Truthsong
Songmaker, #2
by Elisabeth Hamill
Date of
Publication: July 26th 2016
Publisher: Fire and
Ice YA
Cover Artist:
Caroline Andrus
Genre: YA Fantasy
The long awaited
sequel to SONG MAGICK
INTERVIEW WITH
ELISABETH HAMILL
How would you describe you style of writing to someone
that has never read your work?
For my fantasy work, I write third person,
with alternating points of view. I’d call it high fantasy, because I tend to be
more flowery and formal than in my contemporary work.
What mindset or routine do you feel the need to set when
preparing to write (in general whether you are working on a project or just
free writing)?
I write early in the mornings, when nobody
else is up. Silence is best for me; “the zone” comes easily and words flow. The
minute someone else wakes up, the whole energy in the house changes, and it’s
gone. I love those early hours.
Do you take your character prep to heart? Do you nurture
the growth of each character all the way through to the page? Do you people
watch to help with development? Or do you build upon your character during
story creation?
I’ve always been a people watcher. I am a
definite seat of the pants writer, and have an idea of who my characters are
before I start to write…but they often take on a life of their own and become
somebody completely different than who I thought they were.
Have you found yourself bonding with any particular
character? If so which one(s)?
In the Songmaker series, I have a deep love
for Emrys Harpmaster and Lord Riordan.
Do you have a character that you have been working on
that you can't wait to put to paper?
I am working on an adult sci-fi right now
that I’m obsessed with. My main character, Dali, just started talking to me one
day, and the first draft happened pretty quickly.
Have you ever felt that there was something inside of you
that you couldn't control? If so what? If no what spurs you to reach for the
unexperienced?
I’ve always had the feeling that I didn’t
quite belong in this world, LOL. Reading and writing are the way I find the
places I feel at home.
I got this one from a friend. If you could have dinner
with 7 fictional character, who would they be?
Frodo Baggins. Hobbits are legendary for
their meals.
Gandalf. Because he’s Gandalf.
Gypsum LaZelle from Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s A
Fistful of Sky. She’s a lot like me.
Raven from Maggie Secara’s Harper Errant
novels
Claire and Jamie Fraser from Outlander
Valancy from Zenna Henderson’s The People
stories
From The Book Junkie Reads . . . Truthsong
(Songmaker, #2) . . .
I got two chapters in and knew right
then that I had to go back and read the first book of the series to get the
maximum enjoyment. I immediately stopped where I was and got the first book. I read
it and was so satisfied and desperately looking to see where else Telyn’s
journey would go. In a time and place where music and song were so rare and
held so much magic brings out emotions that are raw and just as rare.
Telyn’s gift of song and music has
an affect that was not precedent. She could control action and emotions of
those that are within the sound of her voice. With this said and done in the vicinity
of the king’s court she becomes and exile in the land and in danger in other
was from others. Fate intervenes and
sends a protector, Mithrais. The two
find that keeping her alive was a common goal but there was another that was
deeper than a goal and stronger than a bond. Magic has been brought back to the
world via the talents of Telyn. Along with the good, evil finds its way back
also. This first book of the series was
a magic fantasy historical young adult journey that brings about a gift to
evoke powerful emotions and long lasting actions. Now I am prepared for book two.
Book one opened the doors to a new
world and gave me answers to questions that I will find that I needed to get
through book two without being confused. There was more of the vivid imagery,
magic song and music, the wood, the realm, the court, the secrets, and the lord
wanting nothing more than for Telyn to be no more. I even got me so surprise characters that I
love in any book I can get them in. Not telling.
Life for this young bard and her
lifemate has taking on new lines of battel. Stay in the wood. Stay together.
Stay in court. Stay. Stay. Stay. The life of a bard was to travel, see the
world, make music, spread the lyrics.
Telyn has so many decisions to make and not much time to make them.
Mithrais has his own set of problems to sort through. The time has come for
them to make their choices. Choices that has an effect on more than just
themselves.
Beautifully written. Well crafted,
molded, and solidified. This was high fantasy at its finest. There magic,
mystery, fantasy, mythical aspects and more. I highly recommend reading book
one first then book two. You will get so much more out of the two of them
together. Book two brings together what you find in book one so magically.
