by Gail Z. Martin
The Dread, Book Two in The Fallen Kings Cycle, is now available!
The Dread is the conclusion to the struggle for control of the Winter Kingdoms that began in The Sworn. For those who have read my Chronicles of the Necromancer series, it’s the sixth book following the lives, struggles and adventures of Tris Drayke, Kiara Sharsequin, Jonmarc and Carina Vahanian, and the rest of the crew.
As plague and famine scourge the winter kingdoms, a vast invasion force is mustering from beyond the northern seas. And at its heart, a dark spirit mage wields the blood magic of ancient, vanquished gods.
Summoner-King Martris Drayke must attempt to meet this great threat, gathering an army from a country ravaged by civil war. Neighboring lands reel toward anarchy while plague decimates their leaders. Drayke must seek new allies from among the living – and the dead –- as an untested generation of rulers face their first battle.
Then someone disturbs the legendary Dread as they rest in a millennia-long slumber beneath sacred barrows. Their warrior guardians, the Sworn, know the Dread could be pivotal as a force for great good or evil. But if it’s the latter, could even the Summoner-King’s sorcery prevail?
So is this the last book in the Winter Kingdoms? No. But I’m going to step away from these characters for a while and give the survivors a much overdue rest (the action of the six books takes place over the course of about two years, so they’ve earned it). Later this year, I’ll tell you more about what comes next, but for now, I’m very excited to share the rest of the story with you and take you along on the dark and dangerous road to save the Winter Kingdoms.
Here are some extra goodies in celebration of The Dread’s launch:
- “Like” my WinterKingdoms page on Facebook and enter to win a prize package of signed books, foreign editions and rare Advance Review Copies http://on.fb.me/yRGfHD
- Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teyvxnIEITg
- Four excerpts to get you started:
- Excerpt #1 http://www.4shared.com/document/aypH5jjv/An_excerpt_from_The_Dread_chp_.html
- Excerpt #2 http://www.4shared.com/document/W7IBgFfL/An_excerpt_from_The_Dread_chp_.html
- Excerpt #3
http://www.4shared.com/document/E7QlVWJc/An_excerpt_from_The_Dread_chp_.html
- Excerpt #4
http://www.4shared.com/document/xHN5lNvM/Dread_Excerpt_4.html
- Order from Amazon through my link at www.TheWinterKingdoms.com and get special bonus downloads from a slew of my author friends!
And I’ll be out and about with The Dread, so catch me here:
- Reading and signing at SheVaCon in Roanoke, VA Feb. 16 – 18
- Launch party at Mysticon in Roanoke, VA from 7 – 9 pm in the Con Suite on Feb. 24
- In-store signing at the Barnes & Noble at Carolina Place Mall, Charlotte NC on Feb. 4
- In-store signing at Books-A-Million at Concord Mills, Concord, NC on Feb. 11
- Watch for more in-store signings to come!
I’d love to hear from you—please comment on my blog or on Facebook, and of course, I always really appreciate it when you forward my posts to your friends.
I hope to meet you at a convention or signing this year. Enjoy!
