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Book
Title: The
Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles – Book I
Author
(s):
A. L. Butcher
Genre:
Fantasy/Dark
Fantasy/Fantasy Romance
Synopsis:
In a dark world where magic is
illegal, and elves are enslaved a young elven sorceress runs for her life from
the house of her evil Keeper. Pursued by his men and the corrupt Order of
Witch-Hunters she must find sanctuary. As the slavers roll across the lands
stealing elves from what remains of their ancestral home the Witch-Hunters turn
a blind eye to the tragedy and a story of power, love and a terrible revenge
unfolds.
18 rated for adult scenes, themes and
violence.
Tell
us about your characters:
Dii’Athella
Ar’thina,
known as Dii –is the primary female character - she’s an Elven sorceress
in a world where elves are, essentially slaves, and magic is forbidden. She’s a
Kept – a slave/concubine to a nobleman – Lord Joset Tremayne, who treats her
very unkindly. She has no rights, not even to her own person, no property and
if she leaves his lands she’s fair game for the Order of Witch-Hunters who hate
all mages.
Lord
Archos of Tremellic – He’s a mysterious nobleman, and an arch sorcerer who lives
in a remote area of the land. He likes elves, and he and his household help
elves and those who fall prey to the Slavers and Witch-Hunters where they can.
Archos appears as a reclusive rich eccentric, but in reality he’s the dangerous
Oncoming Storm – a thorn in the side of the slavers and the Order of
Witch-Hunters.
Olek
– Ostensibly
the manservant and confidante of Archos, but also the feared thief/assassin
known as the Shadowdancer. A half-elven male adept, weaponsmaster and alchemist
he appears good natured, obsessed with food and good with a sword. A master of
lies, deception and making people dead.
Ozena – a young Forest Elf who braves
the human lands seeking help to find her missing sister when their village is
destroyed by slavers. A huntress and scout she is adept with a bow but naïve,
and sheltered.
Lord
Joset Tremayne –
Lord of Reldfield. A human, wealthy nobleman – and Dii’s Keeper. He has
dealings with the slavers, for his own gain and pleasures and largely neglects
his lands in the pursuit of his own pleasures. He is the main ‘bad guy’
Ulric
Tremayne –
bastard son and heir of Lord Joset, foster brother of Dii. He fears his
father’s wrath, particularly towards his mother, Malana if Dii displeases
Joset, goes to seek Dii to return her, but still treats her as property. He’s
not a ‘bad guy’ as such, he simply does little to help Dii, or to change his
father’s behaviour. He’s complacent to the situation and rather arrogant.
What
is the setting?
Erana
is a world of magic, tyranny, and division.
Possession
of magic is illegal, but magic doesn’t know or care and goes where it likes.
Most people who are magical hide it, or don’t understand that’s what it is.
Maybe they are a little faster, or a better healer, or a better craftsperson
than average, Many villages would have a wise woman or cunning man to offer
healing, or predict the weather, or tame the beasts but such people live a
precarious existence. It needs one failure, or one person to complain and the
Witch-Hunters are at the door.
There
are still magical creatures on the fringes, within the mountains and the
Shimmering Forest and in the remote areas.
The
Order of Witch-Hunters rule by divide and rule – keep the general populous
hating the elves and mages and too ignorant to understand the lies – or to
afraid to speak out. Slavers roam the lands – mostly looking for elves but
anyone is fair game. They take human children, women and those without papers
and the Witch-Hunters do nothing, unless it suits the Order. They get a cut of
gold from the Slavers so it’s in the Order’s interest to maintain slavery. A
fearful population is easily controlled.
After
the Great Plague and the wars martial law was instigated by the rulers at the
time to ‘protect’ the populus. Three-hundred years later the Order has become a
corrupt and cruel organisation who aren’t planning to give up being in charge
easily. There are very few people alive who can remember the time before the
Plague came, or the rule of the Order.
Literacy
and knowledge are not encouraged in the general population, so many people are
ignorant of the reality, or believe the lies. What is truth and what is a lie
are relative in Erana. The fact is the rule of the Order, the presence of the
Slavers and the subjugation of the elves has been normality for a long time and
most people either won’t or can’t do anything to change the status quo.
Excerpt
The
Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles Book I
Dii fled to a room, small
and sparse, containing little more than a small bed and a wooden armoire.
