LUMINA by Paddy Tyrrell

LUMINA
by Paddy Tyrrell

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A generation designed by sorcery to destroy your people. Two races mired in conflict. Can a pair of outcasts unite them against an enemy who would enslave them all?

The birth of ‘bronzite’ babies in Lumina heralds the onset of war. The people take fright at the golden children and banish them from the land. A dangerous move. King Zheldar, commander of the black dragon, is attacking Luman borders. If he wins bronzite support for his army of monsters, Lumina is lost.

Davron Berates cannot share his people’s hatred of the children and, on discovering he has a bronzite brother, sets out to find him. At his side travels Chrystala. A bronzite, she has twice his strength and three times his determination.

When the black dragon kidnaps Chrystala, Davron is faced with a terrible choice: save his friend or save his nation.

EXCERPT
Jaldeen strode towards an ancient font at the far side of the tower and opened wooden shutters in the wall behind it. Leaning out, he checked the platform outside for any decay. It looked solid enough and he stepped over the windowsill and walked to the center. He cupped his hands around his mouth and spelled a summons, his voice a rasp of vowels that floated on the damp air. He ducked back inside. There was a thrash of wings and the tower shuddered. Xeralith, black dragon of Kuhla, had answered his call.

Any fleeting sense of power deserted him in the terror of her presence. She was as old as the moss that ate the castle walls. Evil had putrefied her beauty, her once crimson scales stained black by Rach’s corruption. She thrust her head through the opening in the wall. Bony nodules covered her upper jaw and the dark armor plating of her head. Steam belched from her nostrils.

Jaldeen ran and hid behind the font, clinging to the carvings of the demons that served his god, as though they could protect him. He averted his face from the scalding droplets. Xeralith’s breath, heavy with malevolence, contaminated the air with the stench of burning metal and rotten meat. Stomach heaving, Jaldeen forgot to maintain his shield. Her eyes swirled and she locked her gaze on his. Trickles of flame erupted through teeth that could rip him in two. He lost control of his limbs and fell. She lunged at him and he scrambled back, his heels banging on the stone floor. The horns on her sinewy neck snagged against the outer wall and pulled her short. She screeched in frustration.

~Buy LUMINA:

–Amazon US
–Amazon UK
–Amazon FR

~Follow the rest of the tour

AN INTERVIEW WITH PADDY
-What inspired you to become a writer?

I was about ten years old when I began telling my big sister stories to help her sleep at night – mainly about princes and princesses as I recall. I then went on to devour every book I could find. I loved escaping into the story, and when I discovered fantasy novels, that was it – I was determined to write one. For a long time, I didn’t dare write a book because I was afraid it wouldn’t be perfect enough. I finally got over this by deciding it was OK to write a great adventure and my novel didn’t have to put the world to rights.

-If you could visit your book’s world for a day, what one thing would you do?

One of my characters, Salazai, can commune with animals and I would go with her to meet the snow-wolves and spend the day with them. We had two Siberian huskies and this would bring them back for a precious while.

-It’s two in the morning. What does your protagonist reveal in confidence? (Don’t worry, we won’t tell.)

I reckon Chrystala would tell me she thinks Rewan fancies her. Of course she still loves Davron but Rewan is very handsome, isn’t he? And he’s a bronzite like her. Davron is such a serious guy with a big sense of duty but Rewan, he’s free to do what he wants and to have some fun, just like her.

-Which of your characters would you go out for drinks with?

Matt because he’s so conflicted and would want to get drunk to forget it all. Torn between his love of his family and his loyalty to his friend, he chose to betray his friend. Even though he got away with it, the guilt lives on. On top of that, he doesn’t know what he wants in life. He’s a wheeler dealer and always on the look-out to make a buck but at heart he does care and in the end it’s Rewan, not Davron, who is determined to avenge Odon’s death..

-You’re in a tavern, and a dwarf challenges you to a duel. What do you do?

I’d lose a duel and so I’m going to have to talk my way out of it. Any Terry Pratchett reader will know how difficult it is to tell female dwarves from male ones. So I’d need to check that out first. If it’s a male, I‘d flirt with him (male dwarves aren’t used to this!) and charm him out of his challenge. A female would be a tougher proposition. Since dwarves adore gold, I would have to sacrifice my gold necklace and hope that would placate her.

-Is there a genre you could never write? Which and why?

Technology based science fiction. The fans are knowledgeable and I’m sure my lack of expertise on the technology front would shine through. The only way I could imagine being creative in that genre would be by giving the machine or robot a personality. Otherwise the sheer amount of research needed to make a believable story would fry my brain.

ABOUT PADDY

I was raised in Kent, the garden of England, and lived in an Oast House whose round rooms were once used for drying hops. Must be why I’ve enjoyed a drink ever since!

At university, I fell in love with medieval French writing, discovered The Gormenghast Trilogy, and became hooked on fantasy.

I have sailed down the Yangste, survived an earthquake in Cairo, and picnicked in the Serengeti. My travels for work and pleasure have inspired my fantasy world. I now live in France with a naughty Australian Labradoodle, a jealous cat and a squash mad husband. Our two huskies, Ice and Sapphire, are sadly now gone but are transformed into wolves and immortalised in my book. Lumina is my debut novel and the first in a trilogy.

Find Paddy online:

–Facebook
–website
–Twitter
–Amazon Author Page

GIVEAWAY

Paddy Tyrrell will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.