Title: Book of Death
Author: S. Evan Townsend
Publisher: World Castle Publishing
Length: 266 pages
Sub-Genres: Vampires, Paranormal Entities
~ * ~
BLURB:
They live among us. We know they are there. No
government can control them; no authority can stop them. Some are evil. Some
are good. All are powerful. They inhabit our myths and fairy tales. But what if
they were real, the witches, wizards, and fairy godmothers? What if they were
called "adepts" and were organized into guilds for mutual protection
and benefit? And what if some of them discovered a power that other adepts
could not match.
During the turbulent 1960s, when American adept
Peter Branton agrees to go to Transylvania for the CIA, he suspects it's not
about ball bearings as he was told. What he finds is a plot that could kill
millions of people and plunge the world into eternal tyranny and bloodshed.
Branton doesn't know it, but he's about to face the adept guilds' worst
nightmare: practicing necromancers with a taste for human blood.
~ * ~
EXCERPT :
I'd never seen this type of meta before. At least I assumed that's what it was, as the wooden man inexorably walked toward me with a creak of moving wood, like tree branches in a heavy wind. It was raising its arms for another blow so I stepped back and shot an airbolt at it. I heard wood crack, but that didn't stop it. It swung again and its wooden fist pounded into my face, knocking me down and back on the sidewalk. Somewhere I heard screams and yells. A guy sitting on the sidewalk, his back to a storefront, muttered, "Wow, bad trip, man."
The Indian was bending over, its face expressionless except for the painted-on peace sign as it seemed to prepare for another attack. I shot fire at it, assuming old dry wood would ignite easily, and it did: the hippie dress went up in flames, and now the monster was a burning mass, still attacking me. It smacked me again with a flaming arm and I suffered from both the impact and the burns. Nearly screaming, I scrambled away on hands and knees. I don't think I'd ever been that scared. Still it came, oblivious to the fact it was on fire.
A motorcycle cop I hadn't noticed jumped off his bike, pulled his service revolver, and shot it into the Indian with six cracks of bullets being fired. It had no effect other than sending burning splinters of wood flying. The cop suddenly looked frightened, and was gripping his billy club but taking no further action.
People were screaming loudly now. I looked around, looking for an escape. If I could teleport away I might escape, but I could see no clear place to teleport to. Briefly I wondered what happened to Ernestine and if she were safe. I didn't sense the presence of another adept, but I didn't really have the ability to be quiet enough to do so. I just hoped she was okay.
The burning Indian smacked me again, hard, in the chest and I felt as if my feet left the ground as I was knocked into a car's side. I heard and felt sheet metal crumple and knew I'd hit the car hard. My vision was going gray. But I realized my shirt was on fire and that kept me from passing out; if I passed out I was probably dead. I pulled water from the air to douse the fire, but this took time and the Indian was on me again, even though it was moving very slowly.
I wondered if I'd survive until the wooden Indian had been consumed by the flames. It hit me again, knocking me to the sidewalk. There was an unpleasant smell and I realized my hair was burning. I used my bare hand to pat out the flames. This gave the Indian time to hit me again, hard. It almost felt as if I flew through the air and was slapped painfully to the sidewalk, the Indian still lumbering toward me.
In desperation I shot another airbolt at it. It must have been on the verge of falling apart because that hit blew it into flaming pieces that scattered over the street and also hit me, burning my skin or singeing my clothes. But it was no longer attacking.
~ * ~
BUY LINKS:
Buy Links: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Death-S-Evan-Townsend/dp/1938961269/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346773559&sr=1-6&keywords=S.+Evan+Townsend
(paperback/Kindle)
https://www.createspace.com/3985568
(paperback)
~ * ~
~ * ~
Review
3.5 Stars
Firstly, I would just like to say that as a writer I find it a
little difficult to do reviews. I understand the time and effort that is put
into a book; how hard it can be. I respect everyone who has been able to write
a book, and want you to know that I understand
how nerve-racking reading people’s opinions on your work can be.
"The Book of Death" isn't really the type of story I would
usually be interested in reading, and I believe there are two other stories in the series before this book, both of which I haven’t read. So I kinda dived into the
world with this book, but I have to say that the concept is interesting in the
sense that it is a different twist on the Dracula legend and well, vampires in
general.
It's descriptive and well written, but I did find myself
a little confused for the first couple of chapters, but once the action kicked
in and I realized how the vampire side linked in everything became a lot
clearer.
