Today I am spotlighting Edward Willett's MG/YA high fantasy, Spirit Singer! Below you can read an excerpt and enter to win a copy...
Spirit Singer
by Edward Willet
6/26/13
Tyche Books Ltd.
Amarynth is a spirit singer, gifted–or cursed, as she sometimes thinks–with the ability to lead the spirits of the dead from the Lower World through the Between World to the Gate of the Upper World and the Light that lies beyond it.
While she is still an apprentice her grandfather and tutor dies, slain by a mysterious creature in the Between World that is blocking access to the Upper World’s Gate. Without a spirit singer her village cannot survive, so Amarynth embarks on a hazardous quest to find out what the creature is, how it can be defeated, and how she can become a full-fledged spirit singer — a quest that takes her not only from her tiny seacoast home to the soaring mountains of the south, but across the even more rugged terrain of her own soul.
from Chapter 1 of Spirit Singer
Something woke
Amarynth in the small hours of the night. It was dark as a cave inside her chamber,
except for the faint bar of moonlight on the stones of the wall by the open door.
For a moment she blinked at that pale
oblong, feeling the cool breath of a breeze against her cheek, wondering what
had roused her. Then she heard it againa moan, from down the hallway. Her grandfather.
Amarynth threw
aside the covers and reached for her long blue robe, donning it over the thin
shift in which she slept. The moan came again as she stepped into the corridor,
the smooth stone floor cold under her bare feet. She hurried its length, passing
through pools of moonlight collected
under the open skylights like puddles of rain.
Her grandfather's
room was at the far end of the corridor, past the library and the meditation chamber. Amarynth knocked gently.
"Grandfather? Are you all right?"
For a moment there was no answer; then she heard him moan again,
his voice rising suddenly to a shout. "No! No! Stay away! Stay away!"
Amarynth opened the
door and rushed in. Her grandfather was sitting upright in bed, eyes wide and
staring, face pale in the darkness. "Leave me alone!" he cried.
She seized his shoulders. "Grandfather, wake up! Wake
up! It's me, Amarynth!"
A shudder ran
through his gaunt body, and suddenly his eyes
focused on her. "Amarynth...?" She felt the
tension go out of him and gently laid him back on his bed. "You were
dreaming again," she said. "Shouting at
someone to stay away."
"Not someonesome
thing." He closed his eyes, rubbing his
forehead with his gnarled hand. "The dreams are getting
worse.
I'm afraid..." His voice trailed off.
"Of what,
Grandfather?"
His eyes snapped
open. "I'm sorry I disturbed you," he said. "I'm all right now.
Go back to bed."
"If only you'd
tell me what you dreamed, maybe"
"A dream is
only a dream. It's not important. Now, go on. You
need your sleep."
"But"
"Amarynth."
She sighed.
"Yes, Grandfather." With a backward glance she went out, closing the
door behind her, then returned to her room. She draped her robe over the chair
once more, but instead of going back to bed went to the window and looked down
the hill
to the darkened village
of Covedrift , two-score
huts strung along a curving shingle beach.The cool night air caressed her skin
and brought to her the quiet, unceasing murmur of the ocean. The dreams had
been troubling her grandfather for weeks, but she had never heard him cry out
like that before, as though trying to drive something away. What did he see in
the night? He would never tell her. Nor would he explain why he wouldn't tell her,
almost as if he were protecting her from something. But from what?"I'm not
a child anymore," she murmured to the night. "I don't have to be
protected from bad dream.
Edward Willett is the award-winning author of more than 40 books of fiction and nonfiction for children, young adults and adults. He won the Regina Book Award at the 2002 Saskatchewan Book Awards for his YA fantasy Spirit Singer, and the 2009 Prix Aurora Award (Canada’s top award for science fiction and fantasy writing) for Best Long-Form Work in English for his adult science fiction novel Marseguro (DAW Books); the sequel, Terra Insegura, was shortlisted for the 2010 Aurora. His nonfiction book Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw (Red Deer Press) won the City of Regina Municipal Heritage Award. Other novels include fantasy/steampunk epic Magebane (DAW Books), written as Lee Arthur Chane, Right to Know, a science fiction novel (Bundoran Press), and the upcoming Masks, the first in a new fantasy series (written as E.C. Blake, DAW Books). A former newspaper reporter and editor, Ed writes a weekly science column for the Red Deer Advocate and online subscribers, and is also a professional actor and singer. He’s married and has one daughter.
Win a print or ebook copy of Spirit Singer!
Thanks to the awesome people at Tyche Books, I have three copies of this book for three winners!
DETAILS
-open INT
-there will be 3 winners: 1 print, 2 ebooks
-will end 11/15
-must be 13+, one main entry per person
-winners will be emailed and must claim prize within 48 hours
-Word Spelunking is NOT responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen prizes
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I'm loving the name Amarynth - does it have a special meaning?
ReplyDeleteKeep writing. :))) You are too awesome.
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds good! Thanks for the awesome giveaway! :D
ReplyDeleteSounds like an awesome book, cool giveaway!
ReplyDelete