#PubDay Book Spotlight | “The Gossamer Mage” by Julie E. Czerneda

Posted Tuesday, 6 August, 2019 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

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Acquired Book By: For three years (2015-2017) I happily participated in three blog tours celebrating Ms Czerneda’s epic series: The Clan Chronicles (#futurespasttour, #timeandstarstour & #againstthedark respectively) wherein I was blessed to be able to read the series in the order of the Clan. I started with Stratification, followed by the Trade Pact trilogy and finally found my heart so tethered to the love story between Jason & Sira, I was left emotionally wrecked and uplifted by the ending (within the pages of “To Guard Against the Dark”). You can read through my Archive of #whoaretheclan ruminative thoughts per each story I quite literally found to be #unputdownable!

At the same time, I had the joy of hosting Ms Czerneda on several occassions where I featured her in an interview, a guest post about the Web Shifters series & a final good-bye essay about the past twenty years of being with the Clan.

In [2016] I received the first two novels of the Night Edge series “A Turn of Light” & “A Play of Shadow”. However, the timing wasn’t right for me – it was too soon after my father’s stroke and in the ensuing year, due to different reasons (mostly health related as I have chronic migraines), I decided to wait to conclude my readings of the Clan before attempting to re-emerge into her Fantasy series. This Summer I knew the time had come for me to settle into an epic Fantasy series and see where this new journey with Ms Czerneda’s characters would take me. Ahead of this new journey of mine – I elected to read her stand-alone new release “The Gossamer Mage” which is a work of Dark Fantasy releasing on my 6th blog birthday, the 6th of August!

I received a complimentary copy of ‘The Gossamer Mage’ in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my thoughts shared herein.

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What drew my eye into wanting to read “The Gossamer Mage”:

I read the premise behind Mage and goodness! What a plotting of intrigue! I like how the mages are a bit in the dark about what is actually going on with the Goddess and how their world is affected by the truths left unknown to them. The cover art is also lovely. I had a feeling this might be a darker Fantasy story – however, there were certain aspects of the Clan which ran quite dark as well. I survived the Clan and I have confidence I can handle a darker Fantasy novel from you. I like your instincts for telling stories and I look forward to taking this journey. – initial thoughts

When I first learnt of the premise you’ll notice how as I was considering the subject & the story within the heart of “The Gossamer Mage” I was recognising that despite appearances, I was already well aware of how this particular author can take her reader into the darker realms of her Speculative stories; thereby, I was with better confidence in believing I could not just handle reading this novel but I would appreciate discovering how she treated this world with her style of pulling us through a world which will leave us ruminatively reflective.

The day the novel released into book world seeking readers is the very same day I am celebrating my 6th Blog Birthday here on Jorie Loves A Story which felt rather fittingly brilliant if you ask me! What better way to anchour your personal celebrations than by ruminating over a beloved author and reading their latest release? I was honoured to be considered for the blog tour of this latest release as although it was meant to become my *third!* reading of Ms Czerneda’s Fantasy stories – it became my first.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com#PubDay Book Spotlight | “The Gossamer Mage” by Julie E. CzernedaThe Gossamer Mage
by Ms Julie E. Czerneda, Julie E. Czerneda
Source: Direct from Publisher

From an Aurora Award-winning author comes a new fantasy epic
in which one mage must stand against a Deathless Goddess who controls all magic.

Only in Tananen do people worship a single deity: the Deathless Goddess. Only in this small, forbidden realm are there those haunted by words of no language known to woman or man. The words are Her Gift, and they summon magic. Mage scribes learn to write Her words as intentions: spells to make beasts or plants, designed to any purpose. If an intention is flawed, what the mage creates is a gossamer: a magical creature as wild and free as it is costly for the mage. For Her Gift comes at a steep price. Each successful intention ages a mage until they dare no more. But her magic demands to be used; the Deathless Goddess will take her fee, and mages will die. To end this terrible toll, the greatest mage in Tananen vows to find and destroy Her. He has yet to learn She is all that protects Tananen from what waits outside. And all that keeps magic alive.

Genres: Dark Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9780756408909

Also by this author: Reap the Wild Wind, Riders of the Storm, Rift in the Sky, A Thousand Words for Stranger, Ties of Power, To Trade the Stars, This Gulf of Time and Stars, Julie E. Czerneda Interview (#futurespasttour), The Gate to Futures Past, Guest Post (Web Shifters series) by Julie E. Czerneda, Guest Post: Julie E. Czerneda (Clan Chronicles Finale Tour), To Guard Against the Dark

Published by DAW Books

on 6th August, 2019

Format: Paperback ARC

Pages: 416

 Published By: DAW Books (@DAWBooks)
an imprint of Penguin Group USA

Book prologue was published as the novella
“The Gossamer Mage: Intended Words” in 2008, Baen’s Universe.

Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #gossamermage + #DarkFantasy

About Ms Julie E. Czerneda

Julie E. Czerneda Photo Credit: Roger Czerneda Photography

Julie E. Czerneda is the author of the Species Imperative trilogy, the Night's Edge fantasy duology, and the Stratification novels. She is a multiple Aurora Award winner, and was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award and the Philip K. Dick Award. Julie lives with her husband and two children in the lake country of central Ontario, under skies so clear they could take seeing the Milky Way for granted, but never do.

Photo CreditRoger Czerneda Photography

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why i am spotlighting the gossamer mage:

The prospective inclination of visiting a place where magic still exists and where the order of the world is not fully attached to the realisation of how this is plausible is a reckoning of its own. If thoughts are things and words are as empowered by those who speak a breath of life into their folds, you can enter into The Gossamer Mage realising how intentional words alter everything they touch. The scribes themselves, the mages of this world are caught inside a tribute of sorts, where bells are attributed to their work and where per each bell they are giving back a debt to the Goddess of whom demands their accountability. In essence, the magic here is not limitless and not without its own consequence of usage.

This is the precept and concept I understood about the foundational exploration of this world – I also knew it was going to become darker in tone but based on my readings of the Clan Chronicles, I felt I could handle the kind of darkness this author can write – however, I was apparently a bit wrong on that observation as there was a moment where I nearly could not read one more passage due to what I discovered involving a calf.

Fly in the ointment:

After reading about the cost of magic and the work of the mages, there came a section featuring a character known as Cil – of whom I couldn’t tell was intending to stop the harm of an animal or was intentionally attempting to do something I’d rather never know about personally. It as an awkward sequence and one I was thankful passed quickly as it could have turnt my stomach if it had been lengthened; though the visuals were a bit too much for me as I raised cattle in a previous life.

What made it difficult to read is I thought it was a scene about saving an animal from suffering but I think it had another motive behind the scene entirely which I elected not to contemplate as that would bring this into a more horrific revelation I’d truly like to avoid knowing about to be honest.

Whilst I decided to give it another go past this sequence, I kept referring back to how I felt when the book originally arrived. I’ve had so much going on in my personal life, I felt it was just ill timing which prevented me from finding a rooted attachment within MAGE. All these months lateron, I am still questioning what is pulling me out of the story and I think its the ambigiousness of the presentation of the world itself.

We aren’t given fuller definitions and the kind of rounding depictions we were familiar with reading about the Clan. In this world, you enter into the characters a bit on the fringes of knowing who they are and by doing that, you have a harder time adjusting into their lifestyles and sorting out what is motivating them to chain themselves into a pattern of self-servitude to a ruler of whom they all fear to a certain degree.

As I tried to make my way into the context of the story, I found myself questioning why there felt like there was this veil of secrecy happening within the pacing of the novel. It was almost like you had to forget your curiosity about the world, the sequencing of events and how the characters were connected to each other; as I had a hard time discerning why we were being inserted into their story at this particular junction other than having understood each of the mages has only a particularly limited framework of time to accomplish what needs to be done. Herein, this reverts back to the magic itself and how this world is fuelled on it.

Perhaps as much as I think I can handle Dark Fantasy, I am more limited in those wanderings than I would have forethought possible. It is true, I rarely delve into a darkly lit Fantasy arc of narrative – however, in this particular case, having devoured three trilogies of her Science Fiction stories and having a good footing into the first chapters of A Turn of Light – I felt I could tackle her version of a dimly lit Fantasy which would have a resounding statement of purpose and intention at the end of it. As with the stories I’ve read of hers in the past – they inter-relate to our modern world with overtures played out in Speculative situations… sadly for me, this time round, I must let other readers discover this message as The Gossamer Mage is one story which simply isn’t my cuppa.

I shall be returning back into Marrowdell and letting myself become lost in the Light.

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This book review is courtesy of:

Julie E. Czerneda and DAW Books

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*SPECIAL NOTE*

remember – Jorie doesn’t personally host giveaways/bookaways on jorielovesastory.com; however, one of the few exceptions to this rule & policy has been sharing the link for Ms Czerneda’s giveaways attached to her blog tours. Therefore, in keeping with tradition, I am sharing the announcement about how her ENTIRE backlist is being given away during the tour (final day is 9th of August; this Friday).

Be sure to  View the EPIC BackList Bookaway from Ms Czerneda’s publisher!

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{SOURCES: The book cover for “The Gossamer Mage” as well as an updated biography and the synopsis is being used with permission of DAW Books. The author photograph of Julie E. Czerneda was provided by the author and is used with permission. Tweets embedded due to the codes provided by Twitter. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Ruminations and Impressions Banner, #FuellYourSciFi badge and the Comment Box Banner.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2019.

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About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

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Posted Tuesday, 6 August, 2019 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book Spotlight, Canadian Literature, Content Note, Dark Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fly in the Ointment




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