The story is plot heavy with a sprinkle of light romance on the
side, and the characters were interesting, but I didn’t feel any particular
connection to them. I believe that is mainly because I don’t really read books
that lean toward mysteries/police/government/politics and anything else that
falls under those issues.
In saying that, if you are a person who likes such stories, or
likes paranormal with a different twist – and I did enjoy the twist and the fact
the story was set in the 60’s - then you may want to consider reading “The Book
of Death” and the stories that come before it.
~ * ~
Interviewing S.Evan Towsend!
EM: Welcome to
My World. It is lovely to have you here today :-)
ST: It's great to be
here!
Firstly, can you tell us a little bit about
yourself?
Sure. I'm a writer of novels and also do freelance
writing living in a small town in Central Washington State. After four yours in the Army as a Military
Intelligence specialist, I returned to college to get a Bachelor of Forest
Resources degree from the University of Washington (Go Dawgs!). After a successful but stressful 20-year career
in business, I decided to pursue my first love and that was writing. When I'm not writing I enjoy reading, driving
(sometimes on a racetrack), meeting people, and talking with friends. I am in a 12-step program for Starbucks
addiction. I live with my wife and have
three grown sons in various stages of their own lives.
1. How long have you been writing for?
I started writing when I taught myself to
type on a typewriter. I was about twelve
at the time so that's been 40 years off and on (the 60-hour-per-week day job
made it tough sometimes). I've been
writing exclusively since I "changed careers" in January 2011.
2. Did you always know that you wanted to be
a writer?
Pretty
much. I remember as a kid I dabbled with
being a fireman or a policeman or an astronaut. But I always came back to
writing. I remember buying an Apple IIc
computer in the mid-1980s because it had a wondrous new program available
called a "Word Processor" (albeit without spell check).
3. What is your favourite genre to read? To
write? And why?
I have a
thing for old science fiction. The
bigger-than-life men, the (for the time they were written) strong, independent
women, the hairy green monsters from Venus (or Alpha Centauri). It's also interesting to see how the authors
envisioned the future we are now living in (and how little they got right and
what they did actually foresee).
My
favourite genre to write, judging from what I have written recently (last 10
years or so) appears to be urban fantasy.
I love writing my Adept Series because they are fantasies set in the
past and I try to make them historically accurate along with fantasy elements. But before I discovered this playground I used
to write exclusively science fiction.
4. Who is your favourite author? Fave book?
And why?
My
favourite author is Robert Heinlein (see above about old science fiction). Not only could he tell a tale that kept you
on the edge of your seat, but he must have been a frustrated teacher because he
loves to teach his reader something about the state of humanity. (In Starship
Troopers he gives up all pretence, develops a teacher character, and has
him lecture for two chapters.) My
favourite book is a harder decision as there are so many great books out
there. I think about Tolkien's The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Or
there's Starship Troopers and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein. Or A
Knight of Ghosts and Shadows by Poul Anderson.
5. How do you get your ideas?
All sorts
of places: the news, other books, T.V., movies (I don't steal but I have been
known to say "they should have explored this aspect of that
idea"). And sometimes ideas just
come to me. I recently had an idea for a
fourth book in the Adept Series (which Book
of Death is the third book), I
specifically remember it was something I read on Facebook that gave me the
idea, but I don't remember what.
6. In your opinion what is the hardest part
of the writing process?
Coming up
with the original idea. And an original
idea. I remember one time I had this
great idea for a fantasy novel. I was
starting to flesh out the plot, come up with some characters, when I realized
it was basically Shakespeare's The
Tempest set in modern times (I could set it in the future but then that'd
be too much like Forbidden Planet. Maybe that's why series are so popular for
writers. You don't have to come up with
a whole new world again but can explore the world you've already created.
7. In your opinion what is the best part of
the writing process?
Writing
action scenes is my favourite part of writing.
When the words just flow out and you have to smile because what you are
writing is fun, good, and readable. Then
you go back and re-read it and realize all the typos you made and details you
left out. But while you're writing it,
it is just so much fun.
8. Are you a planner or a panster?
Sorta
both. I liken it to a road trip. I know where I am, I knew a few stops along
the way, and I know where I want to end up (usually). But on the way I may take
detours, something else might seem more interesting, and I could even end up in
a different destination than I'd planned, but usually a wonderful and amazing
place I never knew was there.
9. Do you prefer to concentrate on one story,
or juggle a few?
I can only
write one story at a time. And I put
everything I have into that story. I
might have an idea or two rattling around my head, but I won't start typing on
them until my current WIP is finished.
10. Tell us about one of the most favourable
scene you have written.
