BooksChatter: ☀ The Fading Dusk: Smoke and Mirrors [1]

Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for The Fading Dusk , a Young Adult Fantasy by Melissa Giorgio (19 July 2015, Melissa Giorgio, 408 pages).

This is the first book in the Smoke and Mirrors series, a Young Adult Fantasy.

PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and excerpt below, as well as our Q&A with author Melissa Giorgio. Read the first four chapters with Amazon Look Inside.

Melissa Giorgio will be awarding one signed paperback of THE FADING DUSK and one signed paperback of THE SIGHT SEER to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀), interviews (ℚ), reviews (✍) and guest blog posts (✉).

Synopsis | Teaser | Author Q&A | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops

Synopsis

In the gritty city of Dusk, seventeen-year-old Irina makes her living as the street magician Bantheir’s assistant. The job isn’t glamorous, but she loves the crowds, the shows, and most of all, the illusion of magic. But Irina’s world is shattered the night she is arrested and charged as Bantheir’s accomplice to murder—murder by magic.

Real magic, the kind that’s been forbidden since the old wars.

Irina finds the idea of flashy showman Bantheir using actual magic to kill someone laughable, but she’s the only one who sees how ridiculous the claim is. But how can she convince everyone Bantheir is innocent when they’ve already made up their minds?

Desperate, Irina must decide who she can trust to help her win her freedom. Is the surly, handsome Captain Leonid telling the truth when he says he believes Irina is innocent, or is he just using her to get to Bantheir? What about Aden, the sweet soldier and longtime fan of Irina’s who claims he’s on her side?

Irina said she wanted to know the truth, but when she stumbles across a dark secret that changes everything, will she be strong enough to survive?

Teaser: Excerpt

ONE

THE MAGIC WASN’T REAL, BUT I loved it all the same.
      Bantheir traveled the city of Dusk, relying on tricks and sleight-of-hand to make his living as a street magician. From courtyards to backyards, we worked tirelessly to fill our battered old hat with coins from our patrons. It was gritty and glamorous, unpredictable and exciting, full of uncertainty and wonder, and I cherished every single moment as Bantheir’s assistant.

      ***

      “COME ON, COME ON, IRINA,” Bantheir scolded with a grand sweep of his hands. Everything Bantheir did was grand. He always believed he was onstage, performing for his adoring fans. Never mind that we never performed on a stage, nor did we have fans. Patrons, yes. Generous patrons? Sometimes.
      However, I understood why Bantheir acted that way. We relied on the shows— and those generous patrons— for our livelihood. If they didn’t reward us with coins after our performances, we wouldn’t be able to eat. Worse, we wouldn’t be able to afford our rent, and we would have to pack our things from my beloved house and live in the slums.
      I would never go back to the slums. Never.
      “Coming, Bantheir,” I said, wobbling under the weight of a heavy pack crammed with props. It was so large it completely blocked my vision, and I didn’t notice Bantheir had halted in his tracks until I nearly plowed him over.
      “Watch it!” he hissed, blue eyes flashing.
      “Why did you stop?” Stumbling like a drunk, I attempted to peek around the pack to see what had caught his attention. Bantheir made a noise of impatience and grabbed the pack out of my arms, setting it on the ground with more force than was necessary. I was about to ask him what was the matter when I noticed the huge crowd that had already gathered.
      A crowd that wasn’t meant for us.
      Their bodies pressed together tightly as they strained to catch a glimpse of two figures, one male, the other female, standing on a large wooden stage erected in the middle of the courtyard. The male figure raised his fist over his head before hurling something to the ground. A large explosion rocked the courtyard, and a dark-green cloud of smoke spiraled up from the ground, blocking the figures from view. When the cloud dissipated, only the female remained, still in the same spot she’d been standing in before the explosion. Putting one hand on her hip, she gestured toward the empty spot with her other hand, and the crowd went wild, screaming their approval.
      “Simple fireworks,” Bantheir said loudly, stroking his goatee with an air of disdain. “And obviously there’s a trapdoor below the stage. So simple, even a child could figure it out.”
      Considering the adults in the crowd were cheering even louder than the children, it wasn’t as simple as Bantheir proclaimed. Before I could tell him to lower his voice, a person emerged from the crowd to clamp a hand down on Bantheir’s shoulder.

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About the Author

Melissa Giorgio is a native New Yorker who graduated from Queens College with a degree in English. She’s always dreamed of being a writer and has been creating stories (mostly in her head) since she was a little girl. Also an avid reader, Melissa loves to devour thick YA novels. When not reading or writing, she enjoys watching animated films, listening to music by her favorite Japanese boy band, or exploring Manhattan. She is also the author of the Silver Moon Saga.

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