Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for The Key of Alanar, an Epic Fantasy / Sci-Fi by Rory B. Mackay (15 August 2015, Blue Star Publishing, 484 pages). This is the first book in the The Alanar Ascendant series.
PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and excerpt below, as well as our Q&A with author Rory B. Macay. Read the Prologue and the first four chapters with Amazon Look Inside.
Visit Rory Mackay's website to explore The World of Alanar and meet its Characters.
Find out about the Preludes to The Key of Alanar, and Download four FREE short stories!!!
Author Rory B. Mackay will be awarding signed copies of both his novels, Eladria and The Key of Alanar, (International Giveaway) 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 | Trailer | Teaser | The Series | Author Q&A | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops
Synopsis
What if you could unlock the universe?Caught in the crossfire of an ancient war, an entire world burns. The only hope for past, present and future is an orphaned boy being hunted for a gift he never wanted.
A quest to save the universe... and a journey beyond the limits of reality.
Lasandria. An ancient, advanced civilization, consigned to oblivion by the greed and power lust of its own people. The coming apocalypse heralds a new evil that will ravage the world of Alanar for an entire age. Yet on the eve of Lasandria’s destruction, the ethereal overseers of the mortal realm grant a dispensation—a promise of hope for the future.
That hope lies with an orphaned teenager named David, born some ten millennia later; a boy whose isolated and uncertain existence leads him on a journey upon which hinges the fate of not just his world, but countless others.
On the run from a brutal military force, David’s quest is one born of shattered dreams and tainted by the thirst for revenge. As an inter-dimensional war that has been waged since the beginning of time threatens to consume his world, the dark force that destroyed Lasandria lurks in the shadows, ready to take possession of the one thing that will either save Alanar or destroy it — David.
Teaser: Excerpt
“Hysteria gripped the islanders. Shocked and afraid, people tried to run, yet the town centre was so congested that the crowd soon came to a virtual standstill. People shoved into each other, desperate to escape; many knocked to the ground and trampled amid the chaos.
Janir reached out and grabbed David’s arm. “We must leave now!”
“No. I have to find my mother.”
“David, we don’t have time.”
David wasn’t listening. Pulling himself free of Janir’s grasp, he plunged headfirst into the crowd. While everyone was attempting to flee the town square, David moved deeper into it, pushing against the oncoming sea of people, struggling to keep to his feet. He aimed for the general direction of the wine stall, the last place he’d seen his mother. He had to find her. He’d sworn to his father all those years ago that he’d always look after her, and he would remain true to his word.
As he struggled against the relentless sea of people pushing into him, he became aware of a commotion ahead: screams of alarm followed by the sound of gunfire. Over the tops of people’s heads he saw a blast of energy slam into the roof of the town hall. The impact caused an explosion, sending debris flying as the building ignited in flames. What was happening? That blast hadn’t come from the airships overhead; it was from ground level. Further shots were fired. Tents and marquees erupted into flames and the crowd reacted in heightened terror. As David struggled to push his way forward, he caught sight of Arick; his aides elbowing people aside in order to get the Magistrate to safety. Over the noise of the crowd and the continued droning of the ships overhead, he heard Arick scream at his men to retrieve weapons from the storage bunkers.
Unerring in his determination, David plunged forward, searching the crowd for his mother; the town square rapidly filling with smoke from the blazing buildings and marquees. A burly man barged into him, elbowing him in the ribs. Gritting his teeth, he held his own and pushed forward, looking over in the direction of the wine stall. Alas, nothing could be seen but flames and smoke.
David’s heart skipped a beat as he saw a figure emerge through the screen of smoke. A soldier of some kind, clad in grey-black metallic armor, brandishing a large rifle. It trudged through the rubble, brazenly kicking aside anything in its path. The soldier’s body armor resembled a spiky exoskeleton, its demonic-looking helmet dominated by a red-tinged visor, with a grated mouthpiece and short metal horns sprouting either side of its head.
Striding forward, it appeared to have him locked in its sights. Overcome by terror, David turned and ran, following the other islanders as they tried to flee. Only there were more soldiers ahead of them, lining the rim of the square, advancing toward the hysterical townspeople. They were surrounded.
Janir reached out and grabbed David’s arm. “We must leave now!”
“No. I have to find my mother.”
“David, we don’t have time.”
As he struggled against the relentless sea of people pushing into him, he became aware of a commotion ahead: screams of alarm followed by the sound of gunfire. Over the tops of people’s heads he saw a blast of energy slam into the roof of the town hall. The impact caused an explosion, sending debris flying as the building ignited in flames. What was happening? That blast hadn’t come from the airships overhead; it was from ground level. Further shots were fired. Tents and marquees erupted into flames and the crowd reacted in heightened terror. As David struggled to push his way forward, he caught sight of Arick; his aides elbowing people aside in order to get the Magistrate to safety. Over the noise of the crowd and the continued droning of the ships overhead, he heard Arick scream at his men to retrieve weapons from the storage bunkers.
Unerring in his determination, David plunged forward, searching the crowd for his mother; the town square rapidly filling with smoke from the blazing buildings and marquees. A burly man barged into him, elbowing him in the ribs. Gritting his teeth, he held his own and pushed forward, looking over in the direction of the wine stall. Alas, nothing could be seen but flames and smoke.
David’s heart skipped a beat as he saw a figure emerge through the screen of smoke. A soldier of some kind, clad in grey-black metallic armor, brandishing a large rifle. It trudged through the rubble, brazenly kicking aside anything in its path. The soldier’s body armor resembled a spiky exoskeleton, its demonic-looking helmet dominated by a red-tinged visor, with a grated mouthpiece and short metal horns sprouting either side of its head.