**This ARC was provided via Bewitching Book Tours in
exchange for an honest review.**
Songmaker series:
Song Magick – Songmaker, #1
Truthsong – Songmaker, #2
BLURB
When Telyn’s song magic freed ancient spirits
of the Wood, it also awakened a long-slumbering evil. Now she and her beloved
Mithrais must battle a spreading shadow that ignites crippling fear, and deal
with the unexpected consequences of magic’s return.
More danger arrives with a royal delegation
to the forest realm, sweeping Telyn back into court intrigue and the sights of
a murderous lord. Mithrais may be forced to choose between his service to the
Wood or the obligations of his royal blood.
As Telyn’s bond with Mithrais grows, she is
torn between her love for him and the freedom of a wandering bard’s life. But
when dark magic plunges the Wood into chaos, she must balance the two halves of
her heart—or the Fates may take Mithrais from her forever.
Amazon
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“Old One?” He kept his voice soft.
“What’s out there?”
“Fear.”
The sprite cocked its head and never took its eyes from the darkness. On the
fringes of the grove where Mithrais’ light did not reach, the shadows were
thick and impenetrable.
Something
blacker than night moved against the trees.
His
breath and pulse quickened with a primal terror he’d never known. A new reflex
took hold. Power leapt to await the cast of a spell without his conscious
assent, and he tamped it down. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
“You
are safe, Magian,” the sprite murmured. “It cannot stand against us in this
form, although it can make itself known.”
“What
is it?” Mithrais could not tear his gaze from that terrible nothingness.
“A
projection of what was once vanquished, long ago. A creature of elemental form.
It has no shape of its own. It simply is.”
“What
does it want?”
“To
be free, within a shell of flesh. There, it can wreak the havoc it once fed
upon.”
Mithrais
fought to replace fear with reason and action, but it slowed his thoughts. With
supreme effort, he turned his focus to the magical knowledge the Gwaith’orn had
imprinted upon his mind. “How do we defend against it?”
“It
is yet contained. Some things are best left alone.” The sprite looked at him at
last. “It can do nothing but spread fear in this form, but that is how it draws
a vessel to it.”
“This form is only a
projection?” He did not want to imagine facing what produced this fearsome
shadow in the dark.
“It will fade with
the light. Breathe, Magian.”
The light… Mithrais
seized the lantern from the front of the wagon and thrust it in front of him.
The magelight flashed in blinding, silver-blue radiance, a captive star in the
depths of the Wood. It dispelled the darkness in the grove, and the dark shape
fled to slip between the trees until it was out of reach of the magelight.
The terror fled as
well, leaving him hollow as it drained from his body. He could think again and
was deeply troubled. Around him, small sounds of night began to re-emerge—crickets,
the trill of a frog on the river’s edge. He allowed the light to fade to its
previous pale glow and attempted to wrap his mind around this encounter. First
dragons, and now dread shapes in the night: What else had been wrought in the
wake of the spell Telyn and the Magians cast in the Circle?
“Mithrais?” Telyn’s
sleepy voice sounded from the wagon. “Is something wrong?”
“I’m not certain.” It
was as if the dark shape had never existed. Even the sprite had disappeared
when he turned around and looked for it. He hung the lantern back on the front
of the wagon and reclaimed the space beside his lifemate.
“You’re shivering.”
Telyn moved closer and wrapped her arms about him. “I was having a nightmare.”
“So was I.” But his
had been waking.
“Too many ghost
stories from Kendric and the sprite, I think.” She sighed and relaxed again
into sleep. But Mithrais lay awake until dawn’s approach outshone the light of
his spell.
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Ice
Author Info
Elisabeth Hamill is a nurse/wife/mom by day,
unabashed geek/chocoholic/closet sci fi and fantasy novelist by night. She
lives with her family, dog, and cat in the wilds of eastern suburban Kansas,
where they fend off flying monkey attacks and prep for the zombie apocalypse.
Song Magick, her first novel, won first in
category for Teen Fantasy in the 2014 Dante Rossetti Awards for Young Adult
Fiction.
Author Links
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