Welcome to the Blog Tour for Quest of Fire: Desperation by Brett Armstrong, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: Quest of Fire: Desperation Guarding his nation’s last hope, a teen must escape enemy lands.
While Anargen, Caeserus, and Bertinand are held captive in Stormridge, the war to restore Ecthelowall’s Commonwealth has been waged for months. Their friend Terrillian is on its frontline and hopes are high.
For Barons Fenwrest and Sornfold the fight is too close to their children, whose union represents the only viable challenge to the Monarchists claim to Ecthelowall’s ancient throne. Enter Thomas Fenwrest, an orphan and page to Sir Hurstwell, who is captain of Baron Fenwrest’s guard. The pair must escort the teens to Castle Yerst expecting boredom to be their only danger. Everything quickly spirals out of control when the Monarchists somehow deliver a devastating blow to the Restoration army and Thomas and Sir Hurstwell face the increasingly difficult task of keeping their charges alive. Ancient sorcery and bitter grudges combine to ensnare them. As desperation sets in for the Restoration and Thomas, to where will they turn for hope?
PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookDepository | IndieBound
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brett Armstrong, author of the prize-winning novel, Destitutio Quod Remissio, started writing stories at age nine, penning a tale of revenge and ambition set in the last days of the Aztec Empire. Twenty years later, he still tells stories enriched by his Christian faith and a master’s degree in creative writing. His goal with every work is to be like a brush in the Master artist’s hand and his hope is the finished composition always reflects the design God had in mind. He writes to engage, immerse, and entertain with deep, thoughtful stories. Continually busy at work with one or more new novels to come, he also enjoys drawing, gardening, and playing with his beautiful wife and son. Brett’s book The Gathering Dark is a 2020 Selah Awards Finalist in the Speculative Fiction category.
Connect with Brett by visiting brettarmstrong.net to follow him on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.
AUTHOR GUEST POST
World-building is one of my favorite parts of storytelling!
It's such a rich topic to discuss and worth a craft book all its own. I could
definitely go on for long enough to fill out several chapters worth of thoughts
on the topic. Taking a much narrower bite out of it though, I’d like to share
some of what I think is an oft overlooked aspect of world-building that is
pretty critical to shaping memorable story worlds and definitely something that
factors into how I developed the Lowlands in my Quest of Fire series.
Like every aspect of writing, good world-building is an act
of balance. It’s easy to get lost in dreaming of complex magic systems,
fanciful creatures, and dramatic landscapes. Those things are of course
important but I would argue there is something equally important but easy to
lose sight of. A lot of world-building is about the little things, or things
that seem little next to the examples above. What do people eat? Where do they
work? Does the protagonist come from a hardworking society or a laid back one? And
world-building is just as important in historical fiction as it is fantasy.
Having written both I can attest that the process if very similar.
Little things quickly become a big deal in world-building
because they are incredible opportunities for making the story world relatable
to the reader. When your story is set in a place the reader cannot reach
physically, there’s a persistent need to ground the reader in the story with
things they can experience in real life. For example, the smell of fresh baked
bread catching a hungry protagonist’s attention and hoping they have enough to
buy it while walking in the Roman Forum. Most of us have had fresh baked bread
(and if you haven’t you really need to try it!), but none of us have walked in
the Roman Forum while it still thrummed with the heartbeat of the Roman Empire
at its zenith. Nobody has physically walked the forgotten pathways through the
Tagel Mountains to Old Emeral, as my characters do in Quest of Fire:
Desperation. But many have sat around a campfire, telling stories and
singing songs late into the night. Perhaps even bittersweet stories about loved
ones lost as is the case in one particular scene.
World-building is about putting in the foreground of the
setting something readers can anchor themselves to from past experiences and
emotions. Then you populate the midground with things that are somewhat
familiar but perhaps have a touch of the fantastic, like Spiritswords sheathed
within scabbards or discussions of the group’s quest taking place in hushed
tones between members of the group. In the background, you can feel free to
populate the space with the incredible. At least that is the formula for most
scenes. There are moments to bring fantastical elements to the foreground, but
to make those truly impactful, they need to be well-timed and are an exception
rather than the normal manner of handling things. If you plunge readers deep into
reach and creative waters, be ready to pull them back up for a breath of
something they know so that they can dive back down and explore more with you
willingly.
TOUR GIVEAWAY
(2) winners will receive a $25 Amazon gift card, a copy of Quest of Fire: Desperation, a digital map of the western Lowlands, a digital copy of a limited-release short story about a character in Desperation, and Quest of Fire's theme music.
Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight November 8, 2022 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on November 15, 2022. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
Sounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good read.
ReplyDeletegreat post! Thank you, Brett & Randi!
ReplyDeleteI like the cover and I enjoyed the guest post, Quest of Fire: Desperation sounds like a great fantasy to read!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing it with me and have a terrific day!