Blog Tour: BLOOD OF THE PROPHET by Kat Ross (w/ #Giveaway)!
Welcome to Book-Keeping and thank you for joining me today as you follow the blog tour for Blood of the Prophet (The Fourth Element #2) by Kat Ross! I am thrilled to be part of the tour for the second book in this amazing series! Today I have a review, all the details on the book and how to purchase it, a bio and info on how to connect with Kat, and a great 10-winner giveaway to share with you.
Before going further, I have a confession to make: I was supposed to have a review of Blood of the Prophet for you today, and I don’t, because I haven’t yet finished it. Instead, I have a review of the first book, The Midnight Sea. I wanted to make sure that everyone, including Kat, knows that it is not for lack of interest in the book that I haven’t yet finished it! As you will see in my review, I absolutely loved The Midnight Sea, and I am also loving Blood of the Prophet (I’m about 40% done). Sadly, my father-in-law passed away a few weeks ago, rather unexpectedly, and between traveling, helping my mother-in-law, and the normal process of grieving, I had trouble reading anything for about two weeks. I have tried my best to keep up with my review books for blog tours, and I would have been able to finish Blood of the Prophet had I not still had to read The Midnight Sea first. That said, I am so glad that I stayed on the tour and read these books now, because they have truly taken me to another world! I hope my review of TMS will help those of you who have not yet started the series, and I know there are lots of other blog tour hosts who will have reviews of BotP for those who have! Still, I offer my sincere apologies, especially to Kat and our tour host Giselle, for not quite holding up my end of the bargain.
Now, without further ado, let’s get started!
title: Blood of the Prophet (The Midnight Sea #2)
author: Kat Ross
publisher: Acorn Publishing
release date: 12 September 2016
Visionary. Alchemist. Savior. Saint.
The Prophet Zarathustra has been called many things. Now he spends his time drawing pictures of weird-looking goats. That’s what happens when you’ve been stuck in a prison cell for two hundred years. But the man who might be mad, and is definitely supposed to be dead, has suddenly become very valuable again…
It’s only been a few weeks since Nazafareen escaped the King’s dungeons with her daēva, Darius. She hoped never to set foot in the empire again, but the search for the Prophet has led them to the ancient city of Karnopolis. They have to find him before Alexander of Macydon burns Persepolae, and Darius’s mother with it. But they’re not the only ones looking.
The necromancer Balthazar has his own plans for the Prophet, and so does the sinister spymaster of the Numerators. As Nazafareen is drawn in to a dangerous game of cat and mouse, her newfound powers take a decidedly dark turn. Only the Prophet understands the secret of her gift, but the price of that knowledge may turn out to be more than Nazafareen is willing to pay…
Add to Goodreads: Blood of the Prophet (The Midnight Sea #2)
Purchase the Book: Amazon | B&N | Kobo
title: The Midnight Sea (The Fourth Element #1)
author: Kat Ross
publisher: Acorn Publishing
release date: 26 March 2016
They are the light against the darkness.
The steel against the necromancy of the Druj.
And they use demons to hunt demons….
Nazafareen lives for revenge. A girl of the isolated Four-Legs Clan, all she knows about the King’s elite Water Dogs is that they leash wicked creatures called daevas to protect the empire from the Undead. But when scouts arrive to recruit young people with the gift, she leaps at the chance to join their ranks. To hunt the monsters that killed her sister.
Scarred by grief, she’s willing to pay any price, even if it requires linking with a daeva named Darius. Human in body, he’s possessed of a terrifying power, one that Nazafareen controls. But the golden cuffs that join them have an unwanted side effect. Each experiences the other’s emotions, and human and daeva start to grow dangerously close.
As they pursue a deadly foe across the arid waste of the Great Salt Plain to the glittering capital of Persepolae, unearthing the secrets of Darius’s past along the way, Nazafareen is forced to question his slavery—and her own loyalty to the empire. But with an ancient evil stirring in the north, and a young conqueror sweeping in from the west, the fate of an entire civilization may be at stake…
Add to Goodreads: The Midnight Sea (The Fourth Element #1)
Purchase the Book: Amazon
Kat Ross worked as a journalist at the United Nations for ten years before happily falling back into what she likes best: making stuff up. She lives in Westchester with her kid and a few sleepy cats. Kat is also the author of the dystopian thriller Some Fine Day (Skyscape, 2014), about a world where the sea levels have risen sixty meters. She loves magic, monsters and doomsday scenarios. Preferably with mutants.
Connect with Kat: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
A quick reminder, or a note for those who didn’t read the first 2 paragraphs of this post: I am reviewing The Midnight Sea, book 1 of this trilogy.
OH. WOW. I am amazed by the magical fantasy world created by Kat Ross in this new series, The Fourth Element. It is rooted in our world, though way back in our history, so it will feel somewhat familiar from your textbooks and lessons, but I promise you never learned *anything* quite like this in school! Ms. Ross has created a system of elemental magic that I haven’t really seen before and which I absolutely love. The idea of a certain group of “people” being able to bend the elements to their will, and being bonded to another human with “the gift,” ie, the ability to control that magic, is unlike anything I’ve read. It was so much fun to dive into this world and learn about daevas, magi, necromancers (or anti-magi, as they prefer to be called, thank you very much), and druj (revenants, wights, and liches) – and all the different things they each can and cannot do. Just re-reading that sentence, I think to myself, wow, that sounds like a lot of information to take in! But the best thing about this book – and the mark of an excellent epic fantasy book, in my opinion – is that it unfolds slowly, allowing you to gradually learn about the world without big “info dumps.”
When I say the book unfolds “slowly,” I don’t mean that it plods along or is boring, not by any means! I just think it takes a lot of restraint as an author, and a whole lot of skill, to allow the reader to learn about the various elements of the fantasy world at a measured pace, without throwing everything at them at the very beginning. In fact, we essentially are learning how this fantasy world works along with our main character, Nazafareen, whom we first meet at the age of 12. Since Nazafareen is a nomad, there is so much about the larger world that she doesn’t know: about all the forms of demon druj, about daevas and their human bonded, about organized religion and its role in the enslavement of the daevas, about the Prophet Zarathustra, about the treacherous world of court politics, even about the cities and satrapies that make up the empire. We are able to learn and grow along with Nazafareen as soon as it is discovered she has “the gift” and she joins the Water Dogs. From there we are introduced to the vibrant, complex characters Ms. Ross has created at the same time we learn about the intricate magic system and the roles of organized religion and government. Ms. Ross displays such restraint in telling her story and she does not rush us along, which is something I particularly dislike in books. This is especially true for complex fantasies, because I like to be immersed in them and steeped in the culture, which is exactly what Ms. Ross has given us. In addition to the complex fantasy world, the characters of The Fourth Element are also complex and richly drawn. I honestly feel like I *know* Nazafareen, and there were so many times I blushed when she blushed, laughed when she laughed, and bawled when she… okay, so she didn’t cry as much as I did because she is an incredibly tough young woman! But Ms. Ross made me feel every emotion on a deep level, which wouldn’t have happened if the characters hadn’t been so real or if the story had been rushed.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that this book is an example of truly masterful storytelling, along the lines of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Please note, I do not make the comparison lightly! I am one who has been a fan of his series from the beginning – all these many, long years! – and I have actually never seen the TV series. But Martin is an absolute master at his craft, unparalleled as a fantasy writer (and as a writer generally, IMHO), in large part because of his characterization and his restraint in letting the story unfold and not rushing it. (Also because he has zero qualms about killing off his creations, ha!) With The Midnight Sea and The Fourth Element series, Ms. Ross has cemented herself in my mind as a kind of YA GRRM. I truly cannot say enough positive things about this book, and to think that it is an indie book and not with a big publisher is kind of mind-blowing. This book is a perfect example of why I love indies so much and why I try to read as many self-pubbed and small press books as I can. You can discover writers who are masterful storytellers, and you just know when they’ve truly poured their heart and soul into their book. That’s what we have with The Midnight Sea. I am totally blown away.
This review has ended up being less of a summary or discussion of the story and more a long comment on Ms. Ross’ incredible storytelling ability, but that’s okay because I don’t want to give away even one plot point! This book is the kind you have to experience on your own. There are twists and turns, grave tragedies and great sacrifices, selfless acts of love and horrific betrayals, acts of cowardice and of courage, even complicated social justice issues with which to wrestle… basically, everything you could ever want in an epic fantasy. There were so many things I didn’t see coming, scenes that took my breath away or had me actually sobbing (loudly) as I read, characters that came to feel like friends, and still there are so many mysteries to unravel, journeys to take, and people to meet. Honestly, with each word I type here, I realize just how enamored I am of this series, and I want each and every one of you to experience it, too! I hope you will join me in reading The Fourth Element, beginning with The Midnight Sea and moving to Blood of the Prophet , at which point you’ll be eagerly though patiently (oh who am I kidding) awaiting the arrival of book 3, Queen of Chaos. I promise you won’t regret it!
Rating: 5 stupendously bright stars (which, Darius will tell you, are really suns, not angels as the magi would have you believe)*
*You’ll understand this reference when you read the book :)
The author is generously offering 10 lucky winners an e-copy of The Midnight Sea, book 1 of The Fourth Element series! Open internationally as long as Kat can send you an e-book; contest ends 29 September. Enter via the Rafflecopter below, and good luck!
Psst…I’m not sure how long this price will last, but as of today (20 Sept 2016), book 2 is only $1.99 – so you might want to grab it now as you wait to see if you’re one of the lucky giveaway winners!
I wanted to end with a thank you to Giselle, from our tour host Xpresso Book Tours, for her patience with me and her understanding of the circumstances that got in the way of me providing a review of Blood of the Prophet. Giselle is always so wonderful to work with, and if you’re a blogger I encourage you to consider participating in one of her tours! You can check out all the events - there’s literally something for every blogger! - and sign up on the website.
I’d also like to say thank you to Kat Ross for letting me take part in the tour! I hereby promise to leave a review of Blood of the Prophet as soon as I am finished reading! Thank you, as well, for sharing your incredible story and masterful writing with us. I feel as if Nazafareen and Darius, Tijah and Myrri, and even Victor are friends of mine, and I can’t wait to join them on the next leg of their adventure! (Is it December yet?)
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