BLURB:
Above
a horrified New York City, genetics and ethics collide as the fallen emperor
and a banished exile of the same herculean race ignite into battle over the
city’s rooftops. In the streets below, a brilliant young scientist has
discovered a technology that can defeat them both, yet might be more terrible
than either.
Set
both in modern New York City and in the technologically sophisticated yet
politically savage world of Anthem, Anthem’s Fall unfurls into a plot where
larger than life characters born with the prowess of gods are pitted against
the shrewd brilliance of a familiar and unlikely heroine.
AUTHOR BIO:
S.L. Dunn is the debut author of Anthem’s Fall, a novel he wrote
amid the wanderings of his mid twenties. He has written while living
intermittently in St. John USVI, Boston, Maine and Seattle. Raised on big
screen superheroes and pop science fiction, he sought to create a novel that
bridged a near-sci-fi thriller with a grand new fantasy. He currently resides
in Seattle with his girlfriend Liz and their dog Lucy, and is hard at work
completing the next book of the Anthem’s Fall series. Get in touch at www.sldunn.com.
EXCERPT:
“Yes,
Lord Vengelis!” the boy called, but suddenly froze with fear. The boy began
trembling, his chest convulsing in terror. Vengelis
slowly turned and looked in all directions. Hysteria was rampant; men, women,
and children were running every direction, many horribly wounded. None of them
were soldiers. The fire was blazing out of control, and the entire block was
immersed in raging flames.
A
woman standing nearby, just below a broad tilted awning, remained unscathed. Her
appearance contrasted strangely with the mayhem around them. She was thin and
average sized, of Royal appearance, with blonde hair and bright blue eyes.
Tattered ribbons of the awning and bits of orange cinders and ash blew all
about her. She was smiling at Vengelis, her teeth white and perfect. Vengelis
was taken aback.
Her
eyes.
Vengelis
squinted through the billowing ash and felt an eerie sense of disquiet surface
within him. Her eyes were not quite right. There was a glowing property to her
stare, as though her eyes were emitting a strange blue radiance. She was
beautiful, but the serene way she was smiling in the midst of the madness was
peculiarly horrifying.
“State
your name and rank!” Vengelis called out.
The
boy stifled a small cry as the woman’s smile broadened. Vengelis glared and
turned his attention from her to the boy. In a corner of his mind he already
knew he was speaking to one of the Felixes. She
moved her unsettling gaze from Vengelis to the boy. The boy let out a terrible
sob and released the soldier he had been dragging. The woman took a step closer
to the child.
There
was no longer any doubt in Vengelis’s mind.
The
woman whirled into motion, dashing toward the boy and reaching for his throat.
The boy flinched and locked his eyes shut, expecting instant death. But it did
not come. He peered through his trembling eyelids after a moment passed. The
woman was still reaching for his throat, though now just in front of him. Vengelis had closed the distance and grabbed her wrist with his
left hand, stopping the strike in its tracks. Her fingernails were reaching out
longingly, inches from the boy’s neck. The woman turned to Vengelis, her
expression vacant.
“Huge mistake,”
Vengelis growled through gritted teeth, his knuckles white from the vice grip
on her wrist. “Get out of here, kid.”
***
The Author will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $30 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn host.
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