Striding forward, it appeared to have him locked in its sights. Overcome by terror, David turned and ran, following the other islanders as they tried to flee. Only there were more soldiers ahead of them, lining the rim of the square, advancing toward the hysterical townspeople. They were surrounded.
The Key of Alanar - available NOW!
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The Series: The Alanar Ascendant
The Key of Alanar is the first book in The Alanar Ascendant series.The works listed below are prequels to The Alanar Ascendant and to The Key of Alanar.
All, bar the novel Eladria, can be downloaded for FREE!
Artan's Night | Royal Runaway | Eladria | Kill the Past, Destroy the World | The Hunted |
Click on the book cover to Look Inside the book on Amazon and read an excerpt.
Artan's Night [0.51]
Short story, prelude to the novel Eladria.**Download it FREE from Smashwords (epub, pdf, mobi)**
Artan is a young man with a secret. He has the ability to read people’s minds and hear their thoughts. Struggling to survive in a war-torn, poverty stricken town, he’s been using his newfound power to cheat in casinos; a game that soon backfires when he gets caught. But the worst is still to come.
In the middle of the night, the town comes under seige by marauding Ha’shon warriors. Artan is forcibly taken from his home and led on a journey that will change his life - and the fate of his world - forever.
[Published 17 September 2012, 37 pages]
Royal Runaway [0.52]
Short story, prelude to the novel Eladria.**Download it FREE from Smashwords (epub, pdf, mobi)**
Princess Eladria is devastated to learn that her mother has been officially listed as missing. Extensive planet-wide searches by the Royal Military have failed to yield a trace of the queen. Shocked that her father seems to think she won't be coming back, the wilful seven-year-old sneaks out of the palace and prepares to embark on a desperate quest to find her missing mother. It's a quest that's fated to end badly, but a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger could mark a turning point in the princess's life...
[Published 19 November 2012, 33 pages]
Eladria [0.53]
Destiny will change forever...
A dying world
A fugitive princess
And a journey beyond the limits of the human experience
It's amazing how much can change in the space of a single day. Lives can be shattered, kingdoms can fall and entire worlds can be thrown into jeopardy.
The fate of an entire world is changed forever when Tahnadra's royal moon is attacked and overthrown by terrorists. Seventeen year-old Princess Eladria is forced to witness the destruction of her home and the execution of her father. Only narrowly escaping with her life, she flees to the planet, now finding herself a fugitive on her own world.
Lost in a hostile and unfamiliar land ravaged by generations of war, Eladria encounters more dangers than she could ever have imagined. While evading bounty hunters and hostile militia, the princess encounters a race of beings claiming to exist outside of linear time and space. They tell Eladria that she has a pivotal role to play in determining the fate of her world, imploring her to travel to the fabled land of Drantak. Eladria's mother, who disappeared when she was a child, is apparently being held there as part of a dangerous experiment -- one that must be stopped at all costs. An unknown foe is attempting to pierce the barriers between dimensions and unleash an ancient force of evil that was aeons ago banished from the mortal realm.
As the walls between dimensions rapidly collapse, Eladria realizes that she has no choice but to heed the call of her destiny. She alone can save her mother and prevent this dark force from returning to consume her world. But her path is filled with obstacles and before long everything is called into question.
[Published 31 May 2013, 385 pages]
Kill the Past, Destroy the World [0.54]
Short story, prelude to the novel The Key of Alanar.**Download it FREE by subscribing to Rory B. Mackay's newsletter (epub, pdf, mobi)**
An old sorceress returns to her homeland, determined to seek revenge for the sins of the past, while embroiled in a plot that will jeopardise the future of her world.
Blurring the boundaries between good and evil, this intriguing short story serves as prelude to the epic fantasy/science-fiction novel "The Key of Alanar". Rory Mackay is author of the critically acclaimed novel "Eladria".
[Published 18 May 2015, 29 pages]
The Hunted [0.55]
Short story, prelude to the novel The Key of Alanar.**Download it FREE by subscribing to Rory B. Mackay's newsletter (epub, pdf, mobi)**
A tribe is on the run from a dangerous enemy; a foe intent on using deception and violent force to take possession of a very special child.
[Published 2015, 29 pages]
About the Author
A natural born writer, thinker and dreamer, Rory Mackay was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1979. Since then he has lived most of his life in the North East of Scotland, a place he finds scenic and inspiring, if a tad cold. With a lifelong passion for creative writing and art, Rory knew from a young age that he had stories to tell and adventures to share. As he grew up and became interested in philosophy and metaphysics, he came to realize the potential of literature and art as a means of sharing ideas, posing questions and exploring the nature of reality in a way that is accessible yet compelling and challenging.
Rory is also an animal and nature lover, music junkie, social and environmental activist, cake enthusiast and generally rather chilled out guy. He sells his art online and writes blogs on creativity, writing, philosophy, spirituality and whatever else inspires him. He has written his own commentary on the classic Chinese text, the Tao Te Ching and is planning a self-help book as well as a new series of fantasy books called The Dreamlight Fugitives.
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Giveaway and Tour Stops
Enter to win a signed copy of both Rory B. Mackay's novels, Eladria and The Key of Alanar, (International Giveaway) – a Rafflecopter giveawayRemember to comment to win!
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Oct 12: BooksChatterOct 12: Nya Reads
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Oct 14: Long and Short Reviews
Oct 15: Unabridged Andra's
Oct 16: The Reading Addict
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteWonderful to be featured on Bookschatter, thank you so much! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Rory, thank you for popping by!
DeleteThanks for reading! :)
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