THE CYCLE OF HARM by MH Snowy

THE CYCLE OF HARM
by MH Snowy

Nightmares or waking dreams? Only the keeper of the Legend knows… and it’s up to him to keep them from Harm!

By day, Jeffery is the best friend of Montague the Magician. By night, he’s the powerful warrior, Harm, The Legend, who leads a band of Berserkers—ridding the land of evil while saving villages by the score. Only Montague knows the villagers also have to cough up a hefty pouch of coin for the privilege of being rescued!

All Jeffery knows is he has no memory of any battle he fights. Under the Spirit of Lohocla, he awakens the morning after the battle barely able to think for the pain in his skull and the lethargy in his body. The more Jeffery tries to discover his lost memories, the vaguer Montague becomes until it’s too late not to tell the truth—at least part of it. But how could Jeffery ever imagine his entire life may be smoke and mirrors… just ephemeral fragments of dreams?

THE CYCLE OF HARM—enter a world of magic, mayhem, and mystery you may never be able to leave… if the Spirit of Lohocla captures you in its embrace!

EXCERPT
Light from the world outside fought to enter through the tiny, barred window, but failed. When the sun rose, Montague would discover what covered the cell\’s floor. The prospect didn\’t fill him with joy.

Huddled in the corner, knees drawn to his chest for warmth, he tried not to move, because every time he did a waft of—

\”No,\” he muttered. \”I don’t even want to think about what that smells like.\”

His stomach rumbled, an unpleasant reminder he had yet to eat. He’d taken impromptu and involuntary holidays in such places before. The caretakers fed the inmates once a day if at all.

How long had he been here? If he stayed too long his captors would grow tired of extracting his secrets. Then the troublemaker—and if Montague was anything, he was that—would be silenced, permanently, and no doubt painfully.

Unless a disease took him first, such as an infection caught from the unsanitary floor.

\”There’s a cheerful thought.\”

Without other distractions, and having become used to the cries from other cells, he dwelt on what had happened to Harm.

\”Alas, poor Jeffery. I knew him well.\”

Montague sighed. The events of the last week must have worn him down. Separated from him for more than half a day, the gaoler\’s had doubtless questioned poor, simple Jeffery Harm using the back of their hands, but Harm wasn\’t dead yet.

Harm didn\’t have the secrets the gaolers wanted, because Montague hadn\’t told him. The legendary warrior anything but simple, Harm would understand the guards interrogated him because they weren\’t sure they could prise the answers from Montague. After all, he was a Magician.

~Buy THE CYCLE OF HARM on Amazon

~Follow the rest of the tour

~Read MH’s other works:

–Twelves Nights/The Night’s Too Dark
–We Three Laws of Robotics Are
–The Secret Invasion of George Kranskii

REVIEW
This is one of those books that I’d need to read and reread to understand all the subtle things going on. For right now, I will call this fantasy that does something. I’d explain further, but it would destroy the suspense. This book has the elements of a classic and slightly overdone fantasy story—heroes traveling the world, enchanted piece of equipment that makes the wearer invincible, a legendary warrior—but it twists them in such a way that makes them unique. And it wasn’t a bad twist. I’ve read many poorly done attempts to reproduce Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett or other authors with similar styles. This reminded me somewhat of such writers but took its own direction.

This may be the most vague and unhelpful review I’ve ever written. That’s because I’m not quite sure what to say. The story is different in a good way. The characters are fleshed out while still being tropes fantasy readers will recognize. The plot is one seen many times but also not seen before. In short, if you’re up for a challenge and a puzzle, give this book a try.

ABOUT MH
Melindra Hattfield Snowy, a part-time writer and full-time dreamer, who of course prefers to be known as MH, has penned The Cycle of Harm. She is also the author of the first three adventures of The 12 Nights of Jeremy Sunson, which are collected in her first novel, The Nights Too Dark, described as chock-full of fun where the end of the world meets Groundhog Day.

MH has also penned several short stories including We Three Laws of Robotics Are and The Secret Invasion of George Kranskii which explains how road rage is result the result of an alien invasion.

You can find MH at www.MHSnowy.com, on Goodreads, and you can follow @MHSnowy_Dreamer on Twitter.

When not writing or occupied with her dual-identity, MH walks through the mountains with her partner or tries to unravel the secrets of her great-grandmother, an adventuress who disembarked from the French steamer Laos in 1931 seeking to uncover rumours of Mayan temples deep in the heart of the Amazon jungle, and disappeared, never to be heard of again.

Find her online:

GIVEAWAY

MH Snowy will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.