Wind – Drachengott Book 1
by KJ Taylor
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GENRE: Fantasy
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BLURB:
Wendland
is a land of dragons, and of magic. The mysterious Drachengott grants magic to
his worshippers - but is he truly a god? Rutger von Gothendorf is only a simple
furrier, but he has become his village's local eccentric, thanks to his
obsession with the murder of his brother by the Drachengott's servants. He
holds onto the vague hope that he will one day have the chance to fight back
against them - until one day a mysterious and beautiful woman named Swanhild
comes into his life. Rutger is instantly smitten - but Swanhild knows more than
she says, and a web of lies and deceit threatens to sour the love beginning to
grow between them.
And all the while, the
Drachengott waits ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
The wind whistled through the darkness, shaking the branches
all about and putting a chill into the air. It carried a scent with it,
straight to Rutger’s nose. He took it in and immediately tensed.
‘Did you smell that, Horst?’ he hissed, snatching his older
brother by the arm.
Horst shook him off. ‘Not now, Rut — we’re in enough trouble
without worrying about funny smells.’
‘But it smells like rotting meat!’ Rutger insisted. He
paused, ignoring Horst’s impatient look, and breathed in deeply. The smell hit
him again — worse, this time. He retched slightly. ‘Can’t you smell it?’
Horst, big and muscular, turned his head in the gloom and
sniffed. A moment later, he grimaced. ‘You’re right: something’s dead out
there. Come on, let’s move on before we find out what.’
He strode off, Rutger hurrying after him. ‘You don’t think
it’s spiders, do you?’
‘Could be,’ Horst said shortly. ‘Keep your eyes open.’
Rutger swallowed and put a hand on the hilt of the long
dagger looped through his belt. He had never seen a giant spider before, and he
wanted to keep it that way. Silently, he wished he had never asked to come out
here into the forest with Horst. But it had all seemed so harmless — just a
quick stroll through the forest to check Horst’s mink traps. But then they
hadn’t been able to find the last trap, and now they were lost.
I really am the unlucky seventh son, he thought glumly.
If Horst was as worried as his brother, he didn’t show it.
He walked slightly ahead, dead mink swinging from his belt. A big old woodaxe
hung on his back, brought along for protection. Night was falling now, and the
sooner they got out of here the better.
The forest all around was dense and looked threatening, its
spiky pine needles sighing in the relentless wind. Night always seemed to come
early here. But at least the putrid smell had gone away.
‘How close do you think we are now?’ Rutger asked in a low
voice.
Horst shook his head. ‘Not sure — I think there’s a clearing
up ahead, though.’
Rutger came to his brother’s side, and the two of them
climbed a small rise into the clearing. The instant Rutger left the shelter of
the trees, it hit him again: the hideous stench of rotting meat slamming into
his nose, so powerfully that his eyes watered. Beside him, Horst had stopped.
Rutger heard him swear softly. He looked up, intending to tell his brother that
they should go — and then he saw it.
Ahead, in the clearing, a faint light began to glow. It
shone on the dark, lumpy shapes which hung from the trees at the far side. Some
could have been animal corpses, but the rest . . .
Horst wrenched the axe down off his back. ‘Get behind me,
Rut,’ he said sharply. ‘Get out of here. Now.’
‘What—?’ Rutger started to say — but too late.
As the light brightened, two of the hanging shapes dropped
to the ground and stepped forward. They wore rough leather tunics with hoods
which covered their heads, but on each of their chests was a pair of red
gemstones, set into an amulet. They glowed faintly in the light, making a halo
over each of the two men, like a pair of glowering eyes.
‘Jüngen!’ Rutger heard himself say.
One of the pair pointed accusingly at them. ‘How dare you
enter this sacred grove?’
Horst started to back away, axe raised.
The two Jüngen joined hands, and the light around them
intensified as their linked hands rose. An instant later, a great flash blinded
Rutger. He cried out as he fell back, but his voice was drowned out by a screeching
roar from above.
A pitch-black dragon was hovering over the Jüngen’s heads,
its eyes glowing red. Light crackled over its wings, and it roared again.
The Jüngen let go of each other, and the second of the two
spoke to the dragon. His words were a short, cold command.
‘Kill them.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
She published her
first work, The Land of Bad Fantasy through Scholastic when she was just 18,
and went on to publish The Dark Griffin in Australia and New Zealand five years
later. The Griffin’s Flight and The Griffin’s War followed in the same year,
and were released in America and Canada in 2011. At the moment, she is working
on the third set of books in the series, while publishing the second.
K.J.Taylor’s real
first name is Katie, but not many people know what the J stands for. She
collects movie soundtracks and keeps pet rats, and isn’t quite as angst-ridden
as her books might suggest.
Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Drachengott-Wind-K-J-Taylor-ebook/dp/B00RKU7QP0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1441057188&sr=1-1&keywords=wind+k.j.+taylor
A little interview
A little interview
Where are you from?
I was born and raised in Canberra
(though I did spend a year in the UK as a small child, which might explain my
weird accent). My father was a computer consultant (I say was because he’s
since changed careers), and my mother is an environmental toxicologist. And my
sister is a teacher.
What made you want to be a writer?
I adored books, hero-worshipped the
authors who wrote them, and wanted to tell stories of my own. Pretty
straightforward really! I first started trying to get published because I
wanted validation, hahah.
What authors have influenced your
writing and life?
When I was kid one of my favourite
authors was Robin Jarvis, author of the Deptford
Mice series. For a children’s series it was incredibly dark and violent,
and often gruesome as well, with evil rats killing and eating mice and keeping
their pelts as trophies. I sometimes wonder if this is why Mr Jarvis hasn’t
published anything in a while – maybe the PC brigade put a stop to him. That’s
depressing. But his books had a big influence on me, and I’m known for writing
dark, violent stories myself these days – albeit for adults. I also still love
William Horwood, whose Duncton Wood
series has had a very clear impact on my prose style. Not to mention the
philosophy in it, which fascinated me – he wrote his fictional religion in a
very deep and thoughtful way, without becoming preachy, and allowed room for
doubt – most of his heroes are believers, but plenty are athiests, and their
friends don’t judge them for it. I think this series is a major reason why I
too like to explore religion in my books, and I try my hardest to do it in a
nonjudgemental way despite not being a fan of religion in real life.
What is the hardest thing about writing?
I write so much and so frequently –
three days a week, seven hours a day without a break – that I have to be
careful not to start repeating myself. That goes for both plot and prose; I
tend to overuse certain words and phrases, and I’ve recently started watching
out for that. I also have to be careful not to let myself write the same story
over and over again – though it worked just fine for Dick Francis!
What are you dreams and plans for your
future as a writer?
I don’t want to be a bestselling author,
honestly. Most bestselling books are passing fads, and many of them aren’t even
that good. I have no interest in becoming a slave to the whims of the market,
or competing with other authors – that’s not what creativity is all about, and
it’s not what I signed up for.
All I want is to sell enough books to be
able to go on publishing them, so my fans can keep reading and find out what
happens next. So I’ll go on putting out books for as long as I can, and see
where we go from there!
But if you want my more grandiose dream,
here it is: I dream of seeing one of my novels be picked up and adapted into a
movie or a TV series – or even a graphic novel. That’s the one dream from
childhood which I haven’t dropped, even if I know it’s unlikely to ever come
true. But hey, once I thought getting published at all was an impossible goal,
and look where I am now! Anything can happen in this business.
Describe your book in 5 words.
Giant Dragon. Four Weapons. Dreams. Gosh,
that sounds like a movie tagline…
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
KJ will be awarding an eCopy of Wind to 3 randomly
drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for hosting!
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