After an extra month of waiting, The Shadow War is finally here! It’s the second book of The Wishing Blade series, so if you’ve been wondering what happens next, that wait is over!
*Squee!*
I’m both excited and nervous with this one. For this one, we get to see Daernan’s point of view for a large part of the story (60%, to be exact), and we get one short scene from Siklana at the end. But don’t worry, Toranih and Shevanlagiy also get their fair share of scenes, too. Not only that, but we get glimpses of both Maijevan and Cantingen cultures, and the bit of rivalry that might be brewing between the various countries and cities. 😉
So, without further ado…
The Shadow War
Upper MG / Lower YA
Though a shadow is as good as a ghost, with no free will to speak of, they may still be saved…
The kingdom of Cirena is under attack from an army of shadows—beings who can only be hurt by magic or fire. Magic has been stolen, and as the shadows spread, infecting all they touch, the last two ribbon mages race to the nearest port city to warn them of the impending invasion. One of those mages, Toranih, is among the few who can see the Trickster-cursed army, and she’s determined to get magic back—no matter how much she distrusts it. When she is captured by shadows and a dark secret is revealed about her future, her best friend, Daernan, is left to defend the city. But his only methods of stopping the shadows are by fire and the devastating magic of the shodo’charl.
With the knowledge that the shadows are innocent townsfolk forced to do a warlord’s bidding, Daernan must choose between saving the shadows or saving those who have not yet turned.
Now Available!
Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ BN.com ~ iTunes ~ Kobo~ Smashwords
A sneak peek…
The roof afforded a smoky view of the burning courthouse and the surrounding mayhem, and here Daernan understood the madness of the shadows. As their victims faded, turning into shadowy wisps, they, too, turned on the crowd. The more the shadows converted, the faster the crowd disappeared.
No wonder they used the explosions. People in the affected areas fled from their homes and the markets, trying to evacuate because the smoke in the distance meant the whole southern side of the city might be burning. But the ghostly shadows waited for them with impromptu weapons, and the refugees fled right into their hands.
“It’s so easy for them,” Daernan whispered. “Lord Menchtoteale found a simple way to conscript his army.”
Siklana frowned as she dug the shodo’charl free from the bag and passed him the stone. “What are they doing?”
“Using the explosions to force people from their homes.” Daernan reached to take the bundle, then stopped. Siklana’s brown eyes were wide with worry, her lips forming an unhappy frown. He quickly turned away and clasped the oilskin tight in his fingers. There were so many shadows. If he released the stone now, he might be killing countless innocent people. But if he didn’t release the stone’s magic, more would be trapped.
“Should we do this?” he asked softly.
Siklana peered over the ledge. “You’re asking me?”
He whispered a soft prayer to Madiya—primarily because she was responsible for taking the dead through her realm—but he fervently hoped he was wrong. Hoped that somehow, some way, the shodo’charl did not kill them.
He hooked his fingers under the oilskin, trembling, already feeling the cold sweat forming on his neck and soaking his back. To do this . . . if he killed them . . . he wasn’t sure how he was going to sleep. How he was going to account for their deaths? But the longer he waited, the more who would die when he finally released the oilskin.
Enjoy! Feel free to tell your friends, or anyone you think might enjoy the book. 😀
Stephanie Flint - Author and Artist 
Reblogged this on Jason A. Meuschke and commented:
Fantastic announcement from a friend, and local author, with the release of her newest book, The Shadow War. This is book 2 in the Wishing Blade series.
Question about the cover. Why are the most of covers made that way? Is this something you went for, or that’s the one publishers gave you? Are this kind of covers influencing more people to buy books or is this some new style of covers that’s trending? Please explain.
What particular aspect of how the cover is made are you referring to? If you can be a little more specific, I might be able to elaborate. 🙂
This is a cover I created myself (my husband and I created our own publishing company for our projects, and since I’ve done cover art for other people I went ahead and did this myself). I based the style on other fantasy covers I’d seen that were of a similar genre. Technically, though, this design was created a little while back, and was going to be the art for the first book in the series, but then I decided it fit more with the theme of the second book.
Ideally, though, the cover should attract readers of the target audience, which is why you’ll see a lot of similar covers in the same genre. Once you have a reader’s attention, you hope they’ll read the blurb, still be interested, and move on to reading the first page (or thumbing through it if they’re looking at a physical copy).
I was thinking about the initial design. This sort of look reminds me of romance genre I see on the book shelves, and I would pass them without any interest. I always imagined, that Fantasy book would have some epic scene in front cover, with battle raging and creatures flying to smite the army, but maybe that’s just me. All of the modern cover art somehow looks the same to me, without any original idea. I wanted to ask, why following the standards, when you can improve it? I am also interested in painting, cover art and those sort of things. I do my own art too. It makes me fell complete as an artist. What is your opinion on modern cover art making?