reader.writer.cat lover
As the beta roll-out looms, it’s about time I had a sit-down with myself and addressed some of the important questions that you, the readers, have about my upcoming novel, Gardens of War & Wasteland: The Ruptured Sky.
Continue reading “[blog] what you need to know about gardens of war & wasteland: the ruptured sky”
The Holanian capital, Adria. Rei-Hai Shaw knew it like the back of his hand. For the Tower to mark the city as his next hunting ground was both fortune and cruelty. Two years had passed since he last walked the streets of his homeland; he’d been a shadow then too, lost amongst the crowds gathered for the royal wedding of heir apparent, Crown Prince Kiokharen. But this time, Rei was not here for a celebration.
The Grand Cathedral of Nirhana stood nobly behind the castle proper. Secured within the gated domain of Upper Adria, it was not open to the general populace; the cathedral was the wedding chapel and worship venue of choice for the Holanian highborn. Rei had visited it a number of times in his youth—being the son of the reigning Swordmaster, Rei was privy to the inner circles of nobility. He was of age with the wayward Princess Amikharlia and had more or less grown up alongside the royal siblings. They’d often come to the cathedral to play, to see who could climb the highest up the ivy-coated walls. Rei always won.
Holly Black takes something so ordinary, so relatable to the modern adolescent, and juxtaposes it against the profoundly extraordinary.
After a dismal run of DNF and one-star reads, Holly Black‘s The Darkest Part of the Forest was a pure delight. I have to confess, ten years ago, I never would have picked up this book: I was strictly a high-fantasy or slice-of-life contemporary literature kind of girl. I had no interest in magical realism or the blurring of lines between our world and others. What a wonderful thing personal growth is!
