Title: Storm Dancer
Author: Rayne Hall
Genre: Dark Epic Fantasy
Date Published: 9/9/2011
PURCHASE
Storm Dancer
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Storm Dancer
Demon-possessed siege commander, Dahoud, atones for his atrocities by hiding his identity and protecting women from war's violence - but can he shield the woman he loves from the evil inside him?
Principled weather magician, Merida, brings rain to a parched desert land. When her magical dance rouses more than storms, she needs to overcome her scruples to escape from danger.
Thrust together, Dahoud and Merida must fight for freedom and survival. But how can they trust each other, when hatred and betrayal burn in their hearts?
'Storm Dancer' is a dark epic fantasy. British spellings. Caution: this book contains some violence and disturbing situations. Not recommended for under-16s.
INTERVIEW
WITH
Rayne Hall
The Avid Reader: What inspired you to write Storm Dancer?
Rayne Hall: I set out to explore what happens if two people who hate one another, and with good reason, are thrown into a situation where they must become allies to survive. How will they learn to trust?
Inspiration also came from many other sources: mythology, ancient cultures (especially ancient Greece, Persia, Egypt, and the Hittites), the question to what extent we are responsible for our fate, my travels in Asia and the Middle East, bellydancing and magic.
The Avid Reader: When or at what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?
Rayne Hall: As soon as I realised there were people who wrote stories, I wanted to be one of them. I believe I was five years old. Of course, as I grew older I allowed adults to divert me into 'sensible' career options, but eventually I returned to my calling.
The Avid Reader: What is the earliest age you remember reading your first book?
Rayne Hall: I think I was four. I could read at a very young age. The earliest books I recall reading over and over were a collection of the fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, and one with life histories of Christian saints. The fairy tales had exciting titles like "The Robber Bride" but the plots seldom satisfied me, so I made up my own. The book of saints had exciting stories filled with dangerous adventures, and I resolved to become a saint myself. However, sainthood seemed to require torture and getting torn apart by wild beasts in the arena, and I did not like that prospect much. Maybe those books sowed the seeds for my becoming a fantasy and horror writer.
The Avid Reader: What genre of books do you enjoy reading?
Rayne Hall: As an avid reader, I enjoy almost every genre. My favourite is epic fantasy because it takes me to faraway places and periods, allows me to explore different cultures, and usually offers books which are big enough to give me many hours of reading pleasure. I also like historical novels, exciting thrillers, horror fiction (as long as it's not too gory), humour, and a lot of non-fiction (how-to books, travelogues, history, archaeology and more more).
The Avid Reader: What is your favorite book?
Rayne Hall: Whatever book I'm reading at the moment.
The Avid Reader: You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?
Rayne Hall: I can't possibly narrow this down to just one author. I admire GRR Martin, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Dave Duncan for their fantasy world-building, Jane Austen for the subtlety of characterising dialogue, Charles Dickens for quirky realistic characters, Ray Bradbury for original plots. I enjoy the suspense of Lisa Gardner's thrillers, the tension in Stephen King's books, the darkness of Tanith Lee's stories, the challenging premises in Gene Wolfe's work, the way Edgar Allan Poe delves into the human psyche... and that's just the start.
The Avid Reader: If you could travel back in time here on earth to any place or time. Where would you go and why?
Rayne Hall: Fifth-century BC Athens. This was the Golden Age of Greece, when democracy evolved, great works of art and literature were created, and many of our modern western ideas formed. I would like to meet the great statesman Pericles, the physician Hippocrates, the philosopher Socrates, the historians Herodotus and Thucydides (Herodotus was also the first travel writer), and the famous playwrights Aeschylus, Euripedes and Sophocles. Since this was a patriarchal society where women were largely excluded from public life, I would travel in male disguise.
The Avid Reader: When writing a book do you find that writing comes easy for you or is it a difficult task?
Rayne Hall: I love every aspect of writing - developing ideas, structuring the plot, creating characters, fleshing out scenes, rewriting and revising. Sometimes it's difficult, but the challenge is part of the fun.
The Avid Reader: Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?
