To rid realm of evil, everything will be required. The Mark of the Unseen God, the final installment of the Markulian Prophecies by Benjamin Patterson Book Tour with Guest Post & Giveaway
THE MARK OF THE UNSEEN GOD
Benjamin Patterson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Fantasy
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BLURB:
Look
to the hills with dread: Salmmonaksa has arrived. His armies swarm like a
plague of locusts. As the emperor prepares for his final assault, the Home City
trembles. Overrun by desperate refugees, the monarchs have gathered to plot
their defence. High King Eldilin is back at the helm, but there's no food and
no answers.
Princess
Kathryn has not given up hope. Lying on a cot in her room is the man destined
to save the realm. They desperately need him, and for the prophecies to prove
themselves true, but he will not wake no matter how much she prays. Even if he
did, he cannot do it alone. Many more will die, that is certain.
The
Mark of the Unseen God is the final instalment of the Markulian Prophecies, a
refreshingly original tale set in a breathtaking medieval world. To rid realm
of evil, everything will be required. There is no peace without sacrifice, and
no love without loss. May who they are and what they have be enough.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
The matching dark cloaks of these young risk-takers looked
impressive but were a childish indulgence. They caught the eye, marked them as
rebels. It would be better to dress plainly than to advertise how organised
they were. If anyone saw them gathered so, they would know immediately they
were more than a few disobedient scallywags out for a midnight adventure, but
the ambassador kept his judgements to himself. Their fate was not his concern.
Instead, he turned, pretending he was hesitant to be split
from his men. The truth was he was counting on it. After a pause, ensuring the
youths noticed his reticence, he nodded. Taking their cue, his crew pushed the
dandy back into the water and floated away. Six black-cloaked rebels led the
ambassador up the beach, three in front, three behind. From there, a winding
path appeared, cut into the mountainside. Stray fronds flicked against his
ears. Loose rocks skittered over stone. As they ascended, the coastal air lost
its heaviness,
but the bugs became more relentless about his ears. The
ambassador flicked them away. Such discomforts were familiar to Andreans,
particularly those from Mourilyan.
At the top of the hill, he looked back. His boat was a
darkened shadow amidst darker waters. If he did not know the boat was there, he
would not have been able to make it out.
All was quiet in the bay, for now.
‘Your dark clothing
is a good choice. It will help conceal you as we traverse the ridges.’ The
youth nearest him pointed to the ambassador’s cowl. ‘Is that how officials
dress where you are from?’
The ambassador glanced his way to acknowledge the question
but did not reply. Idle conversation would not benefit his cause. The less he
said, the better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Guest Post:
Tropes! Some writers embrace them. Others
seem offended if a reader discovers one in their books. In reality, they are
unavoidable.
Let me share with you a portion of the best
review my books have ever received. Now when I say best, I don’t mean most
glowing, though the review is that too. I mean that the review is my favourite,
because of the point it makes about tropes.
“OK, so this
is not groundbreaking-turn-the-genre-on-its-head fantasy, this is (so far
anyway, it's only book one after all) formula fantasy. It's also really, really
good.
The best way I
can think of to describe this book is with an analogy from the movie
'ratatouille' - you know the bit where the critic comes to the restaurant and
the humans are all like 'oh no! What are we gonna feed him?!' And the rat wants
to make him ratatouille but the humans are like 'but that's too simple!' But
they make him the ratatouille and when the critic eats it he is overcome with
warmth and emotion, so much so that he doesn't even care that it was made by a
rat? Yeah, this book is like that.
So if the
blurb makes you wary, (or maybe it's just me) I urge you to give The Shadow of
His Hand a chance anyhow. Trust me, it really does get better with every page.
I went from 'meh' to 'holy! This book Sooooo good!' in the space of a few
chapters. I do wish there had been more time to get to know some of the
characters better but oh well I'll just have to wait for the next book!”
The reason I love
this review is because it mirrors how I feel about my books. I was sick of
reading fantasy that was trying too hard to be different. I wanted a throwback,
an old-school read, where the good guys are obviously good, and the villains
are obviously bad. I wanted sword fighting, beautiful princesses, epic quests
and good vs evil. So I wrote such a story myself.
Yes, it’s full of
familiar tropes. I’m not sorry for that. It’s what I love.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Benjamin Patterson lives in North Queensland, Australia with his wife and four children. When not writing, arguing with pilots or volunteering, he's battling a life-controlling addiction to sport, an addiction his poor wife has discovered is easily passed from father to sons.
The Mark of the Unseen God completes his first fantasy trilogy. He hopes you enjoyed reading it as much as he enjoyed writing it. Writing is not easy. Without the encouragement of friends and family, the series would never have made it to print.
Though the series has sold well, Benjamin remains about one million book sales short of his goal. You can help him fulfill his goal, and encourage him to finish his next writing project, by writing rave reviews in every forum available and catching up with him at: http://www.facebook.com/theshadowofhishand
Stay tuned...
CONNECT WITH BENJAMIN PATTERSON
LINKEDIN - https://au.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-patterson-31434494
FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/theshadowofhishand/
INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/author_benjaminpatterson/
THREADS - https://www.threads.net/@author_benjaminpatterson
GOODREADS - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16865006.Benjamin_Patterson
PURCHASE LINKS (The Mark of the Unseen God: Book Three of the
Markulian Prophecies)
AMAZON.COM - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1779622457
AMAZON KINDLE - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DJDLGHWX
IBOOKS - https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-mark-of-the-unseen-god-book/id6736343749
INDIGO CHAPTERS - https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/the-mark-of-the-unseen-god-book-three-of-the-markulian-prophecies/9781779622457.html
BOOKTOPIA - https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-mark-of-the-unseen-god-benjamin-patterson/book/9781779622457.html
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GIVEAWAY
Benjamin Patterson will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
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