In Hammer of Thor (book one of the Adept
Series) there's a scene around the middle of the book. The bad guy ends up being a woman, and she
takes off into fog-enshrouded San Francisco on the back of a rukhkh (a very big
black bird). My hero, Francis Kader,
jumps on a ripped up piece of carpet and chases her (flying carpet). The first thing I had to do was the
research. I set the fog level at 450
feet above the ground. So what
buildings/structures would stick out of the fog? There was a website that listed skyscrapers
in major cities (it has since gone behind a pay firewall). I went through every skyscraper in their San
Francisco database (a lot of mouse clicking) to see if a) it was around in 1943
and b) how tall it was. Unfortunately,
the website only listed heights from ground level. But Microsoft had a website with geographical
maps with elevations contours and I would use the skyscraper's street address
to find its location on that map and then estimate the ground elevation. Add those together and I got its height over sea
level. Then I could determine if they
would stick out of the fog or not or how low below the fog they were. I did this for twelve buildings and
structures (may not sound like a lot but there were fewer skyscrapers in 1943
and it was a lot of work). That allowed
me to get the scene correct. Then I got
to write about a dog fight between two wizards over the streets of San
Francisco popping in and out of the fog and zooming around buildings. I think it's perhaps the best thing I've ever
written from both a research point of view and a fun-to-read point of view.
11. Out of all the characters you have
created, who is your favourite and why?
My
favourite male character is Michael Vaughan, the reluctant hero of Agent of Artifice (book two in the Adept
Series). He's pretty much a cad,
gambling (cheating) to make money to be able to afford his womanizing lifestyle
in pre-revolution Havana, Cuba. But then
he is forced by circumstances to become the hero he never intended to be. My favourite female character is Charlene "Charlie" Jones of my science fiction novel Rock Killer. I have to admit to being just a bit in love
with her. I throw all sorts of horrible
stuff at her and she comes out stronger, better, and more resilient.
12. If you could meet any fictional
character, who would you meet and why?
Admiral
Sir Dominic Flandry of the Terran Empire Intelligence Services. Who?
He's a character Poul Anderson wrote many books and short stories about
(which I finally managed to find and read them all). Flandry, first of all,
knows how to party. But he also knows
how to bring down a crime lord or stop a Mersian plot to take over a section of
the Terran Empire. He would be a blast
to explore the flesh pots of Venus with.
Are you working on anything at the moment?
My current
WIP is a secret that I'm probably going to have to publish under another name.
Do you
have any current release?
My novel, Book of Death, was released September
15, 2012. It is the third book in the
Adept Series following Hammer of Thor
and Agent of Artifice.
Blurb:
They live
among us. We know they are there. No government can control them; no authority
can stop them. Some are evil. Some are good. All are powerful. They inhabit our myths and fairy tales. But what if they were real, the witches,
wizards, and fairy godmothers? What if
they were called "adepts" and were organized into guilds for mutual
protection and benefit? And what if some
of them discovered a power that other adepts could not match.
During the
turbulent 1960s, when American adept Peter Branton agrees to go to Transylvania
for the CIA, he suspects it's not about ball bearings as he was told. What he finds is a plot that could kill
millions of people and plunge the world into eternal tyranny and bloodshed. Branton doesn't know it, but he's about to
face the adept guilds' worst nightmare: practicing necromancers with a taste
for human blood.
Purchase link:
Any upcoming releases?
Not yet.
Where can readers find you on the internet?
Any advice you would like to give aspiring
writers?
To write.
And submit. And don't get discouraged. The publishing industry is going through
an upheaval. it's questionable if traditional publishers will survive (those
that don't adapt, won't). It's cheaper and easier to self-publish than ever
before but getting noticed is the problem. But if you want to write, then
write. If you want others to read what you wrote, put it out there, either with
traditional publishers, small press publishers, or self-published.
EM: Thank you so much for joining me!
ST: Thanks for having me!
~ * ~
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR:
S. Evan Townsend has been called 'America's
Unique Speculative Fiction Voice.' Evan is a writer living in central
Washington State. After spending four years in the U.S. Army in the Military
Intelligence branch, he returned to civilian life and college to earn a B.S. in
Forest Resources from the University of Washington. In his spare time he enjoys
reading, driving (sometimes on a racetrack), meeting people, and talking with
friends. He is in a 12-step program for Starbucks addiction. Evan lives with
his wife and has three grown sons. He enjoys science fiction, fantasy, history,
politics, cars, and travel.
~ * ~
Author Links:
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