Setting her staff in the armoire, she removed her damp clothes and boots,
changing into a patched long dark woollen skirt and petticoats with a black
bodice and a grey blouse. The clothes were not clean and smelled musty but at
least were dry. With luck she could trade for some more, this hamlet did not
look like it came supplied with a resident apothecary. Stuffing her dagger into
her belt, she hoped she would not have need of it. Barefoot whilst her boots
dried, she returned to the common room to find a steaming bowl of mutton stew,
fresh rolls, and a warm spiced cider. Dii heard the muttering and tried to
ignore the stares and murmuring from nearby tables, and the whispers from
behind her, as she began to eat.
A man moved closer to the
table and hissed, “Witch, you bring the storm. You are Elfkind, so your magic
must bring the storm. Do not think we tolerate your kind here. Where is your
Keeper, Witch?” As he moved closer, he took a seat and snarled, “I bet you
fetch a goodly price, Witch. Are you trained as a whore?” Reaching across the
table, he grabbed her hair and tried to pull the young woman across it towards
him.
Resisting the urge to use
her magic in such a public place, she tried to squirm away, painfully tearing
out a chunk of hair. “Go away! Leave me be! I am no whore, I am just a
herbalist.” Before Dii had a chance to reach for the dagger, a man intervened
and pulled her assailant away.
“Get home to your poor
wife, Ranulf, and leave the wench alone. Elf or no, she is not for your taking
if she refuses,” said the bystander. “He is nothing but an ignorant fool, miss.
He will not be a bother again. From what I hear, he could not have made good
his threat anyway,” continued the man.
Ranulf skulked away,
muttering and slamming the door. Dii's protector went and sat alone at his
table. Watching the elf, he said, “I like my own company, miss. I am not the
social type, but I will not see a woman threatened.” He drained his mug and,
taking one last glance at the pretty elf, he ventured back through the storm to
his own dwelling in the smithy.
Dii and her friends appear in the
following.
Book links and synopses
The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles
– Book I
In a
dark world where magic is illegal, and elves are enslaved a young elven
sorceress runs for her life from the house of her evil Keeper. Pursued by his
men and the corrupt Order of Witch-Hunters she must find sanctuary. As the
slavers roll across the lands stealing elves from what remains of their
ancestral home the Witch-Hunters turn a blind eye to the tragedy and a story of
power, love and a terrible revenge unfolds.
18
rated.
https://www.books2read.com/Lightbeyondstorm1
The Shining Citadel – The Light Beyond the Storm
Chronicles – Book II
(18 rated)
Universal
Link https://www.books2read.com/ShiningCitadel
The
Stolen Tower – The Light
Beyond the Storm Chronicles – Book III
What stalks the land cannot be, but is.
Where magic is outlawed a troll Shaman calls from her
deathbed to her heiress, Mirandra Var,
daughter of the storm. Mirandra vows to
find her missing kin, sort friend from foe, and claim the dangerous secrets
guarded by unthinkable creatures. If she succeeds, she will become the leader
of her tribe. If she fails, there will be no tribe to lead.
Universal link https://www.books2read.com/StolenTower
Author Bio
British-born A. L. Butcher is an avid reader and creator of worlds, a
poet, and a dreamer, a lover of science, natural history, history, and monkeys.
Her prose has been described as ‘dark and gritty’ and her poetry as
‘evocative’. She writes with a sure and sometimes erotic sensibility of things
that might have been, never were, but could be.
Alex is the
author of the Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles and the Tales
of Erana lyrical fantasy series. She also has several short stories in
the fantasy, fantasy romance genres with occasional forays into gothic style
horror, including the Legacy of the Mask series. With a background in
politics, classical studies, ancient history and myth, her affinities bring an
eclectic and unique flavour in her work, mixing reality and dream in alchemical
proportions that bring her characters and worlds to life.
She also curates
speculative fiction themed book bundles on Pubshare - for the most part - the Here Be Series
Alex is also proud
to be a writer for Perseid Press where her work features in Heroika: Dragon
Eaters, Heroika Skirmishers – where she was editor and cover designer as
well as writer – as well as Lovers in Hell and Mystics in Hell –
part of the acclaimed Heroes in Hell series. http://www.theperseidpress.com/
Awards:
Outside the Walls, co-written with Diana L. Wicker received a Chill with a Book Reader’s
Award in 2017.
NN Light Book Heaven awards:
The Kitchen Imps and Other Dark Tales won the best fantasy for 2018
Echoes of a Song - one of her Phantom tales – won the best fantasy in 2019
Tears and Crimson Velvet won the best Short
Story category in 2020
Dark Tales and Twisted Verses – won the best
Short Story Category in 2021
Blog https://libraryoferana.wordpress.com/about-a-l-butcher-fantasy-author-poet-author-promotion/
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