Rayne Hall: Pet-keeping isn't allowed in my rented flat, but I love cats.
The Avid Reader: What is your "to die for", favorite food/foods to eat?
Rayne Hall: I enjoy tossed salads and fresh fruit.
The Avid Reader: Do you have any advice for anyone that would like to be an author?
Rayne Hall: Learn the writing craft to the highest level. Take classes, get how-to books, join critique groups, or whatever learning method suits you. Become the best writer you can possibly be.
MY REVIEW
Storm Dancer
The following review is my opinion and not a paid review. I was given a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.
Merida is a very sweet and nice person all she wants is for her mother to love her and care about her. She doesn't actually care about her status she wants to be liked and loved. Merida tries so hard to bring her status rating up for her mother. That is why she decides to travel to another town one that has not had any rain in a very long time. Merida has been trained to do magic that will make it rain. She believes that if she go to this town and she makes it rain then her mother and the people in her town will like and love her. She just wants her mother to treat her the same as she treats her siblings. I don't think Merida knows that this is want she is doing. But I can relate to her and I really think that is what she is trying to do by leaving her home.
Merida only wants to do what she has been raised to do as being the wright thing. She never wants to hurt anyone. She always tries to treat everyone the same. If someone is in trouble no matter what they have done she will help them. Merida is so good and innocent that when she arrives in this town and dances and makes it rain that will be the end of it and she will make her journey back home. But she is in for a big surprise.
The Queen's husband Kirral has his own harem and wants Merida to be a part of this harem. Of course she refuses but he doesn't give her a choice. Not one of the girls in his harem actually has a choice. Kirral is a very evil and cruel man. Who loves to live out his fantasy with all of his concubines not to mention the things he does to the people in his town. He will cheat; lie make up the rules as he goes along to fit his proposes when he needs them too and love every minute of it. I think he sits around always thinking up new and interesting ways to torment people. Whatever he does he does it for himself only. He only cares about his happiness and definitely not anyone else's.
Dahoud in his own way is a very good person too. I think that when he was a child he didn't have anyone to take care of him or love him either. You know that is all any of us want is to know that someone loves us and cares about us. Even though some people in no way wants to be the center of attention they still crave or want someone to care about them and maybe pat them on the back once in a while and tell them they have done good. If no one ever does this then how will that child ever known if they have done good? With no one to care for him Dahoud is approached by a djinn that promises him the world. Dahoud accepts the djinn's offer and has to live with it for the rest of his life. Dahoud becomes a Commander of his own army and while fighting wars he does some very wrong and awful things to women. But eventually he starts to realize that he doesn't want to be this way any longer so he hides who is and starts trying to protect women instead of hurting them. Dahoud tries so hard to lead a different life and be a better person. He doesn't want to hurt women or anyone any more.
He meets a woman unlike any woman he has met before, Merida. In the beginning Dahoud and Merida can't stand each other. They are always fighting and never try to get to know each other. Neither one can trust the other because they don't know how to trust. They have never really had anyone in their lives that they could depend on. Someone that would take up for them or care for them or love them. This is what they have both been searching for their whole lives. I don't think they know this or if it has ever crossed either of their minds. Can Merida and Dahoud learn to trust each other? Can they forget who they were so that they can love each? Will they be able to get over the hurt that both of their mothers caused them so that they can move on with their lives and become the people that they were meant to be?
Rayne Hall has published more than forty books under different pen names with different publishers in different genres, mostly fantasy, horror and non-fiction. Recent books include Storm Dancer (dark epic fantasy novel), Six Historical Tales Vol 1, Six Scary Tales Vol 1, 2 and 3 (mild horror stories),Six Historical Tales (short stories), Six Quirky Tales (humorous fantasy stories), Writing Fight Scenes and Writing Scary Scenes (instructions for authors).
She holds a college degree in publishing management and a masters degree in creative writing. Currently, she edits the Ten Tales series of multi-author short story anthologies: Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires, Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts, Scared: Ten Tales of Horror, Cutlass: Ten Tales of Pirates, Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft, Spells: Ten Tales of Magic, Undead: Ten Tales of Zombies and more.
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