Showing posts with label Harper Voyager Impulse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harper Voyager Impulse. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Guest Post by Nathan Garrison - Bad Girls of Fantasy


Title: Veiled Empire
Author: Nathan Garrison
Publisher: Harper Voyager Impulse
Genre: Fantasy
Format: Kindle/Paperback

The Empire is Shrouded, not only by the barrier that covers the land, but by the lies and oppression of the mierothi regime. Magic is the privilege of the elite, and the people of this shadowed country have forgotten what it means to hope under their rule.

But there are some who would resist, with plans put into motion millennia before. For returned to the Empire is a valynkar, servant of the god of light, and with him come the strength and cunning that could tip the scales to end the Emperor’s reign. He has gathered a group of heroes ready to ignite the flame of rebellion and fight against the dark power that has ruled for nearly two thousand years. A power that has champions of its own.

Nathan Garrison’s Veiled Empire throws a mythical land into chaos, with races long thought forgotten, and magics only just discovered. Steel and sorcery clash as brave souls vie for freedom and control in this astonishing debut novel.

Guest Post by Nathan Garrison:
Bad Girls of Fantasy
 
Villainess? Anti-heroine? Rebel with a dark side? However you want to label them, we all know who they are. These women never take no for an answer, and always know exactly how to get what they want - which is usually the world. Whenever their scenes pop up in our favorite books or series, we can’t help but grin and hunker down for the delicious ride to come. I give you … my top five “Bad Girls” of fantasy. (Spoilers, of course.)
 
5) Graendal (The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan)
 
Though most of the female Chosen (don’t ever call them Forsaken) have a shot at making this list, for me Graendal is hard to beat. She is a master at manipulating people and events from the shadows, yet when the time for battle comes she can still dish out destruction with the best of them. She keeps herself wrapped in a cloak of excess and sensuality, a disguise few are able to look past, often to their demise.
 
4) Sabetha (Gentleman Bastard series- Scott Lynch)
 
Sabetha may be “off-screen” for most of the first two books in this series, but even then we can see the dizzying effect she has on the titular hero, Locke Lamora. If she’s not outwitting him planning a heist or rigging an election, she somehow manages to play his heart like a fiddle without even meaning to. She has no times for his games, after all. She’s got a life of her own.
 
3) The Lady (Chronicles of The Black Company - Glen Cook)
 
Escaped a centuries long imprisonment to become ruler of an evil empire? Check. Makes slaves of the most powerful sorcerers in the world? Check? Still manages to have a soft spot for a certain mercenary physician? Check. The Lady takes ‘evil empress’ to a whole new level, letting nothing get in her way. Even gods, her vicious husband, and prophesied heroes can’t stand against her power and cunning.
 
2) Apsalar (The Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson)
 
As if being possessed by the patron god of assassins wasn’t bad enough, try having your memories scrambled and being stranded half a world away from home. Even from this, though, the girl once known as ‘Sorry’ manages to recover. Retaining enough of the skills left behind by her possessor, Apsalar wreaks vengeance across three continents, picking up a few undead dragons as pets along the way and taking out half of an assasssin’s guild, singlehandedly.
 
1) Daenerys Targaryen (A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin)
 
With titles like Stormborn, Mother of Dragons, the Unburnt, Freer of Slaves (shall I go on?), this is one lady that practically needs no introduction. Though she started penniless and starving, she now commands legions and the loyalty of her followers, and will not rest until she sits in her rightful place upon the Iron Throne of Westeros.

Nathan Garrison Bio:

I have two great boys and an awesome wife who is way more supportive of my writing efforts than I deserve. I love playing guitar (the louder the better), cooking (the more bacon-y the better), playing board/video/card games with friends and family, and reveling in unadulterated geekery.

Born in 1983, I’ve been writing stories since my dad bought our first family computer. I grew up on tales of the fantastic. From Narnia and Middle-Earth to a galaxy far, far away, I’ve always harbored a love for things only imagination can conjure up. I count it among the greatest joys of my life to be able to share the stories within me.

For More Information

Visit Nathan’s website.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Virtual Book Tour: The Brass Giant


Title: The Brass Giant
Author: Brooke Johnson
Publisher: Harper Voyage Impulse
Genre: Steampunk
Format: Kindle

Sometimes, even the most unlikely person can change the world

Seventeen-year-old Petra Wade, self-taught clockwork engineer, wants nothing more than to become a certified member of the Guild, an impossible dream for a lowly shop girl. Still, she refuses to give up, tinkering with any machine she can get her hands on, in between working and babysitting her foster siblings.

When Emmerich Goss–handsome, privileged, and newly recruited into the Guild–needs help designing a new clockwork system for a top-secret automaton, it seems Petra has finally found the opportunity she’s been waiting for. But if her involvement on the project is discovered, Emmerich will be marked for treason, and a far more dire fate would await Petra.

Working together in secret, they build the clockwork giant, but as the deadline for its completion nears, Petra discovers a sinister conspiracy from within the Guild council … and their automaton is just the beginning.

To Purchase The Brass Giant

AMAZON     B&N     GOODREADS


Guest Post by Brooke Johnson:
Why I Love the Heroines of Victorian Steampunk

When people think of steampunk, they usually think of the Victorian Era—bustles, corsets, rose-tinted glasses, gas lamps, parasols, and da Vinci-esque contraptions made of clockwork and steam—and for good reason. The romantic flair of nineteenth century Victorian Britain is the steampunk genre’s bread and butter. 

Gail Carriger, Viola Carr, Cassandra Clare—the talented ladies of modern steampunk—all set their novels in the prim and proper sociopolitical atmosphere of Victorian England, with daring heroines who face all manner of dark creatures and fouler machines in the pages of their books. There’s a certain romantic quality to a strong-minded woman trying to make her way in man’s world, with sensibilities more fitting for the modern world than the straight-laced rigors of nineteenth century society—and yet, still relevant in the lingering patriarchal society of today.

Here are women who are far more brave and clever than those of us who read their stories. They inspire us to do better, to be better, because for all our troubles as women in the world today, the heroines of Victorian fiction have much greater obstacles to face than we do—vampires, werewolves, government, and conspiracies excluded. Their problems are the same as ours: the trivialization of all things feminine, the disregard for women’s rights, the inequality between genders, the expectations of beauty, and the male gaze. For all our “social progress” since the 1800s, these same problems are relevant even today, and seeing these steampunk heroines act against the injustices of their time, however small their actions may seem, or how insignificant their accomplishments are in the grand scheme of things, they are not willing to sit by and let things continue as they are. They seek to change the world, to carve a place for themselves in a world where they are looked upon as the inferior sex.

It’s inspiring to read about their journeys, to see a part of ourselves in those characters and connect with them through their trials. Through them, we can dare to dream, dare to hope, dare to aspire to greater things.

That was my goal when I wrote The Brass Giant. The main character of the novel is a young female engineer who is forbidden to join the Guild—an exclusive brotherhood of engineering elite—for no other reason than the fact she is a girl. And yet, despite that, she tries anyway, going so far as to risk treason to get one step closer to seeing her dreams realized. In a world where all the odds are stacked against her, she doesn’t give up, and to me, that’s admirable—even if it does get her into loads of trouble.

So, why do I love the heroines of Victorian steampunk? Because they are stronger, braver, and cleverer than me. They inspire me to be a better person, to stand up to the injustices of the world and make this world, this time-period, a better place for the generations to come—even if all I ever do is put pen to paper. I can only hope that my words inspire a young girl to dare to follow her dreams, to be unafraid of what the world may throw at her, and to show her that she deserves a place in the world just as much as any man.

Author Bio:

Brooke is a stay-at-home mom, amateur seamstress, RPG enthusiast, and art hobbyist, in addition to all that book writing. As the jack-of-all-trades bard of the family, she adventures through life with her fiercely-bearded paladin of a husband, their daughter the sticky-fingered rogue, and their cowardly wizard of a dog, with only a sleep spell in his spellbook.

They currently reside in Northwest Arkansas, but once they earn enough loot and experience, they’ll build a proper castle somewhere and defend against all manner of dragons and goblins, and whatever else dares take them on.

For More Information

Visit Brooke at her website

Visit her at the following locations:

FACEBOOK     TWITTER     GOOGLE+

Brooke and Harper Voyage Impulse are  giving away a $25 Gift Card!

Terms & Conditions:
  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
  • This giveaway begins April 27 and ends on May 15.
  • Winners will be contacted via email on May 17.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!

ENTER TO WIN!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
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