Masquerade Blog Tour

As part of the Masquerade Blog Tour, I'm pleased to host an excerpt from the beginning of one of the chapters. Author  Laura Lam spent a long time, researching the extracts needed for the  each chapter and this blog tour, goes into detail about some of the chosen pieces, explaining why they were used. 

The Hospital - 11 march

When a child under twelve is injured, it’s common practice for any child present to “call upon the fairies” to help heal them. The other child or children will circle the injured child thrice, chanting “sprites, take flight, we need your might to spite the blight!” Sometimes the child will kiss the other on the forehead; a target for the fairy to know where to sprinkle their magic dust. 

— A History of Ellada and its Colonies, Professor Caed Cedar, Royal Snakewood University

Every chapter in the Micah Grey series has a short found document at the start, ranging from a variety of sources: history books, diaries, songs, poetry, and more. It’s basically a sneaky way to add in more worldbuilding and detail about Ellada & the Archipelago. 

As in another excerpt shared on the blog tour, Masquerade has more folklore type remedies in the third book. Ellada is rich with mythology and magical creatures, and the Chimaera are very common and tend to function a lot like fairies in stories. Every now and again, Chimaera are sometimes called fairies or sprites, as above. I used to play games like this as a child, where one of us would pretend to be ill and the others would use magic to heal them. It’s a little bit of whimsy in a section of the book where things are growing more dangerous . . . 

If you buy Pantomime or Masquerade and send your receipt to Laura, you can claim a free 10k short story, “The Mechanical Minotaur,” set in the same world. If you buy all three, you can claim 60k of free fiction as well. More details here.

Summary

The gifted hide their talents, but dare they step into the light?

Micah's Chimaera powers are growing, until his dark visions overwhelm him. Drystan is forced to take him to Dr Pozzi, to save his life. But can they really trust the doctor, especially when a close friend is revealed to be his spy?

Meanwhile, violent unrest is sweeping the country, as anti-royalist factions fight to be heard. Then three chimaera are attacked, after revealing their existence with the monarchy's blessing - and the struggle becomes personal. A small sect decimated the chimaera in ancient times and nearly destroyed the world. Now they've re-emerged to spread terror once more. Micah will discover a royal secret, which draws him into the heart of the conflict. And he and his friends must risk everything to finally bring peace to their land. 

To find out more about Laura Lam:

Twitter / Website

Make sure you check out all the stops on the blog tour. 

Setting the Scene with Laura Lam

On the blog today, I'm pleased to welcome Laura Lam who want to tell us about the setting for her adult fiction debut, False Hearts.

False Hearts is set in a near-future San Francisco. I grew up about half an hour outside of the city, but now I live almost six thousand miles away in Scotland. I had loads of fun taking my home stomping grounds and twisting it into my vision of the future. 

San Francisco in the future at first glance seems like a utopia. Everything is recycled, pollution is almost disappeared, and crime and poverty as also anachronistic things left in the past. Yet crime has a way of springing up between the cracks. 

A big influence was this History Channel City of the Future winner for San Francisco. The site describes it as “a full-scale urban system that combines the most innovative green technologies with San Francisco’s unique microclimate and geologic conditions, to produce a compelling vision for the future. Hydro-Net, as the project is known, will bring the lovely city-by-the-bay (which many Inhabitants call home) squarely into the 22nd Century with algae-harvesting towers, geothermal energy ‘mushrooms’, and fog catchers which distill fresh water from San Francisco’s infamous fog.”

Published by Macmillan in June 2016

Summary

Orphan Black meets Inception: Two formerly conjoined sisters are ensnared in a murderous plot involving psychoactive drugs, shared dreaming, organized crime, and a sinister cult. 
Raised in the closed cult of Mana’s Hearth and denied access to modern technology, conjoined sisters Taema and Tila dream of a life beyond the walls of the compound. When the heart they share begins to fail, the twins escape to San Francisco, where they are surgically separated and given new artificial hearts. From then on they pursue lives beyond anything they could have previously imagined.
Ten years later, Tila returns one night to the twins’ home in the city, terrified and covered in blood, just before the police arrive and arrest her for murder—the first homicide by a civilian in decades. Tila is suspected of involvement with the Ratel, a powerful crime syndicate that deals in the flow of Zeal, a drug that allows violent minds to enact their darkest desires in a terrifying dreamscape. Taema is given a proposition: go undercover as her sister and perhaps save her twin’s life. But during her investigation Taema discovers disturbing links between the twins’ past and their present. Once unable to keep anything from each other, the sisters now discover the true cost of secrets.

To find out more about Laura Lam:

Website

Twitter

Pantomime by Laura Lam

Image from Goodreads

Pages 392

Published by Strange Chemistry on 5th February 2013

'Well, boy,' the ringmaster said.'What can you do?'

I swallowed. The clown who had found me eavesdropping tightened his grip on my shirt. 

'Pardon?' I asked. 

He chuckled.'don't tell me you're simple. What can you do? Are you a fire-eater? An acrobat? A freak?'

Goodreads Summary

R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.

But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.

*********

This book is a gift wrapped mystery. The more you delve into the layers, the more surprises you discover. To the point, where on finishing the book, I just sat back feeling quite blown away. At first I was convinced I was reading a book to rival Night Circus, but this book is far too unique to be compared to any other. It is set in a circus, but one reminiscent of the grand circuses of the past, adding a hint of Water for Elephants to the flavour of it.

Circus life is hard and the author expresses that so well through her words. Even though the circus is set in a fantasy world reminiscent of our Victorian era, yet I believe it is set in the future, due to the magical qualities of certain coveted artifacts. It could almost be steam punk, but something I can't put my finger on stops me from labelling it that. 

This book contains a whopping secret that makes it really difficult to review. A secret that is not obvious at all until you trip over it, and yet on flicking back through the pages hints were there, I just didn't see them.

The characters are quirky, yet vibrant, each setting fire to the page as the somersaulted through the book.

Micah will astound you and grab your heart from the start. I don't think I have met a character so complex and unique as Micah. The relationship between Micah, Aenea and Drystan is extremely absorbing and very well written. Through the progression of time, you find yourself drawn into their lives in the circus as they revolve and circle each other through different situations.

At times the story leaves you breathless, as the plot twirls you through the air at top speed. Other times you are able to stand back and reflect on everything that occurs. 

Even though this book is high fantasy, it does deal with some strong themes. Sexuality and relationships play  huge part as the story unravels. 

This truly is an  awe inspiring read, that left me breathless and desperate for more.   A unique reading experience from a very talented debut author.