Pocket
Full of Tinder
Noon Onyx, #4
by Jill Archer
Publisher:
Black Willow
Cover
Artist: Rebecca Frank
Genre:
Fantasy
Noon
Onyx is back! In this long-awaited fourth installment, Jill Archer returns
readers to the dangerous world of Halja, where demons, angels, and humans
coexist in an uneasy state of détente.
Maegester-in-Training Noon Onyx feels
like she’s done it all – mastered fiery magic, become an adept fighter, learned
the law, killed countless demons, and survived having her heart broken by both
love and an arrow, but now she’ll face her greatest challenge yet…
Far to the north lies an outpost
famous for its unrest – Rockthorn Gorge. The town’s patron has specifically
requested Noon’s help. Her assignment? Help the neophyte demon lord build his
fiefdom and keep what’s his. The problem? Lord Aristos – Noon’s new employer –
is her erstwhile lover, Ari Carmine, the aforementioned heartbreaker. And the
number one thing he wants is her.
When Rockthorn Gorge’s viaduct is
destroyed by Displodo, an enigmatic bomber, killing a dozen settlers and
wounding scores more, Noon sets off early to aid in the search and rescue. Ari
is listed among the missing and the suspects are legion. But Noon’s search is
just the beginning. Her journey forces Noon to confront not only those she
loves, but also enemies hell-bent on destroying them.
EXCERPT:
PROLOGUE
Ari
Last year
Second
semester
He’d been traveling for
weeks, following the river westward. A great aerial beast with a broken wing
trying to follow the curving lines of a bigger, blacker beast on terra firma.
Beneath him, the Lethe River twisted and writhed. Every left turn was agonizing.
The wing, bent at an unnatural angle, caught wind where it shouldn’t. The drag
was enormous. He often felt as if he were drowning, his wings clasping at the
edges of a whirlpool whose edges grew taller and steeper as it closed in on
him. And then he’d have to push, soaring up into the air again with
labored breathing that sounded louder than a blue whale’s blowhole.
As he neared New Babylon he
kept a keen eye on the water, searching for boats and sails and men. Men who
may not have seen a drakon in decades, perhaps longer. Men who would sound an
alarm and alert others to his presence. It was the type of homecoming he wished
to avoid.
So he’d flown at night and
timed his arrival with the new moon. All below was black and gray. Far off
there were tall ships lit by lanterns, but closer (thank Luck closer)
was his goal – Bradbury’s docks.
A man without fire or an
electric torch would have been blind. But to a drakon, the world seemed drawn
with charcoal and smudged with starlight. Another night, with a different wing
and the company he sought, he might have thought it beautiful.
He smelled the river and
the city, the scents of men and the rich food they liked to eat. Loud,
boisterous voices rose from the waterside inns, saloons, and taverns. He
clenched his jaw and banked left across the water toward Etincelle,
straightening again – or at least trying to – before he got too close. With a
last, desperate push up he rose above the Lethe, beating his
inefficient wings against the midnight sky, until he found warm air to ride
down, circling… waiting… watching for anyone who might still be at the docks.
He did not want to be seen in drakon form.
He landed less gracefully
than he would have liked, skidding to a halt just before hitting a crate that
would have tumbled into the Lethe had he not finally found purchase on the dock
with his claws. With a last glance around, he shifted.
Wings collapsed. Snout,
jaws, and teeth were reabsorbed. Claws disintegrated, turning to dust. Tail
wriggled and twisted, curling inward, like a snake eating itself. Lungs and
heart halved. And then halved again. Head pounding, body shaking, Ari fell to
his knees, his right palm pressed against the dock, his left arm cradled
uselessly against his side.
He was home.
Dark Light of Day
Noon Onyx, #1
by Jill Archer
Date of
Publication: September 25th 2012
Publisher:
Ace
Cover
Artist: David Palumbo
Genre:
Fantasy
BLURB
Armageddon is over.
The demons won. And yet somehow…the world has continued. Survivors worship
patron demons under a draconian system of tributes and rules. These laws keep
the demons from warring among themselves, the world from slipping back into
chaos.
Noon
Onyx grew up on the banks of the river Lethe, daughter of a prominent
politician, and a descendant of Lucifer’s warlords. Noon has a secret—she was
born with waning magic, the dark, destructive, fiery power that is used to
control demons and maintain the delicate peace among them. But a woman with
waning magic is unheard of and some will consider her an abomination.
Noon is summoned to attend St.
Lucifer’s, a school of demon law. She must decide whether to declare her powers
there…or attempt to continue hiding them, knowing the price for doing so may be
death. And once she meets the forbiddingly powerful Ari Carmine—who suspects
Noon is harboring magic as deadly as his own—Noon realizes there may be more at
stake than just her life.
Buy Links:
Fiery Edge of Steel
Noon Onyx, #2
by Jill Archer
Date of
Publication: May 28th 2013
Publisher:
Ace
Cover
Artist: Jason Chan
Genre:
Fantasy
BLURB
Lucifer and his army
triumphed at Armageddon, leaving humans and demons living in uncertain peace
based on sacrifice and strict laws. It is up to those with mixed demon and
human blood, the Host, to prevent society from falling into anarchy.
Noon
Onyx is the first female Host in memory to wield the destructive waning magic
that is used to maintain order among the demons. Her unique abilities, paired
with a lack of control and reluctance to kill, have branded her as an outsider
from her peers. Only her powerful lover, Ari Carmine, and a roguish
and mysterious Angel, Rafe Sinclair, support her unconventional ways.
When
Noon is shipped off to a remote outpost to investigate several unusual
disappearances, a task which will most likely involve trying and killing the
patron demon of that area, it seems Luck is not on her side. But when the
outpost settlers claim that an ancient and evil foe has stepped out of legend
to commit the crimes, Noon realizes that she could be facing something much
worse than she ever imagined…
Buy Links:
White Heart of Justice
Noon Onyx, #3
by Jill Archer
Date of Publication:
May 27th 2014
Cover
Artist: Jason Chan
Publisher: Ace
Genre: Fantasy
BLURB
Since Lucifer claimed victory at Armageddon,
demons, angels, and humans have coexisted in uneasy harmony. Those with waning
magic are trained to maintain peace and order. But hostilities are never far
from erupting…
After years of denying her abilities, Noon
Onyx, the first woman in history to wield waning magic, has embraced her power.
She’s won the right to compete in the prestigious Laurel Crown Race—an event
that will not only earn her the respect of her peers but also, if she wins, the
right to control her future.
However, Noon’s task is nearly impossible:
retrieve the White Heart of Justice, a mythical sword that disappeared hundreds
of years ago. The sword is rumored to be hidden in a dangerous region of Halja
that she is unlikely to return from. But Noon’s life isn’t the only thing
hanging in the balance. The sword holds an awesome power that, in the wrong
hands, could reboot the apocalypse—and Noon is the only one who can prevent
Armageddon from starting again…
Buy Links:
Author Info
Jill Archer writes dark, genre-bending
fantasy from rural Maryland. Her novels include Dark Light of Day, Fiery Edge
of Steel, White Heart of Justice, and Pocket Full of Tinder. She loves cats,
coffee, books, movies, day tripping, and outdoor adventuring.
Author Links:
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