Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
This marks my second featured Fantasy novelists showcasing during the #FantasyForChristmas20 featured posts during my annual #blogmas schedule! I had to reschedule and re-adjust the schedule I had originally to post these lovelies on Jorie Loves A Story due to a moderate migraine (this week) and the stomach flu (last week). Thereby although my posts are a bit more randomised they are going to be showcased before the finale for the #FantasyForChristmas blogosphere event concludes!!
When it comes to choosing which stories within Fantasy I am most likely to feel as if I’ve gone back ‘home’ are the kinds of Epic Fantasy stories which have not just convicting backstories & histories but have a firmly built world behind the journey of the characters. This is duly important across all genres I regularly read but with Fantasy, if the world-building isn’t ironed out and adds a layer of credible believability I am not always able to suspend myself inside the world for as long as I would prefer. This is why I like seeking out worlds of Fantasy like this one – which talks about being an ‘island world’ and thereby expanding the kinds of worlds I have explored in Speculative Fiction!
It is lovely to dive into a world you haven’t always explored – seeking out its perimeters and truly taking stock about how the writer set the world to function as much as how everyone interacts within the world’s structures and/or confines due to culture, tradition or expectations of society. Sometimes those are a bit looser in context and tone but others are more firmly structured. I love the random discoveries – the ones where worlds give you something to chew on and consider as you’re reading the writers’ words and delving closer to their vision for the world you’ve become transported inside.
I love how nature plays an active role in this Fantasy as well – the first time I ‘met’ trees which were menacing was in the Drew Barrymore film “Babes in Toyland” which I believe was in theory a remake! I remember watching it several times as back then they offered a special dvd copy of it with your Happy Meal at McDonald’s which I felt was a complete upgrade to the usual toys! Thinking back on that childhood experience and all the readings I’ve had as a middle grade reader, a teenage reader and now an adult reader of Fantasy – I am quite intrigued to see how the natural world continues to offer a presence in Fantasy which can either be benign or slightly darker than the stalwart guardians we consider them in our realms.
And, there is that whole bit about saving one half of the world but forsaking your own return? Still. My. Heart. I am going to need gobs of tissues for this one I suspect as just the heart pull of that choice and the weight of what is at stake! I am such a lover of drama but sometimes the more guttingly realistic the dramatic story I read – the harder I find myself to put aside my emotions! Although, I am forever grateful for the experience – if you consider #ArmyWives as a baseline of proof!
Curiously – do you regularly read INSPY Speculative Fiction stories? Are you a newbie like I am and are happily surprised by the kinds of Fantasy stories you’ve found within the world of INSPY? Which authors and/or series have you currently read? For me, I’ve enjoyed Morgan L. Busse (see also Review) and am going to be reading “Kingdom Above the Cloud” before December concludes which I spotlighted earlier in Spring.
On an uncharted world, happiness is effortless and constant…
but can true joy exist without sacrifice?The people of Meriel have long believed their island world floats alone in the vast ocean universe, so they are astonished when another island drifts into view. With resources becoming scarce, Carya and Brantley quickly volunteer to search the new land for supplies.
After navigating a barrier of menacing trees, the pair encounter a culture of perpetually happy people who readily share their talents and their possessions. But all is not what it seems. At the core of the island is a horror that threatens everyone, including Brantley and Carya.
Freeing the villagers of the bondage they’ve chosen may cost Carya and Brantley more than they could have imagined. Even if the two succeed, they’ll have to find a way to return to Meriel quickly … or be cut off from their home forever.
Add to LibraryThing | ISBN: 978-1621841357
The Dancing Realms:
Forsaken Island (book one)
Hidden Current (book two)
Published by: Enclave Escape
an imprint of Enclave Publishing (@EnclaveBooks)
Converse via: #FantasyForChristmas20 or #FantasyForChristmas
as well #Fantasy or #INSPYFantasy or #WyrdAndWonder
Enjoy an Extract from “Forsaken Island”:
Chapter One
Across a sweep of waves, the new world called to me. The tangleroot shore of Meriel’s rim rocked beneath my bare feet, daring me to leave the island’s safety and venture to the smudge on the horizon. Sea breezes tickled my skin, stirring my excitement and making my muscles twitch.
Beside me, Brantley rolled a cloak and stuffed it into his pack. “We should have left at first light.” Wind brushed fair curls across his eyes, and he tossed his head like an impatient pony shaking his mane. A mottled brown tunic stretched across his broad shoulders, and a longknife rested at his hip.
I folded a sheet of parchment and tucked it into the tiny pouch hanging around my neck. “Saltar Kemp kept adding to the list of supplies she wants us to search for. She’s hoping we can find seeds to bring back, so the villages can develop new orchards.”
The possibility of such bounty still felt surreal. The notion of an uncharted land like a child’s fanciful dream. To think, for centuries we had believed our island floated alone on an endless ocean, and now a mere speck amid the vast expanse of blue had proven our wisest elders wrong.
We were not alone.
And the thought made me shiver.
Excerpted from Forsaken Island by Sharon Hinck.
Copyright © Sharon Hinck. Published by Enclave Publishing.
This is the second work of Christian Fantasy within a YA arm of the genre I am spotlighting during #blogmas this year and it is a niche of Fantasy I have been tempted to read more of since I first started hosting the #FantasyForChristmas events!! Mostly as I can’t always find the Speculative Fiction stories within the world of INSPY I most itch to read and discover until I host these lovely events for PRISM! And, that is the key reason I continue to host because through the extracts and the spotlights during #blogmas, I have the chance to sort out which authors I’d most love to be reading next – and for a girl who co-hosts an annual Fantasy event every MAY, that’s wicked good news!! (see also @WyrdAndWonder)
For whichever reason, the opening paragraph reminded me of how I felt watching “Moana”! The spirit of adventure, the soulful reach of a spirit within a heart to go further than what was readily known and to have the courage to believe in the path they were predestined to take-on. There is something about *that!* kind of powerful insight a character can experience and it felt to me as if this person like Moana had a greater calling than even they realised.
Erhm. “we’re not alone” sounds far more ominous than I was thinking it might… I feel a chill,.. I am definitely going to have to seek this story out via my libraries and/or Scribd (depending if its in print and/or audio releases) whilst keeping on pinned suspense as I venture past this extract and into the world in which lives the Dancing Realms! Part of me wondered if these realms are on ‘rotation’ like the staircases at Hogwarts OR if they are dimensionally shifting if you put into play Quantum Physics & Mechanics? And, the thoughts about theories start to stir,..
About Sharon Hinck
Award-winning author Sharon Hinck writes “stories for the hero in all of us,” about ordinary women on extraordinary faith journeys.
Known for their authenticity, emotional range, and spiritual depth, her novels include the ground-breaking Sword of Lyric fantasy series and her imaginative new Dancing Realms series, that begins with Hidden Current and continues with Forsaken Island.
She has been honored with a Christy finalist medal, and three Carol awards for her novels. When she’s not wrestling words, she enjoys speaking to conferences and retreats, and is an adjunct professor for Creative Writing M.F.A. students at Concordia University. She drew on her background as a dancer, ballet teacher, and choreographer for her new Dancing Realms series.
This blog tour is courtesy of: Prism Book Tours
Click through via the badge to find out what else awaits you!
Each day, a new author is showcased – I selected the authors I wanted to feature ahead of time –
therefore, return to see which of the authors I am focusing on throughout the 12 days!
NOTE: Similar to blog tours wherein I feature book reviews, book spotlights (with or without extracts), book announcements (or Cover Reveals) – I may elect to feature an author, editor, narrator, publisher or other creative person connected to the book, audiobook, Indie film project or otherwise creative publishing medium being featured wherein the supplemental content on my blog is never compensated monetarily nor am I ever obligated to feature this kind of content. I provide (98.5%) of all questions and guest topics regularly featured on Jorie Loves A Story. I receive direct responses back to those enquiries by publicists, literary agents, authors, blog tour companies, etc of whom I am working with to bring these supplemental features and showcases to my blog. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them: I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers. Whenever there is a conflict of connection I do disclose those connections per post and disclose the connection as it applies.
{SOURCES: Cover art of “Forsaken Island” and “Hidden Current”, the author’s photo (for Sharon Hinck) and biography, the extract from “Forsaken Island”, the book photo for “Forsaken Island” as well as the blog tour banner and The Prism Book Tours badge were all provided by Prism Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers and My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: #blogmas 2020 banner & badge and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2020.
I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life
I do regularly read #INSPY however #SpeculativeFiction w/in INSPY is a new pursuit of mine – thereby, kindly visit my #Fantasy posts featuring @sharonhinck (https://t.co/QW2ji8DxT5) + @rj_anderson (https://t.co/6fMlnwjTvV) as I truly was captured by these worlds! #WrydAndWonder
— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) December 12, 2020
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