as any I have visited, as are the people who populate its cities and deserts. At times, when writing, I was sure I was merely recounting the history of a place that existed somewhere just beyond the corner of my eye, the reach of my breath, and that if I turned my head quickly enough I would see Shaan or Tallis disappearing around some tantalisingly distant corner.
These two maps are much better editions of the original pencil sketches I made to help illustrate my world and keep track of the characters moving within it. Thank you to artist Darian Causby of Highway 51 Design Works who made them into something publishable and legible to other people.
About the Author:
Lara Morgan has loved fantasy since her mother first read her The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (those Dark Riders still give her the shivers) and her book shelves are stacked precariously with more fantastical adventures than she will probably be able to read in one lifetime. She loves feisty heroines and heroes with depth and prefers to create villains in shades of grey rather than black and white, taking a tip from one of her personal heroes Joss Whedon who said: “All villains believe they are the hero of the story”.
Lara also writes for young adults and you can find her online at www.lara‐morgan.com or blogging when she has time at www.laramorgan.wordpress.com and on twitter @Lara_Morgan.
She lives in Geraldton, Western Australia, with her husband and son.
Social Media
Writing
The road to publication is full of potholes… or how I became a ‘real’ author
Like just about every other writer you may meet, my road to being published was long and consisted of plenty of stops, side roads that led to nowhere and extended periods of inactivity. I’m sure there are exceptions to this rule, but I haven’t met any yet and I’m not convinced I would like them if I did. I mean it would be like being in high school again surrounded by all those taller, thinner, prettier girls with bottoms like Russian gymnasts who always smile smugly whenever you try to complete one of those trampoline spring things.
Anyway…
I decided I wanted to seriously write books in 1997. Like everyone else I spent years collecting the required amount of rejections and cultivating a lot of angst staring at the computer. I wrote short stories, I made lots of false starts and went to festivals and I read as many ‘writers on writing’ books as I could. Then I entered the Australian Women’s Weekly short story contest in 2003 and won.
That competition was really the turning point as it got my name ‘out there’ and led to an invitation to contribute a short story to Girl’s Night In 4 (published by Penguin) which I wrote under the name Lara Martin and also, four years later, to my getting an agent.
The very hard working woman who is now my agent was actually a judge for that Women’s Weekly contest and we were both amazed when, just like serendipity, I sent her a query letter and a few chapters of Awakening. She loved it, took me on and a few months later had done a deal with Pan Macmillan Australia in late 2007. So it only took ten years. But if you measure it in galactic terms I’m sure it’s much shorter.
Advice?
The amount of advice for writers available in books and on the net is immense, and some of it written by such luminaries of literature that you are much better off searching for some of their erudite and wonderful words of wisdom (see below) than listening to me waffle on. I will offer this though: I keep a quote above my desk by E.L. Doctorow and I have often found it very comforting when I feel like I’m slogging away on a scene that seems to be making very little sense. It really gets to the heart of what it can be like trying to make it through to the end of your work.
“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” E.L. Doctorow
Then there is always the immortal Yoda: “Do, or do not, there is no try.”
Books to help and inspire:
- Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott. – full of humour and insight into all your writer neuroses,
- On Writing, by Stephen King – a classic including tips on writing and life.
- Steering the Craft, by Ursula Le Guin – a workbook from one of our greatest writers
- The Elements of Style, by Strunk & White – a writer’s bible for grammar and style
- Self Editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne & Dave King – a super helpful guide
- August 4th Monday: A Dream Within a Dream DREAM CAST
- August 5th Tuesday: Books, Authors, Blogs THIS OR THAT
- August 6th Wednesday: Blissful Book Reviews FAVORITE BOOKS
- August 7th Thursday: Coffee Books & Art REVIEW & MUSIC PLAYLIST
- August 8th Friday:CBY Book Club GUEST POST
- August 9th Saturday: Curling Up with a Good Book TENS LIST
- August 10th Sunday: Book Bliss REVIEW & INTERVIEW
- August 11th Monday: Sabrina’s Paranormal Palace REVIEW
- August 12th Tuesday: Cassandra M’s Place REVIEW & EXCERPT
- August 13th Wednesday: TTC Books and More REVIEW & RANDOM THINGS
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