Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway - Lumina: Volume 1 - The Dragonlite Legacy by Paddy Tyrrell

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Lumina by Paddy Tyrrell. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt for you as well as a great guest post from the author. There's also the tour wide giveaway to win a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: Lumina: Volume 1 - The Dragonlite Legacy
Author: Paddy Tyrrell
Publication Date: December 1st 2019
Print Length: 624 pages
Genre: Epic Fantasy

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A generation designed by sorcery to destroy your people. Two races mired in conflict. Can a pair of outcasts unite them against an enemy who would enslave them all?

The birth of ‘bronzite’ babies in Lumina heralds the onset of war. The people take fright at the golden children and banish them from the land. A dangerous move. King Zheldar, commander of the black dragon, is attacking Luman borders. If he wins bronzite support for his army of monsters, Lumina is lost.

Davron Berates cannot share his people’s hatred of the children and, on discovering he has a bronzite brother, sets out to find him. At his side travels Chrystala. A bronzite, she has twice his strength and three times his determination.

When the black dragon kidnaps Chrystala, Davron is faced with a terrible choice: save his friend or save his nation.

**The eBook is only $0.99!**

Goodreads * Amazon

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EXCERPT:

“We go.” Teibera padded to the mouth of the cave. “Meet cubs.”

He raised his head, ears back, closed his eyes and howled a message into the hills. Two white shapes flashed in the distance. The first to arrive shuddered to a halt on sight of the stranger. He was larger than she had ever imagined a wolf could be. Tall and strong, he panted from the race and sized her up with eyes of chestnut brown. His nose twitched to catch her scent.

“Ice, eldest son.”

With a flurry of leaves, a second snow-wolf appeared. Salazai’s heart stopped.

“Wow, you’re beautiful,” she whispered.

“Smallest daughter, Sapphire,” Teibera said proudly. Amber eyes, tipped with snow-white lashes, stared at Salazai. The young wolf’s face was as delicate as the seed puffs that floated in the air around her, her nose black and shiny with health. Her fur was white, only the ears laced with a fringe of gray.

She stared at Salazai and asked, “Our pack?” Salazai glanced at Teibera, who gave a short bark of acknowledgement.

“Yes, Sapphire, your pack,” Salazai said.

The snow-wolf padded forward and licked her legs. Salazai put out her hand, and Sapphire held it gently between her jaws. Salazai stayed calm. It seemed easy to give this animal the trust she begrudged her own people. The wolf released her hand, sniffed her clothes, and licked her face. With her finger, Salazai touched a mark that hung like a black teardrop beneath the snow-wolf‘s eye.

Teibera barked. “Sapphire small, pack rough. Teach fight. Heart of lion.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I was raised in Kent, the garden of England, and lived in an Oast House whose round rooms were once used for drying hops. Must be why I’ve enjoyed a drink ever since!

At university, I fell in love with medieval French writing, discovered The Gormenghast Trilogy, and became hooked on fantasy.

I have sailed down the Yangste, survived an earthquake in Cairo, and picnicked in the Serengeti. My travels for work and pleasure have inspired my fantasy world. I now live in France with a naughty Australian Labradoodle, a jealous cat and a squash mad husband. Our two huskies, Ice and Sapphire, are sadly now gone but are transformed into wolves and immortalised in my book. Lumina is my debut novel and the first in a trilogy.

Website * Amazon * Facebook * Twitter

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GUEST POST:

- What fantasy world from a book would you love to live in and why?

Most fantasy worlds contain more than their fair share of challenges but my thoughts flew immediately to Anne McCaffrey’s Pern. Not surprisingly it was the dragons that did it. For those of you who don’t know Anne Mcaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern novels, I need to give some background.

Pern was settled by humans escaping a war-torn earth and wanting to return to a simpler life-style. Little did they know the red planet circling their sun was about to rain down silver threads of spores which would devour all organic matter – plant, animal and human. Thankfully the planet only gets close enough to do this every 200 years but then it stays for 50 years – a lifetime. This ’Thread’ could only be overcome by fire, water or freezing temperatures.

To protect the population, an enterprising geneticist develops dragons from an indigenous life form called dragonets. The dragons are beautiful. They come in five colors – the golden queens are largest and mate if a bronze or brown dragon manages to catch them. The blues and greens are smaller but faster. When a dragon egg hatches, the baby dragon heads for a young human and bonds with them through a telepathic link. One of the reasons I would love to live in this world is the thrill and excitement of bonding with a dragon and then the love and empathy that develops between dragon and human. When they are mature, the dragons breathe fire and fly to battle against Thread with their human riders on their backs. When Thread is on its way, the dragons roar a warning, the riders leap onto their backs, and they soar into the sky. I love to fly – I even learnt to glide – so much so that the ability to fly plays a critical role in my own book, Lumina.

Although I first read these novels some forty years ago, their impression was locked into my heart. So much so that when I wrote about the birth of dragonlites in Lumina, I was inspired by the description of that hatching time for dragon eggs.

In Pern, society is structured to support the dragons and riders. Food is provided by those farming the land while other goods and services come from Crafthalls which each have particular skills. One of the key crafts is that of the Harpers who, during the long periods with no threat of Thread, keep the stories of it alive through music. Thus the people will continue to care for dragons and riders, who in turn will protect them when needed. The role of music and song, of education and stories, is the foundation of the author tradition – it is part of the history of all us writers. So another reason to love this society.

Of course, not all is good in this fantasy world, particularly the role of women in the early novels. Their role mainly consisted of breeding or, if they were special, dragon riding. This does change over time and while originally girls were not allowed to become harpers, a later novel is about the first girl to break through this tradition This theme of inequality, whether through gender or race, is near to my heart and plays a key role in my own book.

Although Pern is far from an ideal world, the glory of the bond with dragons, the beauty of the music, and the role of story telling in protecting the people are the reasons I would love to be there.

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GIVEAWAY:

Paddy Tyrrell will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter after the tour. To increase your chance of winning, leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway